Demand for Upsizing Remains Stable and Interest in Detached Houses Rises

Although requests for information about new build homes fell by 23% between 15 March and 30 April, sources at Foro Consultores highlight that the decrease is lower than they would have expected.

Although requests for information about new build homes fell by 23% between 15 March and 30 April, compared to the previous 1.5 month period from 1 February to 15 March, sources at the firm Foro Consultores highlight that the decline is lower than they would have expected, and that information about new build products is still being sought.

What are people looking for?

Over the last month and a half, the type of home demanded has been similar to during the previous comparable period. In other words, “around 60% of people make enquiries about 3-bedroom homes, and in those cases, they are looking to upsize. Approximately 25% ask about 2-bedroom units; they are typically first-time buyers. But what has changed is that they are more interested in flats with free spaces: penthouses, ground floor properties with a garden in the case of multi-family houses. More people are also asking for information about housing developments (villas)”, explain the sources at Foro.

A Judge Orders the Demolition of 52 Villas in O Grove (Galicia)

8 November 2018 – Inmodiario

Administrative Court number 1 of Pontevedra has confirmed the demolition order for 52 homes in the Raeiros urbanisation, located in San Vicente do Mar (O Grove), as well as of the roads and large movements of earth undertaken in the area, classified as non-buildable land with special coastal protection. An appeal against the ruling may be filed with the TSXG (the Superior Court of Justice of Galicia).

In the ruling, the judge dismissed the appeal presented by one of the owners against the resolution adopted in October 2017 by the Agency for the Protection of Legal Urban Planning (APLU), which requires the owners of the 52 villas to comply with a demolition order dated 2014.

The demolition was decreed by the Xunta for the first time in 2010. The Administrative Court also imposed the payment of the costs on the claimant.

The ruling explains that the legislation prohibits the residential use of that type of land, a woodland area that overlooks the Balea-Raeiros beach.

In 1993, the owner obtained a licence to build an aparthotel for tourist use on the site, but, according to the judgement, constructed 52 terraced villas for residential use and sold them to different owners.

In 2007, the Xunta required them to implement hotel use and to dissolve the parcelation by joining together all of the houses into a single asset, but that order was ignored.

In 2010, the APLU ordered the demolition and ordered it again in 2014. The Administrative Court number 1 of Pontevedra confirms in its ruling that most recent demolition order.

“The construction licence was linked to the activity. Without the hotel use (without parcelation) everything that has been constructed lacks sense”, said the judge in the ruling, in which he also pointed to the possibility that the hotel licence granted in 1993 may have expired.

Original story: Inmodiario

Translation: Carmel Drake

HI Partners Acquires Remaining 50.1% of Hotel Abama in Tenerife

12 March 2018 – Expansión

HI Partners has been making its first acquisitions since being taken over by Blackstone Real Estate. Banco Sabadell’s former hotel holding company has taken ownership of 100% of Hotel Abama Golf & Spa de Tenerife after acquiring the 50.1% share capital that it did not yet control from the Polanco family.

The company led by Alejandro Hernández Puértolas already purchased 49.9% of the luxury Canarian tourist resort from Tropical Hoteles – a subsidiary of the Polanco’s investment group, Timón – a year ago, and has now become its sole owner.

Luxurious five-star resort

Ritz Carlton is going to continue managing the establishment, which has a luxury five-star rating and 461 rooms, of which 148 are villas. Located in the town of Guía de Isora, the resort was designed by Melvin Villarroel. It spans a surface area of 90,000 m2 and has a two-starred Michelin restaurant run by the chef Martín Berasategui.

HI Partners, which Blackstone acquired last year for €630 million, owns 16 hotels comprising 4,684 rooms, which are operated by chains such as Ritz-Carlton, AC by Marriot, Lopesan and Meliá.

Original story: Expansión (by S. Saborit)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Alicante Global Group Teams Up With Basque Property Developer Ferrocarril

25 October 2017 – Valencia Plaza

Alicante Global Group, the new real estate venture from the former President of the Santa Ana group, Juan Antonio Iniesta, and the former President of the Alicante employers’ association Coepa, Moisés Jiménez, to place property developments foreclosed by the banks back on the market, is expanding its base.

According to Iniesta himself, in statements to Alicante Plaza, the businessmen from Alicante have joined forces with the Basque property developer Grupo Ferrocarril (which is now based in Rivas Vaciamadrid), which will be in charge of finishing and selling those developments.

