Wanda Sounds Out Market Re: Sale Of Edificio España

4 February 2016 – Expansión

The Wanda Group has started to sound out the real estate market regarding its possible sale of Edificio España. A priori, the group’s only requirement is that the transaction price be at least equal to the amount the Chinese company paid Banco Santander when it acquired the property in 2014, in other words, €265 million.

However, unless those terms are relaxed, the operation has little chance of success. According to the first round of preliminary conversations, investors with a potential interest in acquiring the skyscraper would be willing to pay between €180 million and €220 million. That amount could increase to €240 million if the Local Heritage Committee changes its mind and allows the demolition of the building’s façades; however, that is unlikely, at least until there is a change in the Government of the Community of Madrid (which chairs and holds a large majority on the board of that body), but in any case, the figures fall well short of the amount set originally by the holding company led by Wang Jianlin.

Although the sale of Edificio España is now its preferred option, Wanda has not yet ruled out the possibility of pushing ahead with the renovation of the property, which would involve the construction of around 300 luxury homes, a 200-room hotel and a five-storey shopping centre, with a budget of €700 million. The last meeting with the representatives of the capital’s Town Hall was held last Wednesday, and the only message to emerge from it was that the company’s spokespeople did not declare that they are planning to abandon the project, despite weeks of speculation to that effect.

There is also a third hypothetical scenario, assuming that the sale of the building does not go ahead and that Wanda rules out the option of renovating the property without demolishing the façades. This option, which Jianlin’s company is currently evaluating, would involve keeping the property in its portfolio for four years, whilst they wait for a change in Madrid’s government, which may result in urban planning actions that would not require it to conserve the skyscraper’s external structure.

Real estate sources indicate that the only option that the Chinese tycoon is not considering is that of abandoning the operation as he does not want to send the message that he has lost money. They also say that Edificio España is still a very attractive asset, thanks not only to its location, but also to the combination of authorised uses (hotel, residential, commercial). (…).

Although the renovation project has not been ruled out completely, the company has now rescinded the contracts that it had signed with several architectural firms and legal advisors in Madrid. It is keeping its sales office open in the hope that it may help the group achieve its goal of transferring the skyscraper to a new owner.

Meanwhile, Grupo Wanda suffered a further setback yesterday, in addition to the huge losses it has experienced on the stock market since the start of the Chinese crisis last summer: the ratings agency Fitch lowered its credit rating to BBB from BBB+, on the basis of lower sales forecasts for 2016 and 2017.

Original story: Expansión (by Luis M. De Ciria, M. Belver and R. Bécares)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Edificio España: Renovation Prohibited So Wanda May Sell

13 January 2016 – Expansión

The Chinese company Dalian Wanda is considering putting the iconic Edificio España building on the market. It acquired the property from Santander for €265 million in 2014, but is not being allowed to completely renovate it and convert it into a luxury hotel, with a retail space and homes.

The group founded and led by Wang Jianlin wanted to pull down the tower, located in Plaza de España (Madrid) and reconstruct its façade with a design that is identical to the current one, however the new Town Hall of Madrid, led by Manuela Carmena, has rejected those plans, on the basis that the façade must be protected as it forms part of the city’s artistic heritage.

After months of fruitless negotiations between the Asian company and the Town Hall to begin the construction work, Wanda has now decided to sell the building, according to several sources consulted by this newspaper.

As a preliminary step, Wanda Madrid Development has decided to close the office that it opened in the Spanish capital to carry out the remodelling of the iconic building, which has stood empty for many years.

Following the commotion caused by the plans set out by Jianlin, the wealthiest businessman in Asia, the Town Hall of Madrid said yesterday that it was not aware of any plans for the building to be sold.

Meanwhile, the PP’s spokesperson at the Town Hall, Esperanza Aguirre, asked the municipal Government to “think twice” and allow Wanda to demolish and reconstruct Edificio España from scratch, because losing the investment (opportunity) and the jobs that would result from the Asian group’s plans would have “very serious consequences”. The spokesperson for Cuidadanos, Begoña Villacís warned that, if the decision is confirmed “Madrid could become an investment desert” since it is “a city with lots of development projects on the table and investment opportunities that we must not miss out on”.

Background

Despite the disagreements, Dalian Wanda, which also paid €45 million for a 20% stake in Atlético de Madrid last year, reaffirmed “its commitment” to “the citizens of Madrid” in October last year, as well as to the restoration of an “icon of the urban landscape”. The group confirmed that it was willing to hold “open and transparent dialogue, provided safety and the law are put first above everything else”.

At the end of November, the councillor for Urban Planning at the Town Hall, José Manuel Calvo, confirmed that the plans were moving ahead to enable the renovation work to start “as soon as possible”, although the administrative procedures must first be completed.

Madrid’s local historic heritage committee issued a binding ruling, which resolved that the façade must not be demolished or dismantled, but Wanda insisted that maintaining such a tall façade during the renovation work would be unsafe, which is why the company proposed that it be dismantled and then reconstructed.

Original story: Expansión (by R.R./A.F.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Indian Tycoon To Convert Café Berlin Into Luxury Hotel

10 December 2015 – El Mundo

An Indian tycoon has purchased the Café Berlin building, close to Plaza de Callao, where he plans to construct a luxury hotel. The current managers of the legendary jazz club must close the venue by 31 December 2015.

On 31 December, the last song will be played in Café Berlín. After more than 40 years lighting up the Madrilenian nights, one of the few jazz clubs still open in the centre of the capital, will be closing its doors. A new hotel will be opened in its place within the next few months. Its new owners are Indian with Hong Kong passports, specifically, the Mohinani family, and they have not only acquired the property that houses the café, Calle Jacometrezo, 4, they have also acquired the two adjoining buildings (Calle Jacometrezo, 6 and 8), an unbeatable location, just 20 m from Plaza de Callao and Gran Vía, to benefit from the high visitor numbers in the area. Work will begin at the site within 6 months.

At first glance, you do not notice anything, but the panel of owners of the properties in the centre of Madrid is changing at top speed. And it is not only the vulture funds and the traditional millionaires, such as Amancio Ortega, who are pouncing on the most coveted buildings. With the stock market in the doldrums and the Chinese economy rather battered, rich Chinese, Philippines, Indians and South-East Asian investors are finding that properties in European capitals are the perfect place for them to put their money for safe keeping.

Buying in Europe is fashionable to such an extent that, in two years, the magnate Harry Mohinani, aged 50, and his partners have invested €180 million in half a dozen properties in Madrid and Barcelona. The Mohinani family comes from the textile trade – Grupo Mulitex – and has been selling cheap clothes in Spain for years. Although their factories are in India, China and Bangladesh, their operational headquarters is in Hong Kong. Alongside them, 10 other families from the Asian textile sector are investing. They arrived in Spain two years ago, following in the wake of the Wanda Group, owned by the Chinese businessman Wang Jianlin. (…).

In Madrid, the family’s real estate company Platinum Estates operates at the hand of Reveals Inversiones, itself owned by the businessman Juan Luis Segalerva and with legal support from Garrigues, the legal firm that is acting as the gateway to capital inflows from Asia. “Before the end of the year, we will buy another three properties for around €100 million”, explains Segalerva. Between the two of them, they have woven a web of property companies, 11 companies in total, which are, in turn, subsidiaries of other companies also headquartered in Hong Kong.

The sellers, wealthy Spanish families, have no liquidity to renew the buildings or are in financial straits. These include the Echevarría family – owner of Jacometrezo – or the Salazar family, historical shareholders of Sos Cuétara (today Deóleo) and owners of the Gran Hotel Velázquez and the El Rocío restaurant, who sold Hotel Asturias, in Plaza de Canalejas to the same Indian family one year ago.

Original story: El Mundo (by José F. Leal)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Wanda Negotiates Purchase Of 75% Of Marina d’Or For €1,200M

2 December 2015 – Expansión

The Wanda group is holding negotiations to acquire 75% of the shares in the Spanish holiday complex Marina d’Or, located in Oropesa del Mar (Castellón), which is currently owned by the businessman Jesús Ger.

The purchase will amount to around 8,200 million Chinese Yuan (i.e. around €1,200 million), according to reports yesterday by Diario del Pueblo.

The newspaper reports in its digital edition that the founder and president of the group, Wang Jianlin, the richest man in China, has already visited the complex (which includes a golf course, a theme park, five hotels and a spa, amongst other buildings) together with other representatives from the company.

The official body of China’s Communist Party cites own sources for the basis of its information. When contacted by Efe, the Wanda group declined to make any comments on the subject for the time being.

Meanwhile, the Castellon group did not want to confirm or deny the talks and merely stated that it has been in touch with several Arab, Chinese and other investors over the last few months regarding their interest in its iconic project: Marina d’Or Golf, an urban development plan that was suspended several years ago. The group itself valued the project at €1,300 million, even though not a single brick has yet been laid.

In July, Jianlin revealed that his company would make at least three major overseas acquisitions over the next six months, after it expanded its entry into the sports sector this year with the purchase of Triathlon Corporation, the owner of events’ rights such as Ironman, and Infront, one of the largest sports rights companies in the world. (…).

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Wanda Not Allowed To Demolish Edificio España’s Façades

14 October 2015 – El Mundo

Wanda cannot “dismantle” the façade of Edificio España and subsequently proceed with its “reconstruction”. The Local Historical Heritage Commission (‘Comisión Local de Patrimonio Histórico’ or CLPH) of the municipality of Madrid has ruled out the plans set out by the Chinese business group, alleging that the “technical impossibility” of carrying out the renovation work on the skyscraper whilst retaining its protected features “has not been attested”.

According to the conclusions linked to this public body, which comprises representatives from the Community and Town Hall of Madrid, the Asian company will now have to draft a new project that includes an alternative solution to its complete demolition. That solution will have to be adapted to the “applicable law” and ensure the “necessary level of safety” for the renovation.

In July, Wanda requested permission from the CLPH to go ahead with the “dismantling” of the façades of Edificio España, which is grade 3 listed, and subsequently rebuild them “using the same materials, in the same way and with the same dimensions as the originals”. To support the “exceptional nature” of this proposal, governed by article 4.3.9.7.c) of the Town Planning Regulations of the General Urban Development Plan, the company owned by Wang Jianlin provided “technical reports and studies prepared by independent professionals”, attesting that it was materially impossible to carry out the renovation work whilst retaining the exterior walls, given the risk that the structure will collapse.

Meanwhile, Madrid’s Town Hall commissioned two other reports on the subject, one from the former dean of the College of Architects of Madrid, Ricardo Aroca and the other from Hugo Corres, Professor of the Structural Concrete Teaching Unit at the University of Vaelancia. Both studies concluded that the comprehensive renovation of the property in Plaza de España to construct a hotel, shopping centre and luxury homes is “technically and economically viable” without the need to demolish its protected features.

After analysing this opposing information, the CLPH considers that Wanda’s request to remove the façades of the building is “not viable”, since alternative proposals exist for carrying out the building work. As such, the criteria applied in the end is that originally presented by the Department for Sustainable Urban Development, which insisted from the beginning that it would be “impossible” to dismantle a concrete building. (…).

The proposed solutions

The technical studies commissioned by the Town Hall of Madrid, to which this newspaper has had access, propose solutions for maintaining the protected features of the building, whilst proceeding with the building work.

One involves “respecting two parallel bays” (‘crujías’ or spaces between the supporting walls) of the outer wall overlooking Plaza de España and “one bay” on the side walls, “which will enable it to use the existing beams to ensure the most effective way” of keeping the structure upright.

The other proposal involves “bringing forward the construction of the future building in such as way that a part of its structure that does not interfere excessively with the demolition process can serve to ensure its stability against the force of the wind”. (…).

Original story: El Mundo (by Marta Belver)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Carmena Meets Wang’s Team To Unblock “Chinese Eurovegas”

14 October 2015 – El Confidencial

Manuela Carmena does not know Rafa Benítez, the Head Coach of Real Madrid, or Dimas Gimeno, the Chairman of El Corte Inglés, according to comments made by the mayoress herself during some of her recent public appearances. But she has certainly met the right hand man of the richest person in the world, Wang Jianlin, who wants to develop the largest real estate and leisure project seen in Spain’s capital for many years.

According to sources close to both parties, Carmena met with Laurent Fischler, the right hand man of the Asian magnate and the head of the real estate division of Dalian Wanda Group on 2 October. Fischler arrived in the capital to try and unblock the dispute with the Town Hall of Madrid over the façade of Edificio España, located in the middle of the capital, which the Chinese group bought from Banco Santander for €265 million last year.

That was the first investment in Spain made by the multimillionaire businessman, who is estimated to have a fortune worth €42,600 million, or €38,200 million. The second was the acquisition of 20% of Club Atlético de Madrid for around €50 million. Both cases were small fry compared with this project, which involves the construction of a leisure complex in the south of Madrid and in which he is willing to invest €3,000 million in the first phase and up to €6,000 million in the second phase.

Sources close to the parties say that the conversation between Carmena and Fischler was good-natured. They discussed the renovation of the façade of Edificio España, proposed by Dalian Wanda Group, which the technicians from the Town Hall reject, as they refuse to accept that the demolition will enable the protected features of the building to remain intact. But one of the other central topics of the meeting was understanding the Town Hall’s position vis-à-vis its authorisation of the project known as “Chinese Eurovegas”, after the attempt by the US magnate Sheldon Adelson to construct a gaming city on the outskirts of Madrid.

Wang’s project does not include casinos or bingos or anything of the sort; in fact it is centred around attraction parks, leisure complexes and a real estate development that requires the approval of the Ministry of Defence, the owner of the land where the Chinese magnate hopes to construct his complex, and the Town Hall of Madrid. The Ministry of Defence, which will officially announce the public auction of the 2.1 million m2 land, which used to house the former military barracks of Campamento, in a couple of weeks, has already approved the project, in accordance with the Government’s instructions, after Mariano Rajoy gave his blessing to the project a year ago during a trip to Beijing.

So far, Carmena has not said whether or not she supports this project, which would involve the regeneration of one of the capital’s most “run down” neighbourhoods, a description made by the mayoress herself. Although her electoral program included a comprehensive review of the urban plans and an inspection of the major building projects, such as Operación Chamartín, the former judge has already held meetings with Pedro Morenés, the Defence Minister, to discuss the construction of the complex.

In theory, although their ideologies separate them conceptually, Ahora Madrid and the PP do see eye to eye on this macro-project, which would result in the creation of thousands of jobs (direct and indirect), and the regeneration of the transport network in the southeast of the capital, as well as a significant cash inflow for the central and municipal administrations. They just need to overcome the concerned raised by one neighbourhood association and one group of ecologists, which have been protesting against the renewal of the area.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Agustín Marco)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Political Uncertainty and Populism Threaten RE Recovery

1 June 2015 – El Economista

The electoral success of Manuela Carmena (Ahora Madrid) in Madrid and Ada Colau (Barcelona En Comú) in Barcelona has started to take its first victims in the real estate sector. Barely a week has passed since the elections and “some investors have already suspended deals to purchase property in Spain”, warn certain sources close to the negotiations.

The uncertainty regarding the possible political agreements has hit the property sector hard, “just when it was starting to recover”. In Madrid and Barcelona alone, large urban projects amounting to €14,000 million have already been called into question.

Major construction companies, financial institutions and large international funds are involved in these developments, including the Chinese magnate Wang Jianlin, who came to Spain with plans to invest around €4,000 million and who now see his real estate plans for the country being endangered.

“Right now, the sector is beginning a process of paralysis in certain segments. All of the investors are waiting for the possible political agreements to be settled so that they can carry out transactions”, explain sources in the sector.

“The is a great deal of uncertainty and considerable ungovernability in many cases, as well as expected increases in taxes and public spending, coupled with the suspension of forecast investments, which may result in the withdrawal of foreign capital”, they warn.

This situation may result in “an important step backwards for the emerging recovery”, given that it comes at a time when the real estate sector was really beginning to take off; record levels of investment were recorded last year. Before the elections, experts predicted that the level of transactions was going to continue (this year), but following recent events, “it is now very difficult to make forecasts”. These warnings coincide with others made this week by several important businessmen, such as the Chairman of OHL, Juan Miguel Villar Mir, who said that (political) groups such as Podemos put Spain’s economic recovery in danger. In a similar way, the markets have penalised the election results and the Ibex 35 recorded a loss of 2.91% last week.

(…)

The urban plans proposed by Carmena and Colau leave most of the major projects, both those already underway as well as those still to be awarded, up in the air. In Madrid, they endanger million-euro developments such as Operación Chamartín, the Madrid Río shopping centre, Operación Mahou-Calderón, the Canalejas complex, Operación Edificio España, la Ciudad de Justicia and even Operación Campamento.

Whilst in Barcelona, projects such as La Maquinista and Heron City shopping centres, the refurbishment of the Nou Camp and urban developments in the surrounding area, the ski slope in the free trade zone of Barcelona SnowWorld and the conversion into hotels of iconic buildings such as Torre Agbar, the Deutsche Bank building on Passeig de Gracia or Project Núñez i Navarro are also at risk.

(…)

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla and Javier Mesones)

Translation: Carmel Drake

MoD Opens The Bidding For ‘Campamento’ Land

27 April 2015 – Expansión

Auction worth more than €200 million / The Government is launching an auction process to sell a plot of land measuring 1.5 million square metres in Madrid, where the Chinese millionaire Wang Jianlin wants to construct luxury homes, hotels and casinos.

The Spanish Government has decided to refloat the so-called Operación Campamento just seven months before the general election. Today, the Ministry of Defence, the main owner of the land in the area measuring more than 1.5 million square metres, has officially put the plot, measuring 1,550,576 square metres, up for sale on the real estate portal Admeet.

The land, located in the south-east of Madrid, is the preferred location of the Chinese tycoon Wang Jianlin, owner of the business conglomerate the Wanda Group, to construct a mega-project containing thousands of homes, a retail complex, theme parks and casinos.

Negotiations

Jianlin, who officially closed the purchase of 20% of Atlético de Madrid’s share capital in January, has been negotiating with the Town Hall and Community of Madrid for months, to identify a location for his residential and leisure complex in the capital. Previously, in June 2014, he bought Edificio España from Banco Santander for €265 million, which was his first transaction in the Spanish market.

In January, when he signed the deal to acquire a stake in the Madrid football club, Jianlin took the opportunity to reiterate his interest in acquiring the land that is now up for sale. The plot housed the Ministry of Defence’s barracks in Madrid for many years.

Wang Jianlin is willing to invest €3,000 million in this project. To do that, the first step will be to acquire the land. By law, this purchase must be made through a competitive process since it involves a public asset.

“The interested parties must participate in a transparent and competitive auction process, in accordance with state legislation for the sale of property”, says the advert.

Auction

The auction of the land by the Ministry of Defence will be led by Pedro Morenés. The plot measures around 1.132 million buildable square metres and the vast majority has been marked for residential use (986,710 square metres). Subsidised and non-subsidised housing may be built on the site.

Wanda’s goal is to construct up to 15,000 high-end homes, with prices of around €4,000 per square metre. Moreover, offices, retail spaces and leisure complexes may also be built on the site. Wang Jianlin wants to use this land to create a leisure complex, similar to the ones he has constructed in Asia. For the time being, the Ministry of Defence has only released information about the land, and has not set a date for the auction or specified a minimum price.

Minimum price

However, sources in the sector estimate that the Government may set the minimum price at just over €200 million, an amount that is expected to be surpassed both by Wang Jianlin’s bid, as well as by the bids made by other interested parties.

The seller has not revealed the auction date, which may be determined by the timings of the local and general elections due to be held in May and November, respectively. To date, the current President of the Community of Madrid, Ignacio González, has shown his willingness to collaborate with the Chinese businessman, following the decision by the US billionaire Sheldon Adelson to abandon the Eurovegas project in Alcorcón.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Spain’s New ‘Property Kings’

2 March 2015 – El Mundo

2006 was a key year for Fernando Martín. Not only did the Chairman of Martinsa hold the presidency of Real Madrid for a short time, he also acquired the real estate company Fadesa for €4,000 million. Two years later, the burst of the (real estate) bubble put an end to his reign. Since then, the businessman has tried to resist (his downfall) until this week, when the banks and Sareb put an end to his adventures, by plunging Martinsa into bankruptcy. His creditors say that throughout the bankruptcy negotiations, Martín has demanded that he continue in his role as Chairman of the company and also retain his company car, his secretary and his salary of around €1.5 million, even though the company’s activity has been minimal.

With this defeat falls the last of the property lords who led the Spanish economy’s most important sector during the boom years, with negotiation tactics that many associate with lobster lunches and (VIP) boxes at football matches.

However, Martín’s fall coincides with the rebirth of the empire. Last year, institutional investors closed transactions amounting to €14,000 million in Spain (a volume of activity that was only exceeded in 2006 and 2007) and data from the housing market also shows that the property sector has turned the corner towards recovery. In fact, in 2014, the number of new mortgages taken out increased for the first time, after six years in decline.

This rebirth is accompanied by new businessmen with profiles more akin to those of bankers than (property) developers. The property kings’ successors are more used to having canopes for lunch, in true British style, and many of the important decisions about the future developments that will see the return of cranes to Spain’s landscape, are no longer being made in (VIP) boxes at the Bernabéu, but instead in offices in Madrid, the City of London, Dallas, New York and Beijing.

Former developers, such as Fernando Martín, Enrique Bañuelos (Astroc) and Rafael Santamaría (Reyal Urbis) have now made way for Wang Jianlin (Wanda), Ismael Clemente (Merlin Properties), Juan Pepa (Lone Star) and Concha Osácar (Azora).

These are executives who no longer depend on the banks to finance their projects; instead they are backed by large insurance companies, sovereign funds and even highly qualified investors, such as George Soros and Carlos Slim.

“We are facing a paradigm shift. During the boom (years), developers wanted to make more than they were able to and they focused on stocking up on land, due to the peculiarities of that raw material. However, (property) development is like manufacturing and no manufacturer purchases (his) raw materials 10 years in advance. When we hit economic difficulties, that model collapsed. Now, we are seeing different management and development models exist side by side. We are moving towards a more professional model, in which fewer developers compete, with stronger brands”, explains Luis Ruiz Bartolomé, co-author of the book ‘Return, property, return’ (‘Vuelve, ladrillo, vuelve’).

Under this model, the large investors, cooperatives and local developers that have managed to survive the difficult years, are going to co-exist. All of them will compete with a different mentality and with new ways of managing assets.

“The new players in the real estate sector will have to analyse the current key factors (effectively) to enable them to have a more global profile through increased specialisation and professionalization”, says the partner responsible for Real Estate at KPMG, Javier López Torres.

Wang Jianlin (pictured above)

On his trips to Spain, the Chinese tycoon has enjoyed evenings at the Teatro Real, but he also likes football. In fact, his first investments in this country were in the Torre España – a building he bought from Santander – and a stake in Atletico de Madrid. Now, the owner of the Wanda Group wants to launch the development of the so-called Wang mega-complex, a residential and leisure park that may be constructed on land that used to house former barracks in Madrid. Nevertheless, to date, the Asian millionaire’s investments in Spain have merely represented a token gesture, in the context of the global figures for his real estate business. The Wanda Group is the largest land-owner in China and it is constructing the largest residential skyscraper in London, next to the Thames. According to the Chinese press, Jianlin is also considering the purchase of the AC Milan football team.

Jaime Echegoyen

It is likely that when the Chairman of Sareb was CEO at Bankinter and Head of Barclays in Spain, he never imagined that it would end up holding the reins of the bad bank. This banker, who always works with office door open, is responsible for managing the real estate giant that was created in 2012 with 200,000 assets (80% financial and 20% property) amounting to €50,781 million. Echegoyen’s team is working on the completion of 1,000 homes (which it received ‘unfinished’ from the banks) across 52 sites. In addition, it is studying the development of some of the 5,000 plots of land that it received as inheritance, to be able to better market them before 2027, when the semi-public company will have to be dissolved.

Juan Pepa

This Argentine, who lives in London, is the Managing Director of the North American fund Lone Star and in 2013, he managed to convince US investors to back Spanish property. When Pepa comes to Spain and announces that his is going to launch the largest developer in the country this Spring, he does so with a level of enthusiasm that may surprise (people) after the hard times experienced in recent years. “We are going to fill the country with cranes”, he likes to declare. In recent years, Lone Star has purchased the real estate company Neinor from Kutxabank and Eurohypo’s loan business (together with JP Morgan) to launch this project. With a financial background and an MBA, Pepa plays polo and is the patron of the Pro Alvear Foundation, which works to promote education and technology in the La Pampa province of Argentina. This executive, who is less than 40 years-old, does not like the press referring to his fund as a vulture; he assures them that he has not come to Spain with a short-term view and although, he does not provide any details about his project, he says that the proof will be in the fact that it will generate value for the Spanish economy.

Ismael Clemente

Also a banker by trade – he used to work at Deustche Bank for example – but more closely related to property than Echegoyen and Pepa, Clemente founded Magic Real Estate during the worst year of the crisis (2012) and now is the head of Merlin Properties, the Socimi that debuted on the stock exchange in an IPO that raised €1,250 million.

George Soros and Carlos Slim

The tycoon who devalued the pound in 1992 and the Mexican multi-millionaire represent the many international investors who want to get involved in the recovery of the (real estate) sector through their financial investments. Soros is one of Hispania’s shareholders, whilst Slim has taken a stake in FCC. From there, he wants to acquire Realia to complete his business empire, which includes valuable assets from around the world, in many different sectors; América Móvil is one of the jewels in his crown.

Leopoldo Moreno

In addition to the businesses of large investors, cooperatives are also proving themselves to be a successful formula for development, as banks have closed the (financing) taps. The CEO of Ibosa has known how to take advantage of this model with numerous developments in the Community of Madrid.

Santos Montoro

This businessman from Murcia is a good example of how a family developer can compete in the (new) real estate model that has been imposed by the investment funds. In fact, his company, Monthisa (which was created in 1968) has managed to reinvent itself during this crisis to form a partnership with the fund H.I.G. to manage the Bull portfolio, a batch of apartments and garages that the US vehicle purchased from Sareb.

Enrique Bañuelos

After the fiasco involving Astroc, this deposed king has resumed his activity in London. From the City he wants to develop (property) in Spain through his new company called Veremonte and participate in BCNWorld, the tourism and leisure macro project that the Catalan authorities are looking to build

Original story: El Mundo (by María Vega)

Translation: Carmel Drake

‘Dear Hotel’ Overtakes Wanda In Plaza de España

2 March 2015 – Expansión

In Madrid’s Plaza de España, the hubbub of construction work is accompanying tourists as they journey into the commercial heart of the capital: Gran Vía. The Edificio España remains in tact (for the moment), as Wang Jianlin, the owner of Dalian Wanda, finalises the designs for his megaproject, which will include a hotel, shopping centre and homes.

The site that will house the future Hotel VP Plaza de España remains empty, but scaffolding is now up on the Torre Madrid, where Metrovacesa is refurbishing the building that will house a Barceló hotel – on one of the corners that Plaza de España shares with Gran Vía.

Plaza de España is also where the first of the hotels that is intended to revitalise the area will be opened. The area has been in decline since 2005, when Intercontinental closed its Hotel Crowne Plaza, which was located into the Edificio España building. Now, work is nearing completion on the Dear Hotel, a property that the Sebrango family acquired in 2012, after exercising a call option that Renta Corporación held over the building. The Sebrango family, which also owns the Hotel Chiqui (in Santander) have designed a four star hotel, with 162 rooms and it is scheduled to open on 15 May, on the day of San Isidro, one of the most important fiestas in the Spanish capital.

Roof terrace

The Dear Hotel project, which will have its entrance on Gran Vía, 80, has required an investment of €30 million – including the purchase of the building and the work required to refurbish it. Previously, the property housed homes and offices.

The hotel will have 12 floors and there will be a roof terrace and restaurant on the top floor, which its owners hope will become an iconic space for the hosting of special events in the capital. The style (of the property) will be elegant and modern, and in terms of prices, the average room will cost between €150 and €160 per night. The price of the suites will range between €250 and €300 per night and the hotel will create between 70 and 80 new jobs.

“It will be a four star hotel due to the individuality of the building, but the service and quality will be on a par with a luxury establishment”, explains its director, Francisco Sebrango. According to the owner’s forecasts, more than 60% of the hotel’s guests will be foreigners.

Since purchasing the building, the Sebrango family has received numerous offers to sell or transfer the operation of the hotel. Nevertheless, they have decided to pursue their original strategy and operate the hotel themselves. “We considered the option of a franchise agreement, but in the end we ruled that out. We want to create a unique hotel and we believe that it has the most value in our hands”.

Original story: Expansión (by Yovanna Blanco)

Translation: Carmel Drake