Tag: Shopping Center

Catalonia, La Caixa Rush to Save BCN World As Veremonte Leaves

15/12/2014 – ExpansionPro

Generalitat, the regional authority of Catalonia, decided to save the gaming and entertainment project of BCN World, set to be constructed adjacently to the Port Aventura park in Villa-seca and Salou, Tarragona. Businessman Enrique Bañuelos and his group Veremonte stepped down from their position as the main developers. Now, Catalonia will buy the land which belongs to La Caixa’s holding Criteria.

As the buying deadline for Veremonte passed last week and the group did not pay the pledged 377 million euro amount, a new agreement with the entity was signed. The underlying plots of 190 hectares in total are destined for construction of hotels and casinos inside the BCN World. The local government is going to pay 100 million euros for them, not immediately though. It will dispose of a purchase option to execute within 18 months, i.e. from January 2015 to June 2016.

Four groups obtained licenses to operate in the complex: Chinese Melco, U.S. Hard Rock, Veremonte and Grupo Perelada, a local casino leader. Also, Value Retail, Meliá and Caesars are involved in the project.

Generalitat will seal the deal through public company Incasol, in exchange for a license and the land. It is said that once the complex running, the Catalan authority may earn 300 million euros.

In turn, the entity chaired by Isidro Faine is going to keep the residential part of the BCN World and develop it through its affiliate Mediterranean Beach & Golf. Generalitat would intend 250.000 square meters for the dwelling units and 10.000 sqm for the retail area.

Veremonte justifies its decision to withdraw with the fact that Catalonia failed to finish its Town Planning Project for the BCN World on time, i.e. before the deadline, which was essential for starting the building works.

‘No matter what the company does, the BCN World will be constructed’, said the head of Generalitat, Andreu Mas-Collel. He sees a great potential in the project, given both interest of the casino operators and general good it may do to the Catalan economy. Recently, the project’s managers met up to confirm and rectify their intention to continue in the process.

 

Original story ExpansiónPro (by Sergi Saborit, Jueves 11 diciembre 2014, pp 4)

Translation: AURA REE

Bet on Flagship Stores Causes Smaller Establishments to Shut Down

12/12/2014 – ExpansionPro

From Serrano to Paseo de Gracia, through Gran Via and Rambla de Catalunya. High-streets of Madrid and Barcelona, and also of Bilbao and Seville, have transformed into a battlefield for the most prominent operators, in majority from the clothing industry, striving to open their flagships in these coveted locations.

‘All of them strike over 4.000 retail spaces on the Preciados, the Gran Via and the Serrano streets in Madrid, and the Paseo de Gracia, the Portal del Angel streets in Barcelona’, specified the Head of Retail High Street of JLL Spain, Angeles Perez.

The mega-store fever, though, results in shutting down smaller shops. ‘Average H&M stores in Spain span over 2.500 square meters, which implies that in order to open a new, larger shop, the chain has to close some other. Also, Mango could start closing its establishments as it is currently buying many properties for its innovative concepts’ , said the executive woman. For instance, Mango is planning to open a 3.000 sqm store at 13 Orense street, Madrid.

Furthermore, the odds are low that Inditex would close any shop as when it removes one, it replaces the establishment with another brand. For example, the 46 Serrano property formerly housing Zara is now occupied by Massimo Dutti (pictured), and that in turn was replaced by Oysho.

Recession had little or no impact on the high-streets’ rental prices. Just the opposite, there even have been some rebounds. Thus, a prime area square meter costs 228 euros in Madrid (up 8 euros from 2013, and up 18 euros from 2010), JLL reported. In case of Barcelona, the increase is even more notable as today’s price, 233 euros per square meter, has been increasing constantly since 2008.

Investment in retail assets has reached 330 million year-to-date, and the forecasts are that at the end of 2014 the amount will show 450 million euros. ‘Private investors and family offices look to buy shops from between one and ten million euros, whereas funds like Axa are ready to pay more than ten million euros’, remarked Borja Ortega, JLL’s Real Estate Director. ‘The operations are 60%-70% financed’, he added.

Along with the end of the year, the old-system rental contracts, i.e. signed before 1985, will have to be rectified and renewed.

 

Original story: ExpansiónPro (by Rocío Ruiz, Jueves 11 de Diciembre, pp 14)

Translation: AURA REE

Media Markt to Have 46 Stores in Spain By 2024

3/12/2014 – Expansion

Media Markt wishes to grow in Spain. The technology and electric appliances chain belonging to German group Metro is going to open 46 establishments within six to ten years and reach 12o sales points. Spain is its Europe’s third main market, both in terms of number of shops and sales, just after Germany and Italy.

The chain strikes city centres due to limited expansion potential in the suburbs. Today, Media Markt will give first step in this direction by opening a new store in Madrid, at 106 Alcala street and inside the Goya high-street radius.

The property, former Benlliure cinemas (for some years also housing Eroski‘s library branch Abac), has 1.900 square meters of retail space, a little bit less than average shops of the German chain disposing of at least 2.800 square meters. However, the group expects bumper sales in that location.

Media Markt landed in the capital of Spain with its store inside complex Paseo de la Castellana 200.

Original article: Expansión (by C. G. Bolinches)

Translation: AURA REE

Eighty Spanish Shopping Malls Waiting For New Owners

28/11/2014 – Expansion

They reign in the real estate industry of Spain. Big or small, in the outskirts of large cities or in the centers of towns, shopping centers account for most of property deals in the country.

From January 1st to November 15th, almost 30 of them changed hands. According to Deloitte Real Estate, investment in the Spanish retail assets amounted to about €1.63 billion.

5% of Europe’s Total

In the first half of the year, €890 million were spent on shopping malls in the entire Europe. Investments in Spain represented 5% of the total, beaten only by the UK and France.

By transaction volume, over-€200 million amounts were destined for purchases of the Islazul retail park (Madrid) bought by fund Tiaa Henderson for €230 million and the Marineda (La Coruña) sold to Socimi (REIT) Merlin Properties for €260 million. Another Socimi, Lar España, has invested a little bit more than €160 million in five shopping centers.

All the Spanish Socimis, opportunistic funds and institutional investors contributed to the avalanche of deals on the national market.

‘Private equity investors, who accounted for majority of acquisitions last year, now are ceding the ground to more conservative buyers like the Socimis, German property and American pension funds’, explained Javier Garcia-Mateo, Real Estate head at Deloitte.

Among the steps taken by these new players on the Spanish ground, noteworthy are: the purchase of the Castellana 200 complex in Madrid, including a shopping mall and office space, by Canadian PSP, and the acquisition of 50% of the Zenia unit in Alicante, performed by the Alaska Permanent Fund. The two totally different properties prove interest in all kinds of retail assets.

Thus, year-to-date, a package of eight shopping parks was sold to a consortium of funds for €160 million, as well as the Boulevard in Vitoria for an amount of €153 million.

Aside from the January-November investment volume, further deals worth at least €600 million are expected to be sealed still before the end 2014. For instance, the Plenilunio shopping mall in Madrid (pictured), put up for sale by Orion at €400 million. The fund paid €262 million for it in 2009.

As Deloitte Real Estate assures, there are more than 80 more shopping centers in Spain currently up for sale. It is said they will be handed over to best bidders within the next six months and the total amount proceeding from their sales will reach €3.5 billion.

‘Large part of prime assets have depreciated by 30% on average in less than a year, and the secondary by 14%’, says Mr. Garcia-Mateo. ‘And this did not happen because rental prices had gone up but because of the yields’.

Presently, there are 547 shopping malls in Spain, with Madrid concentrating almost 100 of them. Their gross lettable area totals at 15.43 million square meters.

 

Original article: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: AURA REE

RE Investment Expected to Hit €9 Bn in 2014

26/11/2014 – Expansion

Among the 236 real estate deals sealed in Spain during the first nine months of the ongoing year, noteworthy are the purchase of the Edificio España building by China’s richest man Wang Jialin who paid €265 million for it, and the €2 billion amount invested year-to-date by local REITs (known as Socimis).

‘By buyer’s profile, the U.S. funds acquired most property in the country. They had a more opportunistic approach and now they will hardly buy anything. Apart from these purchasers, one cannot forget the big-name international investors like Soros, Buffet and Paulson, who also have shares in investment vehicles, the Socimis’, explains CBRE’s Office Advisory and Alternative Investment director Patricio Palomar.

From January to September, a €6.57 million amount was spent on Spanish non-residential assets (i.e. offices, shops, shopping malls, hotels and industrial warehouses). CBRE forecasts the figure will have reached €9 billion by the end of the year.

‘We estimate the 2014 closing will see the real estate boom levels. However, to achieve that, many more transactions should be sealed as prices plummeted‘, Mr. Palomar points out. Of the amount, around €3.2 billion will be spent on shops and shopping centers, €2.5 billion on offices and about €350 million on logistics assets. ‘From 2013, investment in the logistics market multiplied by four’, CBRE claims.

Year-to-date, there have been 236 deals sealed on non-residential properties. To compare, in 2013 there were 172 operations, and in 2012 only 63. Total investment in tertiary assets amounted to €6.57 billion, €4.93 billion a year earlier and €2.2 billion in 2012.

The volume was fed mostly by portfolio sales, like the four-office building package bought by Blackstone from CBRE Global Investors. ‘In 2014, many large project sales have taken place, for instance the tenders of Oncisa, IDL or the properties sold by Catalan authority Generalitat. We don’t think that 2015 will see so many asset portfolios up for sale, debt will be more common’.

The expert assures that because these portfolios were bought in the five-year lowest point of the real estate cycle, they will bring huge returns to the buyers, as ‘a property purchased now will be gaining in value by 10% annually, posting 50% more in five years’, Patricio Palomar states.

 

Original article: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: AURA REE

H&M Opens & Other Stories in Madrid

20/11/2014 – Cinco Dias

One of the premium brands of H&M is going to make itself home in the Teatro Infanta Beatriz theatre building in Madrid, which housed restaurant Teatriz for over two decades. Now, Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) will breathe life into the iconic property located at 15 Hermosilla street inside the Salamanca district.

The new store will have at its disposal a 900 square meter total area distributed over three floors, one of them rounded, a raised scene looking up 20-meters to the roof, a backdrop, spotlights and marble details. The atmoshpere of history and past might be perceived inside the new & Other Stories shop since its opening on December 5th.

In spring 2013, the brand opened its first Spanish establishment on the Paseo de Gracia street in Barcelona, a minute-walk from the Plaza de Catalunya square. Next store will be located in Malaga, to be precise on the Larios street.

Apart from Spain, & Other Stories units are found in Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden (mother country), the UK, Italy, the USA, France and Germany.

H&M, employing more than 116.000 workers, 160 designers and a hundred of pattern designers, increased its sales by 14% in October from the same month in 2013. In total, the group operates in 3.437 establishments (3.081 a year earlier).

Other brands of the Swedish chain are: targeted at teenage girls Monki, denim-loving Weekday and affordable Cheap Monday.

 

Original article: Cinco Días (by Paz Álvarez)

Translation: AURA REE

Outlet King Simon Property Enters Spain

19/11/2014 – Expansion

Simon Property Group, the owner of outlets and shopping centers known all around the world, has just sealed its first investment in Spain. Through its arm McArthurGlen, controlled by Simon Properties and Kaempfert, the U.S. giant will develop an outlet dominated by high-end clothing brands in Malaga.

McArthurGlen teamed up with Portugese retail expert Sonae Sierra, holding and managing several establishments in Spain (e.g. the Plaza Mayor, Malaga, or the La Farga, Barcelona). The joint venture will pile up €115 million in funds.

The new mall will be developed in two stages. First, set to open in 2017, assumes creation of a 17.000 square meter gross lettable area (GLA), will see an investment of €70 million. The works will start in the second half of 2015. In the following phase, 13.000 square meters will be developed for a total of €45 million.

The outlet will have 90 stores and will be located adjacently to the Plaza Mayor unit of Sonae Sierra.

 

Original article: Expansión (by R. Ruiz)

Translation: AURA REE

Spaniards Top Retail Investment Despite Foreign Equity Flooding

11/11/2014 – El Economista

Spain magnetizes investment and the arrival of international funds undoubtedly gave a tremendous impetus to the country’s real estate market. However, it turns out that the predominant buyers are the Spaniards themselves.

According to a report by real estate advisor JLL, during the first ten months of the year, the Spanish purchased most retail assets, accounting for 32.10% of the total investment.

As Retail Analyst at JLL David Mendez Lopez says, the data shows that local demand for this sort of assets ‘has been reviving investment in our country since the beginning of 2014. The Spaniards are presently pointing at a path to invest in a market bringing better and better returns’. A clue spotted by equity originating from, for instance, Korea, as the experts suggests these investors backed ‘the purchase of the Islazul shopping mall in Madrid by TIAA – Henderson which paid €230 million’.

The U.S. investors rank the second, accounting for 21.06% of the whole investment in the Spanish real estate. Noteworthy and recent transactions were the sales of: the shopping mall portfolio of Vastned Retail to a joint venture led by Baupost Group for €160 million, the Gran Vía de Vigo center (pictured) by Oaktree for €113 million, or the portfolio including the Factory Outlet Nassica in Getafe and the Vista Alegre in Palencia, sold for €92 million.

France takes the third place among the top nations buying retail assets in Spain. Having a 17.63% contribution in the total, the position has been secured by one grand transaction: the acquisition of the 63-shopping-park portfolio for €400 million by Carrefour Property from Klépierre.

Year-to-date, the total equity spent on retail in Spain amounts to €2.26 billion and the forecast is the volume will hit a record €2.7 billion at the end of the year. Not far from the 2006 figures, when the transactions value posted nearly €3.1 billion.

 

Original article: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: AURA REE

ING Purchases Moraleja Green Shopping Park From CBRE Global Investors

11/11/2014 – Expansion

Real estate fund CBRE Global Investors has closed sales of several shopping centers in Spain within less than nine months. The deals were parts of the overall asset turnover strategy bringing the property consultancy company over €500 million in revenues.

The last mall from the Spanish portfolio was the Moraleja Green in Madrid. The property has a 76.763 square meter area in total, including a 29.600 square meter GLA leased to a supermarket run by Sanchez Romero, several Inditex‘s brands like Zara, Massimo Dutti and Oysho, and H&M, among others.

Dutch entity ING’s real estate fund is said to have paid about €68 million for the shopping center. The main challenge of the new owner will be reactivation of the entertainment and restaurant areas of the Moraleja Green, dominated by eight movie theaters of Cinesa.

The mall was developed by Metrovacesa and BBV. Opened in April 1995, its area was extended by additional 12.000 square meters in 2001. As per figures by the Spanish Association of Shopping Centers, last year it was visited 3.38 million times.

This is not the first business handshake of ING and CBRE Global Investors in 2014. Few months back, the partners sealed a deal on the Boulevard center in Vitoria for €150 million. CBRE Global Investors also sold the Urbil mall in Guipuzkoa for €60 million to Axa Reim, the Alcala Magna in Madrid to Incus Capital for €85 million, the Gran Vía de Vigo unit to Oaktree for €100 million and the Modoo in Asturias for €45 million.

In 2013, CBRE Global Investors broke the suit in the crisis-battered market with the sale of the Parque Principado shopping center in Asturias for €141.5 million.

During the first nine months of the ongoing year, €2.3 billion was spent on retail parks only, with a total of €6.5 billion invested in the non-residential properties, tells CBRE.

 

Original article: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: AURA REE

Investment in Non-Residential RE Reaches €5 Bn, Up 34% Over Entire 2013

30/10/2014 – Expansion

During the first nine months of 2014, a nearly €5.04 billion amount was spent on the Spanish real estate. The score beats the 2013 figures by 34%, reports BNP Paribas Real Estate.

The company estimates that the data ‘reflects sustainable interest of investors, both domestic and foreign, in a market offering prices close to the bottom levels’.

BNP says Socimis (Spanish REITs) contributed to the numbers significantly as they have spent €2 billion on residential and commercial real estate in Spain.

The firm claims that beyond these vehicles stands the ‘unsatisfied appetite of international investors who invested the equity throught various formulas’.

Most 2014 active so far have been the Northern American, the British, the Asian and the Latin American investors. Speaking of the asset types, prime retail parks are considered the engine of this year’s bumper investment as they account for 32% of the total, although behind the office sector (34%). Hotels repesented 20%, while logistics units 9% of the whole investment volume.

The Investment director at BNP Paribas Real Estate España, Francisco Manchon, stated that ‘2014 is exceptional in terms of real estate spending. The market has stayed at its lows when it comes to return and capital value since the end of 90s and this drew attention of those who found out that Europe alternative markets are worn-out’, the executive highlighted.

 

Original article: Expansión

Translation: AURA REE