As this newspaper published at the time, Alicante Global Group, comprising the Alicante-based companies The Casas Company and Alicia Hoteles, was created with the intention of acquiring developments foreclosed by banks during the toughest years of the real estate crisis, completing them, revaluing them and putting them back on the market. The Group signed its first operation in May with Liberbank: two residential towers in Gran Vía, Alicante, and several villas in the luxury residential development Altea Hills.

The partner that Iniesta and Jiménenez have been looking for in this regard is the Basque property developer Grupo Ferrocarril, which specialises in the construction of private homes and social housing, both in its home region and also in Madrid in recent years. The group, chaired by the businessman Rafael González Cobos, has, in turn, formed a strategic alliance of its own with the Madrilenian giant in the sector Grupo Avintia, owned by the property developer Antonio Martín Jiménez, which has been heavily backing the Community of Valencia: at the start of 2016, it inaugurated its offices in Valencia capital, and it now has eight projects underway there (one of which is actually in Alicante) and more than 600 homes under construction. Together, the two firms have created the Ferrocarril Avintia group to operate in South America (…).

According to explanations provided by Iniesta to questions posed by this newspaper, it is likely that Martín Jiménez’s company (Grupo Avintia) will be responsible for the execution of most of the improvements of the acquired developments, by virtue of its agreement with Ferrocarril (…).

Original story: Valencia Plaza (by David Martínez)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Engel & Völkers: House Prices Soar In Ibiza

21 July 2017 – Eje Prime

The real estate market in Ibiza is continuing to rise. Demand for high-end housing in Ibiza continues to significantly exceed the available supply, which has led to an increase in the prices registered on the island over the last year, according to a study prepared by the German real estate consultancy firm Engel & Völkers.

In its Ibiza Markets Report, the company explains that over the last year, it has sold homes to clients of 17 nationalities. Although most buyers on the island came from Germany, for the first time in almost ten years, Spaniards were the second largest group of house buyers.

The nationality of the other main house buyers included people from the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Italy and the Benelux countries. “Ibiza is still one of the favourite destinations for the international jet set and retains its leadership position in the Balearic Islands as the island with the most private flights”, say sources at the consultancy firm.

One of the most sought-after areas on the Balearic Island is the city of Ibiza and its surrounding areas. The redevelopment of the old town will be completed this year and so new luxury hotels will soon enhance the exclusivity of that area. In this sense, luxury villas measuring 350 m2 saw their prices increase by 14.2% in 2016 to reach €4 million.

Properties range from contemporary designer villas to traditional estates. The asking prices for villas measuring 350 m2 start at €3.5 million, whereby exceeding the figure of €3 million paid in 2015.

Entry prices for villas measuring around 350 m2 in very good locations rose to €2.6 million in 2016 compared to €2.5 million in 2015. “We are convinced that the growth of the real estate market will continue for the rest of the year in Ibiza”, predicted Florian Fischer, Director General of Engel & Völkers España.

The consultancy firm forecasts that the high level of demand will continue, both from domestic and international buyers, for primary and secondary residences on the Balearic Islands, primarily in the most premium segment, where the limited number of exclusive properties will lead to further price increases over the long term.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

The Seven: Sotogrande Unveils Its Latest Ultra-Luxury Villas

11 April 2017 – Cinco Días

Unless you have €5,000 a month to spent on the service charge, then these exclusive villas are not for you. In fact, they are a concept that has rarely been seen anywhere in the world: a residential development comprising seven homes, each of which is going to be designed by an internationally-renowned architect, in a natural setting designed by a famous landscaper. The development is called The Seven. And it is the latest ultra-luxury initiative in Sotogrande, San Roque (Cádiz).

Sotogrande is undergoing a complete transformation. Established in 1962 by the millionaire Joseph Rafael McMicking, a businessman of Filipino origin, it quickly became one of the poles of attraction for domestic and overseas millionaires alike. Following the purchase from NH Hoteles in 2014 by the funds Cerberus and Orion, for €225 million, the management company has spent a while reflecting on what this urban complex in the Mediterranean should look like in the future. And the answer came from the past. “When you look at the history of Sotogrande, everything revolves around exclusivity and quality”, explains Marc Topiol, CEO of the company. (…).

The villas will crown a small outcrop in one of the highest areas of Sotogrande, with views over the sea, in the closed reservation of La Reserva, spanning 467 hectares. Construction of these dream homes, in the middle of this natural setting, will begin this year, with the aim of selling the properties by 2020.

The company has chosen seven internationally renowned architects to integrate their designs into The Seven (…).

A home in The Seven will cost between €14 million and €18 million. Each property will have a surface area of between 1,800 m2 and 2,400 m2, with the main bedroom measuring more than 120 m2. All of the homes will be equipped with everything a millionaire could wish for: a private spa, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a cinema and gym. “We will take care of everything. From paying bills to maintaining the garden and the home, opening up the home when the owner so requests, daily room service, chef, shopping, cleaning, restaurant reservations, transport, it will be live living in a hotel”, says Topiol. All for €5,000 per month (excluding extras).

In addition, residents will enjoy use of the shared facilities that Sotogrande has designed for La Reserva: a spa resort, one of the largest navigable lakes in Europe, tennis courts, golf, an artificial beach, a beach club….in an investment made by the company amounting to €40 million. Not to mention the well-known facilities at the urban complex, such as the Santa María Polo Club, horse riding facilities, the port and the famous golf courses, such as Valderrama and Real Club de Sotogrande. (…).

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

British Developers Lead Revival Of Costa Del Sol’s Property Sector

4 January 2017 – El País

The United Kingdom’s decision to leave the European Union in June has not discouraged London-based property developers from investing in Spain. Among the companies looking to establish a presence along the Mediterranean are Round Hill Capital, which has chosen the Costa del Sol as its launch pad into Spain.

The group, set up by Michael Bickford, has opened offices in Madrid, where it is also looking to buy property, along with Barcelona and the western part of Malaga’s coastline. It has paid €30 million for a 50-hectare plot of land in Ojén, close to Marbella, from Sareb, the entity set up by the government in 2012 to absorb the toxic assets of the country’s banks. It intends to build 600 luxury apartments there. Palo Alto will be the first major property development in the area since 2008, when the country’s real estate sector crashed.

With a total investment of €250 million, Palo Alto is planned in 10 phases, with work on 75 properties due to begin early in the new year. Ojén’s local council has approved construction and other permits in less than two months.

Matías Villaroel, Round Hill Capital’s Spanish manager, says that the company had second thoughts about the project immediately after the Brexit vote, but decided to go ahead because the properties are not being targeted at British buyers.

Round Hill Capital has already sold half of the first phase of the development, mainly to Germans, Belgians, and Scandinavians. Prices for the apartments range from €440,000 to €950,000.

A few kilometers along the coast in Torremolinos, another British property developer, Intu, is going to build what it says will be the largest shopping and leisure complex in Andalucía, covering some 200,000 square meters. The company is still awaiting final approval, but says it intends to begin work early in the new year, with completion due in 36 months.

Intu, which built the Puerto Venecia shopping center in Zaragoza, says it intends to invest some €600 million in the project, with a further €500 million coming from other partners. The company adds that it expects to generate some 2,500 jobs to build the project, which will then provide work for around 4,000 people.

The most recent report commissioned by the British Chamber of Commerce into the opportunities for UK businesses in Spain concludes that neither the uncertainty over the Brexit referendum nor the absence of a Spanish government put investors off during the first six months of 2016. It notes that 64% of UK companies in Spain intend to maintain their investments here, with 8% saying they intend to increase their presence, while 28% said they intended to reduce their investment. The United Kingdom is Spain’s fifth-biggest source of foreign direct investment, making up 11% of the total.

British ambassador to Spain Simon Manley says he is “optimistic” and believes that the EU and the UK will reach agreement over Brexit that will protect trade ties.

Also in Marbella, Pacific Investment is building five upscale villas at a cost of €25 million. Each of the properties, which will sit on between 2,000 and 3,000 square meters of land, will cost around €7 million.

Estepona, in the west of Malaga province, has been keen to attract developments, granting building permits within three months. Over the course of 2016, it has approved planning permission for four property developments for some 198 apartments, along with around 20 free-standing houses. Among the main players is London-based Kronos Home, which is building 70 luxury apartments in the Arroyo Vaquero area, some eight kilometers west of Estepona. It has plans to build in other areas of the Malaga coastline.

Original story: El País (by Esperanza Codina)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Round Hill Capital Invests €250M In Luxury Homes In Málaga

1 December 2016 – Expansión

Round Hill Capital, one of the leading international real estate investment firms, has launched operations in Spain with an investment of €250 million in the luxury Palo Alto real estate development. The project that will be constructed on a plot of land measuring 50 hectares in Ojén (Málaga) and represents the entity’s first investment in Spain.

