Tag: Shaftesbury

CBRE: Real Estate in Sevilla Attracts Funding from Overseas Investors

15 December 2018 – ABC

The city of Sevilla and its metropolitan area are now on the international real estate map and proof of that is that the major overseas funds are putting up a lot of the capital being absorbed by the new commercial, hotel and logistics projects in the city, “whereby taking over from the real estate firms of yesteryear”. That is one of the conclusions of a report compiled by the consultancy firm CBRE, which highlights that the return on investment has been felt most intensely in the shopping centre sector.

“With almost 300,000 m2 of future supply planned, Sevilla is the province in Spain that will grow by almost the most over the next few years in terms of gross leasable area – exceeded only by Madrid”, it said. “This will be a key sector this year and next for the Sevillan real estate market”, said Rosa Madrid, Director of CBRE in Andalucía. The first newsworthy event was the entry into operation of Torre Sevilla, “an open and mixed shopping centre, with a hotel and offices, which we have not seen here before and which is regenerating the area”, she highlighted. The office market “has absorbed without great problems” the 18,000 m2 that Torre Sevilla brought to the market “whereby disproving those who predicted a new crisis in this segment”, she said.

Offices

In the office segment, the highest rents are achieved in the most modern buildings of Nervión (a district in Sevilla), with rents of around €12-13/m2/month. In this area, some exclusive office buildings that were left vacant following the departure of the Junta de Andalucía to Santa Justa were occupied within 18 months. In La Cartuja, office rents are somewhat lower, around €9-11/m2/month, according to the report.

But, “the turning point” in the shopping centre sector is going to be seen Sevilla with Project Lagoh, promoted by the Socimi Lar España in the Palmas Altas area, to the south of the capital, and currently under construction. “Finally, the new era of shopping centres is going to arrive in Sevilla. Until now, we have only had shopping centres from the 1990s and none from the 21st century, like Xanadú in Madrid or Puerto Venecia in Zaragoza”, said Rosa Madrid.

Hotel investment

The hotel market has been also reactivated as demonstrated by the major operations closed in recent years. “In addition to the modern Eurostars Torre Sevilla, since 2015, the flow of properties acquired to transform them into accommodation has been continuous”, she highlighted. The most noteworthy operations include the purchase by the French real estate company Bouygues of the former headquarters of Abengoa, to renovate it and transform it into a 5-star hotel, the purchase of Hotel Macarena and the acquisition of the Generali building in Plaza Nueva by the British fund Shaftesbury.

Logistics market

Demand for logistics warehouses has also been increasing, at the same time as the major e-commerce operators have increased their logistics network in the south of the peninsula, such as the case of Amazon and Inditex, which have opened platforms in Sevilla. “That sector is here to stay. And operators are not only looking for large spaces far away from the cities measuring between 30,000 m2 and 100,000 m2, they are also looking for small spaces inside the SE30 to serve the last-mile market and demand for immediate distribution”, explained the regional director of CBRE.

Student halls

Investors specialising in alternative sectors, such as student halls of residence, are also placing their focus on Sevilla, a city that is home to 16% of all of Spain’s university students (…).

Original story: ABC (by E. Freire)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Andalucían Family Office Buys the Oriza Building in Sevilla

30 December 2017 – Sevilla ABC

With the economic recovery, the Sevillan real estate market is enjoying a sweet moment once again with the signing of numerous operations on the city’s main streets. The latest deal has been closed this week and has seen the iconic building that houses the Oriza restaurant, on the corner of Calle San Fernando and Jardines de Murillo, change hands. An Andalucían family office – an instrument used by wealthy families to invest in different sectors – has purchased the property from the company SF 41, owned by a Basque investor based in Madrid, in an operation advised by the real estate consultancy firm CBRE.

The property has a total surface area of 1,100 m2 distributed over four storeys. The Oriza restaurant will continue to operate in the building as a rental tenant. Although the amount of the sale has not been disclosed officially, based on the recent operations undertaken in the area, the figure is thought to range between €3.5 million and €4 million.

In 2012, the company Mares Consultores de Negocios, owned by the Extremeñan Antonio Ignacio Martínez de Azcona, purchased the building that is now leased to Hard Rock Café from the Rodríguez de Quesada family for €6 million. In 2013, Mares Consultores de Negocios sold that same building, which dates back to the 18th century, to an investor group from Bilbao for less than the €6 million that it had paid for the property nine months earlier.

The main feature of this building is its location, at the start of the High Street area in Sevilla, where the city centre’s pedestrian area begins. Moreover, it has historical value given that it shares a wall with the Andalucían capital’s ‘Reales Alcázares’, according to sources at CBRE.

According to Rosa Madrid, Regional Director of CBRE in Andalucía, “this operation is an example of the great appeal that the Andalucían capital has for investors, especially when it comes to assets in strategic locations. In this case, the thoroughfare of Calle San Fernando is a key part of the Sevillan High Street aimed at Food & Beverage, an increasingly more popular trend in the city, which has been boosted by the recent opening of the Hard Rock Café”.

CBRE’s investment team in Andalucía – which comprises Rosa Madrid, Ramiro Moreno and Rafael González- has closed several important operations in recent times, including the sale of a building in Plaza Nueva to the British fund Shaftesbury for more than €20 million, which constituted one of the most high-profile transactions of last year (2016) in the city of Sevilla.

Original story: Sevilla ABC (by M. J. Pereira)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Rockefeller Family To Sell Luxury Homes In Madrid For €8,200/m2

6 October 2017 – El Confidencial

They won’t obtain the building permit from the Town Hall of Madrid until the end of this month, but they will start taking the first reservations from next week. The latest development of luxury homes to come onto the market in the heart of the Spanish capital is located on Calle General Martínez Campos 19 and it has a very special owner: The Rockefeller Group International. The company was founded by the magnate John Rockefeller, who created a genuine fortune thanks to his business in the oil sector at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, and whose youngest grandson, the magnate, banker and philanthropist David Rockefeller, died just a few months ago at the age of 101.

The building was acquired by the real estate fund Europa Capital last summer, in partnership with Richelieu Developments, for €25 million. This fund, which is headquartered in London, is the vehicle through which The Rockefeller Group – which also controls the Japanese company Mitsubishi Estate – undertakes its investments in Continental Europe.

The property, constructed in 1931 and completed refurbished, has a surface area of 6,5000 m2 spread over seven floors and is located just 500m from Paseo de la Castellana, in Chamberí, and very close to the sought-after neighbourhood of Salamanca. The property will contain 27 luxury homes, with all kinds of amenities – a 24-hour concierge service, an indoor swimming pool, a rooftop swimming pool, a gym and spa area, a car park and storerooms – and will include five penthouse apartments, of which three will be duplexes.

The average price of the homes will stand at €8,200/m2, according to Alexander Vaughan, founder together with Stijn Teeuwen of Lucas Fox, a real estate agency specialising in the sale of luxury homes and which has made a strong commitment to the high-end market in Madrid.

The properties will be three and four bedroom homes as well as two and three bedroom penthouses with terraces. The homes will range in size from 200 m2 to 457 m2, and so the price of the units will vary from €1.6 million to €3.9 million. The three duplex penthouses will also have their own private terrace, off of the living room, and an additional terrace on the rooftop. The homes are expected to be ready by the end of 2019.

As is often the case with investments by foreign companies, Europa Capital, has sought out a local partner to construct the development. In this case, it has teamed up with the Madrilenian property developer Richelieu Developments, which specialises in luxury projects (…).

Luxury homes in Madrid are booming

The luxury residential market in both Madrid and Barcelona is in full swing. In the Spanish capital alone, there are more than twenty projects underway. Not in vain, according to the real estate agency Lucas Fox, an enormous appetite exists for these types of properties, which are still a lot more affordable than similar assets in other European cities, with a clear potential to appreciate and with returns that range between 4% and 5% in both cities. The “independentista effect” has not been felt yet in Barcelona, according to Rod Jamieson, Partner at Lucas Fox Madrid, who also marketed José Abascal 48 (a project that the fund Shaftesbury built) and Fernando VI 19 (a project that has been completed by Gran Roque Capital, owned by the Venezuelan Capriles family).

The agency is seeing huge bullish potential in the luxury market in Madrid, where the firm has increased (its turnover) by 30% in one year and see a 170% rise in its transaction value. Moreover, Lucas Fox has detected increasingly more international investors in the market. In fact, Latin American buyers now account for almost one third (31%) of all of the company’s sales, compared with 11% in 2016, whilst just under half (46%) are domestic buyers. Moreover, 62% of sales are being closed for investment reasons (…).

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

French Fund Heraclès Arrives In Spain & Acquires La Vega Shopping Centre

26 July 2017 – Eje Prime

A new fund is entering the Spanish market to achieve its objectives. Heraclès Investissement is joining the likes of Cogress, Blackstone, Shaftesbury and Thor Equities and is launching a subsidiary in the Spanish market, according to sources at the company. The acquisition of assets in Spain will help with the group’s international expansion plans, which include constructing a portfolio of assets worth €1,000 million by the end of next year.

Heraclès Investissement has opened its office at number 63 on Calle Velázquez, from where it will plot its adventures in the Spanish market. To this end, the fund has hired David Acea Lorenzo, former executive of companies such as Isolux and Tele2 Comunitel, as the Director General of the group in the country, which began its operations in the market in June.

The group, which focuses its activity on the development, investment and management of real estate assets, has created a corporate web in Spain to articulate its acquisitions. Heraclès Investissement has constituted Heracles Desarrollo, for the purpose of carrying out real estate developments, Heracles Gestión to administer real estate properties and Heracles Real Estate, through which it will articulate its purchases in the country.

In addition to these companies to manage and acquire its assets, Heraclès Investissement has also constituted a subsidiary with its first acquisition. The company has acquired the La Vega shopping centre, located in Madrid, which has a retail surface area of 9,000 m2 and an Alcampo supermarket measuring 18,000 m2. The group did not want to make public the price of that operation.

According to the group’s most recent results, Heraclès Investissement closed last year with an asset portfolio worth €353 million and its aim for this year is to almost double the value of its stock of assets to €700 million. Nevertheless, its more ambitious objective is to expand its portfolio to include assets worth €1,000 million by the end of next year.

The group owns commercial assets, offices and residential properties. Until now, Heraclès Investissement, which was founded in 2003, has invested €57 million in the acquisition of around fifteen commercial properties, which have a combined surface area of 15,569 m2 and which generate annual rental income of €5.2 million.

Heraclès Investissement’s block of residential properties comprises seven assets, most of which are located in France, and for which the group paid €60 million. Meanwhile, the group owns seven offices, according to the latest available data, and offices represent the segment in which the group has invested the most to date (€72 million) (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

UK Fund Shaftesbury Buys Plot Of Land In 22@ District

31 March 2017 – Eje Prime

The UK fund is satisfying its investment appetite in the Spanish market by making acquisitions. In this vein, it has just added a plot of land in the 22@ district of Barcelona to its portfolio of assets. The plot is located at number 66 on Calle Cristóbal de Moura, according to Frédéric Mangeant, the Director General of the fund in Spain. Following this purchase, the group plans to construct an office building on the site.

Although the company did not want to make a statement about the amount of the operation, sources close to the deal say that the fund must have paid around €10 million. According to the same sources, Shaftesbury has purchased the plot of land from “a bad bank”, and is now waiting to receive all of the necessary licences from the Town Hall of Barcelona before it starts construction of the property.

Shaftesbury is thereby committing itself to one of the areas that is expected to grow by the most in the Catalan capital. The 22@ district is attracting a large number of companies, both from within Spain as well as from overseas, wanting to open offices in Barcelona. In the same way, a large number of real estate companies are committing themselves to the construction of new office buildings to satisfy demand (…).

Shaftesbury’s purchase of this plot of land forms part of the group’s plans to grow in the Spanish market. Headquartered in Luxembourg, the fund’s leader in Spain is Frédéric Mangeant, an executive who previously served as a managing partner of the international real estate consultancy Knight Frank and who is a member of the Board of Directors of Real Valladolid Football Club.

Shaftesbury’s Spanish subsidiary began its expansion in Spain in 2014, with the purchase of a building at number 48 on Calle José Abascal in Madrid, which it acquired from Sareb for €26.5 million. The fund has converted that property into a luxury residential building. According to sources in the sector, the 17 homes cost around €8,500/m2, and are set to become a benchmark for the multiple high-end projects that are currently underway in the capital (…).

The Shaftesbury Asset Management group manages more than €1,700 million of real estate assets and created the fund Shaftesbury Real Estate Partners 1 in 2015 with the objective of investing approximately €300 million.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake