Aedas Homes Unveils 100-Home Development in Aljarafe (Sevilla)

27 February 2019 – Eje Prime

Aedas Homes has taken another step in its expansion in Aljarafe (Sevilla). The real estate developer has just launched its Tovar development, a housing project aimed at people looking to reposition on the housing market and young people looking to rent. The development will comprise one hundred homes in total, which will be constructed in two blocks of 28 homes and 72 homes, respectively. The project has already been granted its building permit and the first homes will be available at the end of 2020.

This development is the company’s seventh in Sevilla and its second in Aljarafe. The homes are priced from €151,437 and have a shared common room, outdoor swimming pool, padel court, games room for children and green spaces.

The project comprises two, three and four-bedroom homes, including penthouses with terraces and surface areas of up to 70 m2 and ground floors with gardens measuring up to 170 m2 (…).

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Apple’s Landlord to Build a 20,000 m2 Hotel in Central Madrid

27 June 2018 – El Economista

The Mexican Díaz Estrada family, owner of the Apple store in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol, has decided to launch a new hotel project in the heart of the Spanish capital. It will be a large complex, spanning almost 20,000 m2, which is going to be built on Calle Montera, in two adjacent buildings, one of which used to house the former Acteón cinemas for many years.

According to several sources in the sector, speaking to El Economista, the Latin American group has decided to re-launch this development now, although it has been working on it for several years. In this way, the family acquired numbers 25-27 Calle Montera in 2013 through its company Exacorp One. That building had been owned by the public company Madrid Espacios y Congresos, which purchased it in 2007 for €55.4 million during the reign of Alberto Ruíz Gallardón. The intention of the Administration was to renovate the property and give it a new lease of life as a hotel, but that operation was thwarted by the arrival of the crisis and the plummeting prices. In the end, it sold it for €34 million to Exacorp One, which, in 2015, also acquired the adjacent building (Montera 29-31) where the Acteón cinemas used to be located.

Now the group is going to convert both buildings into a 173-room hotel complex, according to the project plans to which this newspaper has had access. Thus, the company obtained the permits to carry out this project last summer and according to the same sources, may have already reached an agreement with a chain to operate the hotel. According to the experts, this project has sparked interest amongst all operators, especially those who still don’t have a presence in Spain. “It is a very iconic project in the heart of Madrid, where there are few developments of this size underway. Moreover, Calle Montera has undergone a very significant transformation in recent times, to improve its retail and restaurant offer”.

The construction of the new hotel will involve the complete demolition of the building at number 29-31 (the Acteón cinemas) in order to build a new building connected to the adjoining one. The 12-storey establishment will have one of the best terraces in the centre, spanning 654 m2 – housing a restaurant – with a swimming pool (…). The initial plans also include the installation of a gym, a bar, meeting and banquet rooms, as well as a function room for the hotel. In addition, the building will house five commercial premises.

This is not the first hotel project from the Díaz Estrada family, which is also the owner of the new Hyatt Centric, at number 31 Gran Vía. With that opening, the chain returned to Madrid in December 2017 after leaving the management of the Villa Magna nine years ago. The Hyatt name is precisely one that is being suggested as a possible contender to operate the hotel on Calle Montera, under one of the chain’s other brands, given that it could do so by reaching a double agreement with the owners.

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Colonial Inaugurates its First Utopicus Co-Working Centre in Barcelona

28 May 2018 – Eje Prime

Colonial is preparing to launch its co-working business in Barcelona. On 31 May, the Socimi is going to inaugurate its first Utopicus shared work centre, which will open its doors at number 16 Ronda de Sant Pere, in Plaza Cataluña, as revealed by Eje Prime.

This space will have a surface area of 1,400 m2 spread over six floors. Colonial, which has carried out the renovation of the building, owned by Maximus Ventures, will offer a variety of services including a cafeteria, fixed offices, coworking spaces, a terrace and an urban vegetable patch. Moreover, the group is getting ready to open more new Utopicus centres.

The firm’s second space in Barcelona is going to be located at number 9 Calle Bretón de los Herreros, in the heart of the Gracia neighbourhood. The space, which will open its doors in June, will measure approximately 1,700 m2 spread over four floors.