The project will be divided into six phases and reflects Ojén’s General Urban Development Plan (PGOU). The licence has already been granted for the first phase and construction will begin as soon as the tender has been awarded.  Six construction companies are currently competing to secure the bid.

Specifically, the first phase, which will be executed between January 2017 and the autumn of 2018, will involve the construction of sixty apartments and fifteen penthouses, which will be sold for between €440,000 and €1 million each.

At an event in Ojén yesterday, the architect and developer of the project, Matías Villarroel, explained that the land on which the housing development will be constructed was acquired from Sareb for €30 million. It represents one of the most important sales by the entity in the area. “The natural location is privileged and unique”, said the property developer.

According to Villarroel, Palo Alto “is going to put Ojén on the map with a development that will be talked about a lot in the future”. The urbanisation, which has panoramic views of the sea and mountains is just five minutes from the La Cañada shopping centre and thirty minutes from the Málaga-Costa del Sol airport.

Meanwhile, the mayor of the municipality, José Antoni Gómez, who also attended the event yesterday, said that a project like Palo Alto “represents a socio-economic boost for Ojén and for the coast as a whole”. Gómez said that this urbanisation will be “a balcony to the Costa del Sol and a door to the nature and mountains of Sierra de las Nieves”.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Urbas’ Share Price Rises By 8% Boosted By H1 Results

19 September 2016 – Expansión

Urbas was one of the best performing companies on the stock market on Thursday. The share price of the real estate company, which has a strong presence in Madrid’s Corredor de Henares, rose by around 8% to €0.013 per share. The major catalyst for the increase was the fact that, during the first half of this year, the group left behind seven years of losses to record a consolidated net profit of €0.74 million.

The figure contrasts with losses of €4.7 million that it recorded in 2015. As at June, the net value of the group’s assets exceeded €415 million thanks to the reverse merger with Aldira Inversiones Inmobiliarias in 2015, which allowed it to strongly capitalise the company.

The strong increase in the share price of Urbas – which is constructing a hotel and resort in Cienfuegos (Cuba), which will consist of a marina, six golf courses, six 5-star hotels, three apart hotels, 1,500 villas and more than 3,000 apartments – is being accompanied by an unusual increase in trading volume.

More than 210 million shares have changed hands, a figure that significantly exceeds the average of just over 15 million during 2016.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Meliá & the CIO Group Bury The Hatchet

22 August 2016 – Expansión

Meliá and Compañía de las Islas Occidentales (CIO) – the Canary Island-based family group that brings together tourism, industrial and service sector companies – have put an end to the legal battle that has been raging between them since 2008.

The hotel chain owned by the Escarrer family has reported in a statement that CIO has acquired all of the shares that Meliá still owned in that group’s companies. Specifically, the company chaired by Francisco Javier Zamorano has acquired 5.03% of Inversiones Hoteleras Playa del Duque from Melía, along with the 8.42% stake that the hotel chain owned in Inversiones Turísticas Casas Bellas.

Inversiones Hoteleras Playa del Duque is the owner of the Gran Hotel Bahía del Duque (pictured above). Meanwhile, Inversiones Turísticas Casas Bellas owns and manages 40 five-star luxury villas at a complex that also houses a spa, mini-golf course and other facilities in the Playa del Duque urbanisation, in the town of Adeje (Santa Cruz de Tenerife), according to recent information filed with the Commercial Registry.

The business relationship between the two groups began in 1993, when Melía was chosen to operate Gran Hotel Bahía del Duque. The problems first arose in 2008, when CIO pushed Meliá aside from the management of the property. CIO defended its decision on the basis that Melía had opened a hotel complex in the same tourist area, which competed directly with Gran Hotel Bahía del Duque, given that, in its opinion, that represented a “clear conflict of interests”.

Meanwhile, Meliá initiated arbitration proceedings, which concluded that the Mallorcan chain had not breached any exclusivity agreement and that, therefore, the decision (to remove Meliá as the hotel manager) was improper and Meliá should receive €1.29 million by way of compensation.

Following that ruling, the company chaired by Zamorano understood that CIO would be automatically entitled to repurchase the shares that Meliá still owned in its companies, and that the dividends received for those shares would be returned, and so, it decided to appeal to the courts. Now, eight years later, and following Meliá’s exit from the CIO companies, the groups have definitively buried the hatchet.

Original story: Expansión (by R.Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake