Catalan Generalitat to Acquire Land in Tarragona

29 June 2019

The Regional Ministry announced that it would exercise its preemptive right to acquire the land where BCN World had been planned for construction. The Catalan government expecteds to pay more than 100 million euros to La Caixa for the property.

Investors have planned a series of different projects for the site, beginning with the Eurovegas megacasino and followed by and the Valencian company Veremonte’s BCN World.  The latest plans are for the Hard Rock Entertainment World (HREW). Construction on the €2-billion project had been slated for this month.

The investors behind the initiative, including the Generalitat, Value Retail, which owns La Roca Village) and the Benetton family had been complaining about their failure to receive the necessary permits to begin work on the project. However, reports have stated that the government firm Incasòl will acquire the land and transfer it to HREW.

Original Story: Crónica Global

VIA Outlets will Start Renovating its Shopping Centre in Sevilla in Q4

11 October 2018 – Eje Prime

VIA Outlets has a start date for the remodelling and expansion of its shopping centre in Sevilla. The European group is going to start the building work on its Sevilla Fashion Outlet before the end of the year, according to explanations provided by the company to Eje Prime. The start of the complex’s reconstruction coincides with the opening of Torre Sevilla, owned by CaixaBank, and the relaunch in 2019 of Palmas Altas, owed by Lar España.

The company is going to invest more than €13 million in this comprehensive renovation project of the Sevillan outlet centre, the group’s second largest in Spain, after its complex in Mallorca. Amongst other aspects, “the building work will include the reconfiguration of the restaurant and food area”, says the company, which is also going to increase the number of parking spaces by approximately 40%.

In terms of aesthetic considerations, the renovation will involve a general remodelling of the centre, which will include a new façade, a renovated entrance and new common areas. “This, as a whole, will contribute to repositioning Sevilla Fashion Outlet as the only premium outlet in Andalucía”, says the group.

The retail complex has been owned by VIA Outlets since January 2017, when it purchased it from the fund Irus European Retail Property. With a surface area spanning 16,400 m2, Sevilla Fashion Outlet has already started the work to recondition and expand the complex’s parking area.

Founded in 2014 as a joint venture between  APG, Hammerson, Value Retail and Meyer Bergman, VIA Outlets has seen rapid growth in the real estate retail market. In just four years, the group has acquired eleven centres around Europe and, recently, it recruited two new senior managers. They were Otto Ambagtsheer (formerly of Unibail-Rodamco), who has been appointed as the Operations Director, and Peter Stals (formerly Blackrock),  who is the company’s new Finance Director (…).

The portfolio of VIA Outlets spans a gross leasable area (GLA) of more than 259,000 m2 and is home to more than 850 brands across the nine European countries in which it has a presence. In 2017, the group’s eleven centres recorded sales of more than €1 billion and were visited by more than 30 million people.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Jabier Izquierdo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Criteria Raises the Price of the Plots for Hard Rock Café Complex in Tarragona

8 October 2018 – El Confidencial

Criteria, the holding company of the investment companies owned by La Caixa, has increased the price of the plots on which Hard Rock Café Entertainment World is set to be built. The new leisure and casino complex is due to be constructed in Tarragona, next to Port Aventura. That is according to explanations provided by sources in the real estate sector to justify the delay in the project, formerly BCN World, which constitutes the largest foreign investment pending in Cataluña and which will involve the disbursement of €2 billion in total.

Criteria had closed an option to sell the land worth €110 million. But that was in December 2014. Now that Hard Rock Café, a multinational from the United States of America specialising in hotel and restaurant complexes linked to casinos, wants to exercise the option, Criteria is claiming that the real estate market has recovered in the last four years and so the price needs to be updated.

Sources at Criteria declined to comment but other sources in the real estate sector explained that a new due diligence process is being carried out to determine the magnitude of the price increase. The new price is expected to amount to around €140 million, a claim that has been rejected wholeheartedly by the Hard Rock Café, which alleges, and rightly so, that the delays incurred by the project (…) which now amount to more than three years, cannot be attributed to the company.

According to the original plan, the project should have been ready by 2015. But, partly due to the withdrawal of investments, and partly due to the political instability in Cataluña, the complex has suffered various delays.

Hard Rock Café is the only company that survived the bidding process for the gambling licences and is now the main party responsible for developing the complex. The forecast investment in Tarragona amounts to €2 billion for the construction of Hard Rock Entertainment World, which will have two hotels and 1,100 rooms, a shopping area with 75 shops – which will be operated by the British giant Value Retail, owner of Las Rozas and La Roca – and a 10,000 m2 casino. The project is expected to create more than 11,000 jobs and will be carried out in phases: the first amounting to €600 million.

When the initial investor withdrew, which was led by the businessman Enrique Bañuelos, La Generalitat subrogated the option to purchase the land, as a way of ensuring the continuity of the project. But that operation is neutral. La Generalitat would only perform a transfer and the final investor would have to pay the price of the plots. The Administration does not want to assume the surcharge that the new valuation would now result in.

Different positions

Each party defends its position. For Hard Rock Café, it cannot make its company or the other investors responsible for the delays incurred and therefore, does not want to assume the additional cost.

Meanwhile, Criteria has renewed the sale option, which had a term of 18 months, on up to four occasions to ensure that the investment would not go to waste, and considers that its efforts should also be rewarded.

An agreement must be reached between the parties soon (…). This project is key for Cataluña and will only serve to turn around the foreign investment figures that have been negative for the Catalan Administration since the independence process entered its critical phase.

Licence in May

In May 2018, Hard Rock Café obtained the licence for the project, which includes the gambling licence for the casino, granted by La Generalitat. That administrative permit arrived a year late due to the political instability in Cataluña. Now, Hard Rock Café, which is owned by a tribe of Seminole Indians (Florida) has three years to submit its plans. La Generalitat expects the building work to begin in 2019. The negotiations with Criteria could mean more delays if the positions fester, warn sources in the real estate sector.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Marcos Lamelas)

Translation: Carmel Drake

VIA Outlets to Invest €13M+ in Expansion of Sevilla Fashion Outlet

6 June 2018 – Eje Prime

VIA Outlets wants to open a large showcase of luxury stores on the site of a former industrial estate in Sevilla. A year and a half after purchasing the Sevilla The Style Outlets shopping centre from the fund Irus European Retail Property, the company has announced that it is going to invest more than €13 million in the remodelling and expansion of the facilities, located near to Sevilla airport.

The construction work will begin in September, during a year in which VIA Outlets forecasts growth of 5% for Sevilla Fashion Outlets, its current name, and a “considerable” increase in international clientele, as indicated by the company.

VIA Outlets is a joint venture formed by Value Retail, the British firm Reit Hammerson, the Dutch pension fund APG and the European real estate investment manager Meyer Bergman. In its Andalucían asset, the company has luxury fashion clients such as Polo Ralph Lauren, Lacoste, Coach, Tous, Bimba y Lola, Scalpers and Hugo Boss, amongst others.

The aim of the manager is that, with the more than 15,000 m2 of recently acquired land, the outlet will become the largest smart shopping centre in the south of Spain.

More international clientele 

In addition to its growth forecasts, the joint venture is also aiming to attract more tourists to the facilities with the expansion. “The proximity of Sevilla Fashion Outlet to the airport and the good connections with the urban nucleus of a booming tourist destination such as Sevilla makes the centre a great attraction for international clientele”, said Ignacio Lobarón, Managing Director of the centre.

Currently, VIA Outlet’s portfolio comprises eleven centres located in nine European countries, including four on the Iberian peninsula (in Sevilla, Mallorca, Lisbon and Porto). Moreover, the group owns commercial spaces in Germany, The Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland, Norway and Poland.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

VIA Outlets Buys 4 European Outlet Centres, Including 1 In Sevilla

25 November 2016 – Real Estate Press

VIA Outlets, the joint venture formed by APG, Hammerson Plc, Meyer Bergman and Value Retail, has signed an agreement to acquire four outlet centres, with a total value of €587 million and an initial yield of 5.5%, in a deal that is pending authorisation by the regulators.

The outlets are located close to major cities in Germany, Portugal, Spain and Poland. This purchase increases the value of VIA Outlets’ portfolio, which comprises ten assets, to €1,100 million, in which Hammerson owns a 47% stake.

Timon Drakesmith, CFO of Hammerson Plc and Chairman of VIA Outlets’ Advisory Committee, said: “This is a rare opportunity to acquire these four outlet centres in an off-market operation”.

“The European markets are very well positioned and are continuing to experience strong sales growth, supported by improved supply and an increase in the number of tourists across Europe”.

VIA Outlets has identified opportunities to boost sales growth and revenues from the operation, through a change in the commercial mix and the implementation of various marketing and tourism initiatives.

To support the portfolio increase, the organisational structure of VIA Outlets has been improved through external hires to expand the asset management, marketing and finance teams. The estimated IRR for the assets acquired is 11% over five years. (…).

In Spain, the JV has acquired the outlet located in the north east of Sevilla, which attracts a growing number of tourists visiting Andalucía. The outlet has a surface area of 16,400 m2, and is home to 65 brands, including Tommy Hilfiger, Mango, Polo Ralph Lauren and Adidas. Its annual sales amount to €3,600 per m2. (…).

Original story: Real Estate Press

Translation: Carmel Drake