Ana Botella & 7 of Her Officials Sentenced to Pay €22.7M for the Sale of Flats to Vulture Funds

28 December 2018 – Voz Pópuli

The Court of Auditors has sentenced the former mayor of Madrid, Ana Botella (pictured below) and six high-ranking officials of her municipal Government to pay €22.5 million for the sale of 1,860 publicly owned flats to two companies owned by Blackstone, considered to be a vulture fund, for a price below that stipulated by the market in 2013. Another senior official, Fermín Osle, has been sentenced to pay more than €3 million for his role as the “accountant directly responsible” for the operation.

The ruling, revealed by Cadena Ser, concludes that the eight people now condemned “engaged in serious negligence” by not preventing “damage to public property” by selling the homes for €128.5 million when, according to the calculations of the Court of Auditors, Botella’s Executive could have received proceeds of more than €151 million.

The sentence is based on a claim filed a year ago by the current Government of the Spanish capital, led by Manuela Carmena, through the Municipal Housing and Land Company (EMVS). The ruling determines that the operations carried out by the Municipal Housing Company that reported into the Government “led to an unjustified impairment of public property”, which they estimate amounted to €23 million.

The other condemned officials are Enrique Núñez Guijarro, Diego Sanjuanbenito, Paz González García, Dolores Navarro, Pedro Corral and Concepción Dancausa, former delegate of the Government of Madrid.

They will appeal the sentence

The former mayor and her then municipal government team are going to appeal the sentence, according to sources, after hearing the content of the ruling, since “they do not agree with it”. They also noted that the Prosecutor of the court has already requested the dismissal of this claim “for not having any accounting responsibility”.

In the same way, they have indicated that the previous Governing Board of the Town Hall of Madrid “did not intervene directly or indirectly in the operation to sell the homes” to which the decision by the Court of Auditors refers. “Only, and in its capacity as the General Shareholders’ Meeting of the aforementioned company, did they ratify the feasibility plan that the EMVS’s Board of Directors had already approved”, they highlighted.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Carlos Frías)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Metrovacesa to Invest €400M in a 2,870-Home Residential Project in Sevilla

7 June 2018 – Eje Prime

Metrovacesa is looking south in its growth plan for the next few years. The listed property developer has unblocked, together with the Town Hall of Sevilla, what is going be its largest project outside of Madrid and Barcelona and what constitutes the largest development currently being planned in the Andalucían capital.

The project is going to bear the name of the Sevillan neighbourhood in which it is located, Palmas Altas Sur, and will consist of a 2,870-home development, of which 2,000 units will be built by Metrovacesa. The remainder will be social housing properties and their construction will be entrusted to the Town Hall, according to El Confidencial.

For the property developer, this land is the most significant plot that it has undeveloped at the moment in its Andalucían portfolio – that region accounts for 25% of the company’s total land bank. The first 600 homes in Palmas Altas Sur will start to be handed over from 2021. Moreover, Metrovacesa will also build 400 VPO homes as part of its construction plan for the area, which will last for five years.

In terms of investment, in the access routes and urbanisation of the land, Metrovacesa is going to invest €60 million, which will come from the corporate loan the firm signed with seven financial institutions at the end of 2017. For the construction of the residential buildings, Pérez de Leza has announced that they will be financed through property developer loans for each phase.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Junta Awards Plot for Construction of 88 Social Housing Properties in Córdoba

20 March 2018 – Diario Córdoba

The Junta de Andalucía has awarded one of the two plots of residential land in Córdoba destined for protected housing that were included in the most recent offer for the sale of real estate assets by the Agency for Housing and Rehabilitation in Andalucía (AVRA), which will enable the construction of 88 social housing properties in the O-3 Residential Sector of the provincial capital. The plot, measuring 4,656 m2 and with a buildable surface area of 9,462 m2 over the ground floor and six storeys, has been awarded for €1,687,103, according to reports from the Junta itself in a press release.

The sale of this plot comes in addition to the sales that the Agency has been formalising in Córdoba over the last three years, where it has managed to dispose of 11 units of residential land in the O-3 sector, for a price of €11.3 million, with capacity for the construction of 710 protected homes, some of which are going to be promoted by private companies and others by municipal initiatives.

The total number of protected plots sold in Córdoba since 2015, including the plot that has just been awarded, now amounts to 12 plots for the construction of 798 homes, with a combined surface area of 54,817 m2. These plots have been awarded for €13 million in total.

The regional delegate for the Ministry of Housing and Development, Josefina Vioque, said that “sales of regional plots of land were reactivated at the beginning of the legislature after the Ministry decided to recover this activity as a strategic axis in the management of its public assets”.

Original story: Diario Córdoba 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Junta De Andalucía Puts 6 Plots Of Land Up For Sale In Rincón de la Victoria

12 November 2017 – 20 Minutos

The plots of land are located in the Malagan municipality of Rincón de la Victoria and the Junta has put them on the market for a total price of €15.8 million. This represents the fourth and final sale of the year in the province.

The representative for Development and Housing in Málaga, Francisco Fernández España, reiterated that this initiative from the regional Government seeks “to boost the promotion of housing in the province, especially social housing properties, and place public land assets at the disposal of the local production fabric”.

According to España, the objective is to “boost” economic activity and “generate employment” in Málaga, whereby allowing “business and industrial development by making these plots of land available”.

Moreover, the representative highlighted that the revenues generated from the sale of these assets will be used to allocate resources to the “housing policies, especially orientated at helping the most vulnerable families and those who can least afford to buy a home”.

At the same time, he continued, the revenues will be used to “facilitate companies’ ability to undertake their production activity and grow and expand with new plots”. In this way, he said that this land sale will also contribute to the reactivation of the construction sector and to the generation of employment in a sector that was hit very hard by the crisis”.

According to a statement issued by the Junta, the last land offer of the year seeks to “transfer land that has already been classified as developable by the Agency for Housing and Rehabilitation in Andalucía (AVRA) and therefore, that is ready to be built on”. (…).

Of the six plots, the largest one has capacity for 88 homes and the smallest one, for 50 homes. In addition to these plots, the offer includes two retail premises in the centre of Málaga and five parking spaces in the Malagan municipalities of Villanueva del Rosario and Ronda.

Plots in Andalucía

This new offer comes after AVRA has sold plots with capacity for the construction of 1,473 homes, mostly social housing properties, during the current legislature. Those plots have a combined surface area of 287,282 m2, split between residential and industrial use across the whole of Andalucía, according to the Junta.

The recovery of land management by AVRA has allowed it to sell plots with a combined sales price of €50.2 million in total since 2015, according to the Andalucían Government.

Of those plots, the land dedicated to residential use amounts to 107,928 m2, with capacity for the construction of 1,473 homes, of which 891 will be social housing units and the remaining 582 will be private homes.

Meanwhile, industrial land amounted to 179,353 m2 and the vast majority of that is located in the province of Jaén, in particular in the municipalities of Alcalá la Real, Martos and Linares.

Original story: 20 Minutos

Translation: Carmel Drake

Junta De Andalucía Puts 777 More Industrial & Residential Plots Up For Sale

7 November 2017 – La Vanguardia

The Ministry of Development and Housing, through its Agency for Housing and Rehabilitation in Andalucía (AVRA), has launched a new supply of residential and industrial land for sale, spanning 900,500 m2 and distributed over 777 plots across all of the provinces in the autonomous region.

According to a statement from the department led by Felipe López, this latest supply comes after the current legislature has already sold plots with capacity for 1,473 homes, mostly social housing properties, and a total of 287,282 m2 of land for residential and industrial use.

In its last land offer of the year, the Ministry of Development and Housing highlights that it is seeking to sell land that already received planning permission from AVRA – and therefore, which is ready to build on – during the years before the crisis, like on the previous occasions since it resumed this activity at the beginning of the current legislature. With this, the Junta wants to boost the construction of homes, especially social housing properties, and to encourage investment in the business fabric using the industrial land on offer (…).

According to the Ministry, the recovery of the management of AVRA’s land has allowed it to sell plots since 2015 whose combined sales price amounts to €50.2 million. The Agency has used the funds raised to boost new initiatives aimed at facilitating access to housing for those families with the fewest resources (…).

The bidding opens on 27 November

The new supply of land that the Junta is putting up for sale comprises land spanning 900,500 m2, distributed across 777 plots, with a combined total price of €117.6 million. 430 of the plots are for industrial and tertiary use, spanning 529,123 m2, whose combined price amounts to €40.6 million.

The residential land supply comprises 114 plots, spanning 97,134 m2, for 1,482 social housing properties, with a total price of €23.5 million; and another 220 plots, measuring 270,127 m2 for 1,559 private homes, with a price of €53.4 million. The Director General of Real Estate also owns another 134 plots for private residential use, with the capacity for 53 homes, whose management has been entrusted to the AVRA. These plots have an asking price of €3.8 million. The residential development plots are distributed across all eight of Andalucía’s provinces.

In addition, the sale includes 269 garages (€3.2 million), 112 premises (€15.2 million) and 10 storerooms (total price of €45,532) (…). Specifically, the date scheduled for the opening of bids is 27 November.

Original story: La Vanguardia

Translation: Carmel Drake

Anticipa Real Estate: House Sales Could Reach 526,000 In 2018

20 October 2017 – El País

House sales in Spain may reach 526,000 units in 2018, up by 9.3% with respect to the 481,000 operations that are expected to be closed in 2017 (which, in turn, represents 10.1% more than last year), provided financing conditions and the performance of the Spanish and Eurozone economies continue on course. Of that total, the bulk will be replacement homes (upgrades) and just 275,000 will involve the creation of new households. Moreover, the prices of new and second-hand homes will continue to rise with a growth rate of 5.8% during the fourth quarter of 2017 and of another 5% during 2018, although they will still be 23% lower than the peaks recorded in 2007.

Those are some of the findings of a report by Anticipa Real Estate, specialising in real estate management and loans, and belonging to the international fund Blackstone, about the housing market in Spain 2017-2019, which the firm’s CEO, Eduard Mendiluce, presented at the Barcelona Meeting Point conference, together with Josep Oliver, a professor from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), whose team compiled the research.

The increase that is forecast by the company with respect to the minimums recorded in 2013, when just 285,000 transactions were completed, will reach 85% by 2018. Nevertheless, according to Professor Oliver, the market volumes are still 42% below the peaks of 2006, when more than 900,000 private homes were sold.

Other figures that are below the maximums reached in the boom years are the number of finished homes (private and social housing properties) in Spain. The report sets a total of 63,400 units for 2019, compared to 62,900 units forecast for 2017. Although these figures represent a significant increase (more than 48%) with respect to the minimum recorded in 2016 (42,700 finished homes), the volume is 90% lower than the expansion peaks.

In terms of Cataluña, the research indicates that the number of private home sales should amount to around 82,000 during 2017 as a whole (up by 10.8% YoY) and 90,000 during 2018 (up by 9.8%). In terms of prices, they are forecast to increase by 6.9% in 2017 and by 6.1% in 2018. Given that the reduction in house prices was greater in Cataluña than across Spain as a whole (almost 45% compared to 37%), prices in 2018 are still expected to be 27% lower than those of 2007.

Original story: El País (by S.L.L)

Translation: Carmel Drake

INE: House Sales Rose By 16% YoY In August To 41,282

11 October 2017 – Expansión

House sales rose by 16% in August with respect to the same month in 2016, to reach 41,282 operations, according to Spain’s National Institute of Statistics (INE). With the YoY increase in August, the volume of house sales recorded four consecutive months of increases.

In inter-monthly terms (August vs July), the sale of homes rose by 6.3%, its second highest increase in a month of August for the last five years. Although the increase in August was slightly lower than that recorded in July (16.8%), the number of house sales (41,282) recorded its third-highest figure since February 2011, exceeded only by May and June, when more than 44,000 sales were closed.

Transactions involving second-hand homes increased by 14.9% in August compared to the same month in 2016, to reach a total of 33,886, whilst the sale of new builds rose by 21.3% in YoY terms, to 7,396 transactions. “The residential market is showing clear signs of growth thanks to the strong performance of the economy, the consolidation of the mortgage market and the return of confidence to a sector that has been reviled for years and that is now starting to arouse interest again”, explains Beatriz Toribio, Head of Research at Fotocasa.

Based on data for August from INE, Toribio highlights the progress in the new build segment, which grew by 21.3% in YoY terms compared with 14.9% in the second-hand market. “The recovery of the real estate market has brought with it an increase in the volume of off-plan purchases and property developer activity, which will serve to alleviate the shortage in the supply of new homes, which is becoming more evident in large cities”, she added. “In 2017, new build homes will recover some of the limelight lost during nine years of consecutive decreases”.

90.6% of the homes sold during the eighth month of the year were private and 9.4% were subsidised social housing properties. The sale of private homes rose by 16.6% in YoY terms in August, to reach 37,412 transactions, whilst operations involving social housing properties rose by 10.2%, to 3,870 transactions.

The highest volumes of house sales for every 100,000 inhabitants were recorded in the Community of Valencia (163), the Balearic Islands (152) and Andalucía (125). Andalucía was the region where the most house sales were registered during the eighth month of the year, with 8,224 sales, followed by Cataluña (6,720) and the Community of Valencia (6,370). The regions that recorded the fewest number of house sales were La Rioja (262), Navarra (477) and Cantabria (507).

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

‘Operación Chamartín’ Becomes ‘Madrid, Nuevo Norte’

31 July 2017 – Expansión

A Solomonic agreement has been reached between DCN, the Ministry of Development, the Town Hall of Madrid and the Community of Madrid to push ahead with the long-standing project, which will see the construction of 11,000 homes (including 4,100 social housing properties) and a large business centre.

But its name is no longer ‘Operación Chamartín’, ‘Distrito Castellana Norte’ or ‘Madrid Puerta Norte’….after almost 25 years since the idea was first floated by the then government of Felipe González, the development in the northern zone of the belt of Madrid’s M30, is going to be called ‘Madrid, Nuevo Norte’.

On Thursday, the Town Hall of Madrid, Adif and DCN (the property developer in which BBVA and SanJosé hold stakes) presented the strategic guidelines upon which the new project is going to be based. It reduces the buildability to 2.68 million m2, down by 20.5% compared to the 3.37 million m2 proposed by DCN, and cuts the total number of homes to 11,000, of which 20% will be social housing properties. On the other hand, the management of the plan has been handed over to the Town Hall of Madrid, which will control the timings and activities.

The players involved announced the 19 points included as the basis of the agreement, most of which are technical, and which also involve resolving the legal actions. The new plan will see a modification to the General Urban Plan (PGOU) and is divided into five areas (Chamartín Station, Business Centre, Fuencarral Malmea, Fuencarral Tres Olivos and Las Tablas) and two large zones: the South of the M30, which will constitute primarily office space and a large CBD, and the North of the M30, which will focus on housing.

A large business centre for Madrid

One of the fundamental axes of the plan will be the Chamartín station and the Business Centre, which will be located next to the new station to allow for sustainable mobility. The event on Thursday was attended by the Minister for Development, Íñigo de la Serna; the mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena, and the President of the company Distrito Castellana Norte (DCN), Antonio Béjar. “This initiative has solid pillars and is sustainable over time. It is an avant-garde and recognisable project, which will generate investment and create employment”, said Antonio Béjar.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena, expressed her appreciation for the capacity for “dialogue and consensus” and asked for collaboration from the other political groups to move ahead with the project. “The world is changing. From now on, in Madrid, we are going to be capable of forming part of that change”. For the Minister for Development, Íñigo de la Serna, this is a new project, born out of an agreement that unites the interests of the parties (…).

In this way, the urban planning project, which just six months ago looked to be doomed to failure, seems to be back on track in the critical areas. The property developers said that Madrid does not currently have a recognisable and compact business district. This plan, they said, is designed to fill that gap.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo, L. Ruiz-Ocaña and C. Galera)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Luxury Home Developer Caledonian Plans To Enter Hotel Segment

5 June 2017 – La Vanguardia

The luxury housing company Caledonian is planning to expand its activity into the hotel sector, with the construction of a vacation complex on the Costa del Sol, according to comments made to EFE by the President of the company, Enrique López Granados.

The complex will be located “between Algeciras and Marbella”, although López Granados chose not to specify the exact location because the project is still in the negotiation phase.

López Granados, who recently unveiled a luxury housing development in Pozuelo (Madrid), also confirmed that Caledonian has purchased the Javier Ferrero building in Madrid for €9 million.

The building will be refurbished and then the real estate company is expected to generate between €25 million and €30 million from the sale of the homes.

Caledonian is also interested in constructing social housing properties in Madrid, although the property developer has not found an appropriate location for that yet.

“The aim is to construct around 2,000 homes to be sold for around €2,000/m2”, explained López Granados.

The President of Caledonian said that the yield that the real estate company obtains from its activities is “small”, close to 15%, given that the homes that it sells “are expensive because it costs a lot to build them”.

The 21 homes that Caledonian has constructed in Pozuelo and that López Granados unveiled last week cost between €500,000, for the cheapest, and €1.5 million, for the most expensive.

“I also think that this is a great time for the luxury sector, given that people are starting to buy again”, said López Granados.

The Director also said that Caledonian would like to expand into other geographical areas, such as Barcelona. Nevertheless, he clarified that the real estate company has not yet found “any appropriate plots of land to be able to build on”.

“If we could find appropriate plots of land, we would not have any problem starting projects in other places”, he said.

Nevertheless, López Granados said that constructing in other areas “requires additional effort”, and for that reason, he prefers “places that he already knows such as the Costa del Sol and Madrid”.

Caledonian is a property developer and construction company that specialises in the luxury property sector. It has constructed projects in locations such as Somosaguas (Madrid), Aravaca (Madrid) and Ibiza.

Original story: La Vanguardia

Translation: Carmel Drake