The third coworking centre that Colonial is going to open will be larger, since it will be located in a building that, in part, is owned by the Socimi, which purchased it from BBVA for €14 million. That co-working space will span 4,200 m2 and will be located in the former headquarters of Albertis.

Colonial acquired a majority stake in the Madrid-based Utopicus with a view to developing a new line of business. Utopicus already operates three centres in Madrid, located on Calles Duque de Rivas, Colegiata and Doctor Esquerdo. With this investment, the Socimi will help the company, which has a total supply of 3,500 m2, to boost its business with the opening of new spaces in Madrid and across the rest of Spain.

Original story: Eje prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

MK Premium Acquires First Property in Madrid

12 December 2017 – Eje Prime

MK Premium has arrived in Madrid. The family office has acquired a property measuring 728 m2 in the Chamberí neighbourhood, in which it will invest €2.4 million in total between the purchase and subsequent planned renovation. The company will close 2017 with more than 95 assets in its portfolio.

MK Premium’s first building in the Spanish capital, located at number 10 Calle Santísima Trinidad, is around fifty years old. Inside, the property contains four homes, one per floor, with a surface area ranging between 66 m2 and 99 m2, as well as a penthouse flat with a terrace, measuring 107 m2.

Founded by the brothers Daniel and Sergio Leiva, the real estate company MK Premium started its real estate activity five years ago in Barcelona, where just a few weeks ago, it acquired two more properties. Now, it is working on its expansion across Spain, which has led to the opening of an office in Madrid. With its first asset in the capital, the real estate company’s portfolio now contains almost 100 assets (95, to be specific).

The company expects to close 2017 with revenues of almost €25 million, after recording turnover of €14 million during the first half of the year, and profits of around €1.7 million.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Stoneweg To Convert Former Provincial Court Building Into Luxury Homes

25 October 2017 – Expansión

The real estate investment platform Stoneweg, led by the Spaniards Joaquín Castellví and Jaume Sabater and headquartered in Geneva, has unveiled a new project in Madrid. The firm, which brings together funds from private and institutional investors across Europe, has acquired a building on Calle Ferraz in the Spanish capital where it plans to create a residential development containing 25 luxury homes. Until recently, the property used to house several departments of Madrid’s Provincial Court.

Located in the Argüelles neighbourhood between Calle Princesa and the exclusive Paseo de Pintor Rosales, the building will contain more than twenty homes, with a surface area of between 150 m2, for the smallest flats, to 176 m2 for the penthouses, with 30 m2 of terrace space and 77 m2 of solarium with a private swimming pool.

Construction work is expected to begin in January 2018, for completion at the end of 2019.

The homes will cost between €935,000 and €2.2 million and will include one or two parking spaces each plus a storeroom. The sale of the homes will be led by the estate agency Gilmar.

This is not the only residential project that Stoneweg is currently working on in Spain. The Swiss manager has 30 developments underway at the moment, located in Madrid, Barcelona, Costa del Sol and Costa Brava.

In total, the company has invested around €450 million in various real estate projects across the country and plans to invest a further €250 million. Besides Spain, the manager also has investments in Switzerland, USA and Italy.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

RIU Starts Work On Edificio España To Open Hotel In 2019

24 October 2017 – Expansión

The Mallorca-based hotel chain RIU has started work to renovate Edificio España, which will house its first hotel in Madrid and which will be the company’s flagship property in the country.

The future RIU Plaza will have a four-star rating and will contain 589 rooms and 15 meeting rooms, with almost 3,000 m2 to be used for events. Moreover, the hotel will have a gastro bar in the reception, two restaurants and a sky bar located on the two upper floors, one of which will have a terrace and a swimming pool.

The hotel chain purchased Edificio España from Baraka back in June in a three-way transaction, shortly after the Murcian group owned by Trinitario Casanova had purchased the property from Wanda for €272 million.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Madrid’s ‘Plaza Río 2’ Shopping Centre Will Open Its Doors On 20 October

27 September 2017 – Press Release

The Plaza Río 2 shopping centre, which is located on the banks of the Manzanares River and opposite the Matadero of Madrid, will open its doors on 20 October.

The new shopping centre, in whose construction almost €200 million has been invested, spans a commercial surface area of 40,000 square metres. It will be one of the iconic shopping centres in the capital and will house up to 160 stores for large domestic and international groups.

Plaza Río 2 is a comprehensive and innovative alternative, thanks not only to its extensive retail, leisure and gastronomic offering, but also its privileged location inside Madrid’s urban perimeter.

This ambitious project has been integrated into the Madrid Río initiative, and is the result of a collaboration between the public sector and a private company to achieve a positive impact on local employment, in harmony with the local environment.

It is the first major real estate project from the Town Hall of Madrid’s current government and it will provide a strong economic boost to the area. Plaza Río 2 has generated approximately 2,000 jobs during the construction phase and, following its opening, will create 1,800 permanent roles. In addition, it is going to offer the perfect combination of leisure, entertainment, fashion, gastronomy and services for the inhabitants of the neighbouring districts of Centro and Ribera del Manzanares.

The opening of Plaza Río 2 will be accompanied by the inauguration of the Mirador de Plaza Río 2, the largest restaurant terrace in the capital, covering a surface area of more than 3,000 m2. Visitors will be able to enjoy spectacular views of the city from the rooftop, together with a varied gastronomic offering. It is regarded as the pinnacle of the Madrid Río project.

Plaza Río 2 has been designed by the architecture firm Chapman Taylor and will comprise three retail floors and a fourth dedicated exclusively to restaurants. Natural light will feature heavily throughout the centre and the building will be equipped with the most advanced systems in terms of energy efficiency and sustainability.

The project has been promoted by La Sociedad General Inmobiliaria de España (LSGIE), taking its portfolio of shopping centres across Spain to eight. LSGIE’s first centre was Madrid 2 La Vaguada, and since then, it has embarked on several others, including:

Plaza Loranca 2, Gran Vía 2, Plaza Norte 2, Gran Plaza 2, La Villa2, and Plaza Mar 2. For management purposes, LSGIE relies on the ‘Company for Shopping Centres in Spain’ or ‘Sociedad de Centros Comerciales de España’ (SCCE) which offers its services, knowledge and experience in this sector.

Original story: Press Release

Translation: Carmel Drake

Aina Purchases 50% Of Gran Hotel Velázquez From Didra Group

25 July 2017 – Expansión

Aina Hospitality – the fund promoted by Edmond de Rothschild and Jaume Tàpies – has purchased 50% of the iconic Gran Hotel Velázquez from the Didra Group. The property is located at number 62 of the Madrilenian street whose name it bears.

This asset, located in the neighbourhood of Salamanca, just a stone’s throw from the Retiro park and in the heart of Madrid’s golden mile, has been owned by the Didra Group for just a few months. It is currently undergoing a comprehensive renovation with the aim of ascending its category.

Together with the Didra Group, owned by the Ardid Villoslada family, Aina Hospitality will reposition the property, transforming it into a five-star hotel. Last year, the family office owned by the Ardid family reached an agreement with the Salazar family – the former owners of SOS Cuétara – to purchase this hotel for €63 million and now, almost a year later, it has decided to open up the share capital to Aina Hospitality.

At the moment, the four-star Gran Hotel Velázquez, has 143 rooms but it recently closed its doors to undergo a complete refurbishment.

Repositioning

Following its renovation, the hotel will have 111 rooms and suites, a restaurant, a rooftop terrace, cinema, bowling alley, luxury spa and fitness centre.

Tàpies, the CEO of Aina Hospitality, highlighted the excellent location of the hotel: “Madrid is a cultural, historical and leisure destination and it is a tourist and financial centre. This hotel is located in the centre of the city, close to some of the most important tourist attractions and the historical centre”.

The operation represents Aina Hospitality’s seventh investment in Europe and is in line with the investment strategy carried out by the manager to date. Aina Hospitality purchases high-end properties – with four- and five-stars ratings. In addition to Madrid, the fund has recently made acquisitions in Paris, Eindhoven, Vienna, Brussels and Berlin.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Colonial To Build 24,500 m2 Office Skyscraper In 22@

16 February 2017 – La Vanguardia

Colonial has started construction of the largest turnkey office building in the Catalan capital in recent years in the 22@ district of Barcelona. The office will have a surface area of 24,500 m2, distributed over 17 completely open-plan floors – there will not be any pillars – measuring around 1,800 m2 each. The real estate company will invest €77 million in the project and construction is expected to be completed by the middle of 2018.

At a press conference on Monday, Colonial’s Director of Business, Alberto Alcober, explained that this building will seek to offer the highest qualities in terms of spatial and environmental design – it will become the first office building in the city of Barcelona to receive the LEED Platinum certificate – whereby allowing it to differentiate itself from the existing supply of office buildings in the city.

The property is located on Calle Ciutat de Granada, 150, next to Plaza de Glòries; it will have a 100m long façade covered with ceramic tubes in green and natural tones, and the façade that overlooks the interior of the block will be covered with vegetation to help it blend in with a municipal park that is due to be built there.

The property, whose design is being led by the studio Batlle i Roig Arquitectura, will also have garden terraces. It is being marketed exclusively by Cushman & Wakefield, which has already secured a pre-lease contract with the Norwegian group Schibsted to occupy 10,200 m2 – 9,400 m2 of office space and 800 m2 of terrace – spread over six floors, to house between 700 and 800 employees.

Schibsted will hereby bring together the workforce that currently occupies three buildings in the Barcelona area – two in the capital and one in Sant Cugat de Vallès – and increasing its surface area by 30%. To this end, it has signed the largest pre-lease agreement in the city in the last 10 years for a building under construction. (…).

Besides Schibsted, which owns websites such as Infojobs, Vibbo, Fotocasa, Habitaclia, Milanuncios and Coches.net, the future office building is receiving lots of interest from other potential tenants, according to its promoters.

This project forms part of the investment plan announced by Colonial in 2016. The real estate group acquired it from the fund Benson Elliot for €45 million and will spend €32 million on the construction work.

Original story: La Vanguardia

Translation: Carmel Drake

Palladium Opens 2nd Only You Hotel In Madrid

14 November 2016 – Expansión

Only You has come a long way since the end of February, when Abel Matutes Prats first introduced the future Hotel Only You Atocha and the project was still a building site. Now the scaffolding has been removed, and the second hotel owned by the brand that belongs to the Palladium Hotel Group is ready to go.

The establishment is expected to be opened within the next few days – definitely before the end of November – to join the firm’s other Only You property on Calle Barquillo in Madrid. This new hotel, located on Paseo Infanta Isabel, will have 206 rooms (192 doubles and 14 suites).

Designed by Lázaro Rosa-Violán

The interior designer Lázaro Rosa-Violán has worked with the Matutes family once again and has made the property its own. The firm has created an industrial environment, with old fashioned tiled floors, cobblestones, retro styles and multi-spaces, all under one roof.

The lobby, restaurant and reception all merge into one and are full of typical Rosa-Violán features. (…). In this vein, the hotel will house a retro American-style gym, which will offer a personal trainer service and running club.

Here, one sometimes feels that one is not in a hotel, but rather in a fashion store. A sensation sought and found. The dream of any hotel is to turn its restaurant into a pilgrimage destination, even for non-guests. Hotel Only You Atocha will have its own Trotamundos restaurant, with the gastronomy of chef Javier Mora, alongside Jon Giraldo and Jaime Liebermande (chefs from Spoonik in Barcelona), who will present a mixture of cuisine from Latin America, Asia and Spain.

The bar will also be large, and will offer a comprehensive wine list and cocktail menu. There will be a Mamá Framboise (cake and pastry) stand in the lobby of the hotel, with recipes from Alejandro Montes.

The top floor will house a Youniverse restaurant, which will serve breakfast. The space has different corners and themed trolleys with tables both inside and on the terrace. In addition, the hotel has a well-appointed treatment room managed by Caroli Natura Bissé and adaptable meeting rooms for events. (…).

Only You Hotel Atocha is located opposite the train station of the same name.

Original story: Expansión (by Nerea Serrano)

Translation: Carmel Drake