AMC Sells Warehouse in Sant Andreu de la Barca for €1.5 Million

3 September 2019

The Switzerland-based Alfa Metalcraft Corporation (AMC), which specializes in steel kitchen systems, has sold a warehouse with an area of 5,755 m2 of constructed surface area for 1.5 million euros to an unnamed company that supplies equipment for industrial transmission and linear motion systems.

The asset is located on a 12,000 m2 plot of land in the Can Sunyer industrial estate, in Sant Andreu de la Barca, Barcelona. NCI Asesores Inmobiliarios mediated the sale.

Original Story: Eje Prime

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner

Merlin Enters the Top 10 Ranking of the Largest Logistics Owners in Europe

19 June 2019 – Cinco Días

Merlin Properties has been a major player in the European office and shopping centre markets for several years. But now, the Socimi led by Ismael Clemente has entered the Top 10 ranking of the largest logistics owners on the Continent, with its portfolio of 1.6 million m2 under management, according to a report about the logistics market compiled by Deloitte.

The Top 10 ranking is led by the listed US firm Prologis (17 million m2); Logicor, the firm controlled by China Investment Corporation and Blackstone, (13.5 million m2); and the fund manager CBRE GI (7.7 million m2). They are followed by the logistics specialists Segro, P3 Logistics Parks and Goodman.

Merlin owns 1.1 million m2 of logistics space outright and holds a 48% stake in a company that owns another 469,000 m2 of logistics space in the port of Barcelona. It also has 1.254 million m2 of surface area under development.

Investment in logistics assets is currently breaking records across Europe and in Spain, in particular, boosted by attractive returns and the boom in e-commerce. With the rising demand, the availability of high-quality warehouses is decreasing, hence the need to build more. According to Deloitte, investment in warehouse purchases amounted to €1.5 billion last year, the second best year ever after 2017, when the figure reached €1.6 billion.

Merlin is planning to invest €484 million in its Best II and Best III logistics funds between now and 2022. Most will be targeted in Madrid and its surrounding areas (Guadalajara and Toledo) and Cataluña, but investment will also be made in Lisbon, Zaragoza, Sevilla and Vitoria.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Alfonso Simón Ruiz)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Navarra’s Regional Gov’t Invests €15M in the Purchase of Industrial Land

23 May 2019 – El Español

The Regional Government of Navarra is going to invest €15.2 million in various industrial estates across the autonomous region, through the public company Nasuvinsa, with the aim of “supporting several companies that need to develop land to expand their production capacity”.

The action plan will involve the development and marketing of 309,123 m2 of industrial land in seven areas, specifically, in the Pamplona region as well as in the towns of Arakil, Arguedas, Cascante (or Monteagudo), Lodosa and Lumbier. It will also see the construction of an industrial warehouse in the Sakana area for its subsequent rental.

Industrial reactivation

The Navarran Government is going to develop the land and infrastructure necessary for all seven projects through Nasuvinsa, with a cash injection that will not only encourage the economic reactivation of the areas and the creation of employment, but which will also represent a return to making public investments economically viable.

Original story: El Español 

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Investors Purchase the Site of the Former ‘Cervezas Victoria’ Factory in Málaga

20 May 2019 – Diario Sur

The growing demand for land in Málaga has reactivated an operation involving the site that used to be home to the former Cervezas Victoria factory, situated alongside the Azucarera-Intelhorce highway to the west of the city centre.

Thirteen years ago, the Town Hall approved the urbanisation of those plots, which were divided into four blocks in order to house offices, businesses, warehouses and parking lots. The urbanisation work was completed but the economic crisis hit before the plots could be occupied. They ended up in the hands of the banks, specifically, Unicaja, which has now managed to offload most of them onto entrepreneurs who are keen to develop the area.

According to sources familiar with the operation, local and German investors have teamed up to acquire the plots, which are crying out to be transformed into a new business centre. The plots span a surface area of 50,137 m2 in total and the investors have spent €7 million to date buying up the land.

Original story: Diario Sur (by Jesús Hinojosa)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Merlin Launches an Innovative Nocturnal Business

11 April 2019 – Valencia Plaza

Merlin Properties is launching a new and innovative business. The Socimi is converting the parking lots of its office buildings into logistics centres overnight, in such a way that logistics operators will be able to use them as last mile centres for organising the delivery of packages during the day.

According to Merlin’s CEO, Ismael Clemente (pictured above), his firm has already signed agreements for this initiative with firms such as Dasher, CityLog, FM Logistic and GLS.

The firm is offering its parking lot space to logistics operators that already lease properties in its logistics warehouse portfolio. In this way, it is making available the parking lots to its logistics customers between 23h and 7h30.

This initiative forms part of a wider effort that the largest Socimi in the country is making in the logistics sector, where it plans to invest €300 million in the construction of new facilities to meet the booming demand.  Merlin is planning to branch out from the traditional logistics centres (Madrid, Barcelona) and invest in warehouses in new places such as Zaragoza, Valencia, País Vasco, Sevilla and Lisbon.

Original story: Valencia Plaza

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

El Corte Inglés Negotitates the Sale of its Logistics Assets to KKR

1 February 2019 – Expansión

The US investment fund KKR, together with the British firm Round Hill, has launched a bid for the logistics portfolio of El Corte Inglés, which includes around thirty assets distributed all over Spain, with a surface area of more than 500,000 m2.

According to explanations provided by market sources speaking to Expansión, although there are other interested funds, KKR and Round Hill have now taken the lead in the bid for the assets, with an offer of between €150 million and €170 million. Other players that have expressed interest in this portfolio so far include the US giant Blackstone, and even the Socimi Merlin, which confirmed very preliminary conversations.

In terms of the most attractive assets in the batch for sale, there is a package of six warehouses in Móstoles (Madrid), with a total surface area of 88,000 m2, as well as a plot in La Bisbal del Penedès (Tarragona), with a gross surface area of almost 41,000 m2, which serves to support its large centre in Cataluña, located in Montornès del Vallès and which provides services to the rest of the Mediterranean arc.

Batch of warehouses

In addition, the portfolio includes warehouses, storerooms and distribution centres in logistics nuclei in Sevilla, Málaga, Valencia, Valladolid, Alicante, Murcia, La Coruña, Vigo, Palma de Mallorca, Murcia, Teruel, Cáceres and Zaragoza. On the other hand, the batch for sale does not include any of the group’s logistics gems, such as the logistics centre in Valdemoro or the platform in Montornès del Vallès (Barcelona), both of which are strategic for the company (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo & Víctor M. Osorio)

Translation: Carmel Drake

KKR, Round Hill Capital & Pulsar Properties Create a JV to Purchase 4 Logistics Warehouses

29 January 2019 – Eje Prime

A trio of funds are taking a piece of the Spanish real estate pie. The investment fund KKR, the investment group and real estate manager Round Hill Capital and the logistics company Pulsar Properties have created a joint venture to purchase four platforms in the Spanish market. The objective over the medium term is to acquire logistics spaces in Spain spanning up to 400,000 m2.

The joint venture, called Pulsar Iberia Logistics, has already signed the acquisition of three logistics development projects in Madrid and another one in Barcelona. KKR has formalised the investment through its fund Real Estate Partners Europe.

The four logistics assets are going to be developed by Pulsar Properties, a Spanish company specialising in the promotion of industrial, logistics and inter-modal surfaces. The four properties are the first investments undertaken by the new joint venture in Spain, “a country that is showing very positive signs for logistics investment, with high demand and, at the same time, a scarce supply of logistics assets, as well as an economy with a solid track record”, said the company in a statement.

One of the developments is located in Ontígola, in the third logistics ring of Madrid, and has a gross surface area of 21,145 m2. In Barcelona, the asset is located in Parets del Vallès and has a surface area of 19,907 m2. Finally, the company has also acquired two logistics warehouses measuring 33,091 m2 and 20,280 m2, respectively, in Torija, also in the third logistics ring of Madrid.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Gramercy Europe Buys 3 Warehouses in Cataluña for €32.25M

23 January 2019 – Eje Prime

Gramercy is strengthening its position in Spain. The real estate investment group has purchased three logistics assets in Cataluña, through its fund Gramercy Property Europe III. The acquisition of the three warehouses has been carried out for €32.25 million in total.

Two of the assets are located in a business park in Constantí, a municipality to the south of Barcelona. The first has a surface area of 24,032 m2 and will continue to be leased to Chemiprats, a distributor of polymers and plastic resins.

Meanwhile, the second property has a surface area of 25,930 m2 and will continue to be occupied by a distributor of computers and electronic equipment. Both warehouses have been purchased for €22.75 million.

In terms of the third acquisition, it is located in La Bisbal del Penedès, also to the south of Barcelona. It is a space comprising two connected buildings with a combined surface area of 20,120 m2. Gramercy has acquired that asset for €9.5 million, and it will continue to be occupied by the company Naeko Logistics.

Gramercy, a real estate investment group from the US, launched the fund Gramercy Property Europe III in 2017, through which it plans to invest up to €650 million in logistics assets in Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and France. In the case of Spain, it invests in logistics assets primarily in Madrid and Barcelona costing between €10 million and €200 million.

Gramercy, led in Spain by Gregory Vinson, has its Spanish offices located at number 640 Avenida Diagonal, in Barcelona. The company, which is owned in its entirety by Gramercy Property Trust, manages a portfolio of assets worth more than €1 billion.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Goodman to Develop 285,000 m2 of Logistics Land in Spain

16 January 2019 – Eje Prime

Goodman is boosting its business in Spain. The inmo-logistics giant is entering 2019 with a portfolio for development that spans a surface area of more than 285,000 m2. The company is going to finalise two projects spanning more than 100,000 m2 this year, after increasing its portfolio by 30% in 2018, according to reports from the company.

In the last year, the occupancy rate of Goodman’s assets in Spain was 100%, reaching a total surface area of 106,000 m2. Its most recent completed projects include a turnkey in the Zona Franca of Barcelona and a last mile logistics platform in Madrid.

Both developments had e-commerce companies as the client. Not in vain. E-commerce “consolidated its position as the great ally of the industry by demanding large, high-quality logistics spaces in strategic locations, and with easy access to the major cities”, explained Ignacio García Cuenca, Director General of Goodman in Spain.

Currently, the company is developing four logistics platforms in Cataluña, one of the regions in which it is most active. Specifically, the company is going to build 111,000 m2 in Barcelona.

Moreover, Goodman is going to finalise several projects in 2019 including a 75,000 m2 logistics platform in Alcalá de Henares and a 33,000 m2 asset in León.

In Illescas (Toledo), the new logistics hub of central Spain for the development of large logistics warehouses, the Australian giant is going to start building a facility spanning more than 66,000 m2 this year.

Goodman Group is present in Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, the Asia-Pacific region, North America and Brazil, and has a portfolio of assets under management worth €24.3 billion.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

SEUR Logística to Unify its Madrid Warehouses into a New Centre in Illescas

11 January 2019 – Inmodiario

SEUR Logística, the SEUR business unit dedicated to offering integral logistics and transport solutions, is going to consolidate its warehouses in the Community of Madrid into a new facility in Illescas.

Goodman, one of the leading companies in the world in industrial properties, will begin construction of the new 36,000 m2 centre in March 2019. The site is expected to be operational from the beginning of 2020, allowing the company to expand its storage capacity and improve the efficiency of its operations in Madrid.

The new warehouse will be constructed in accordance with strict sustainability criteria and will incorporate new charging points for SEUR’s electric vehicle fleet.

The launch of the new warehouse in Illescas will involve the unification of SEUR’s existing logistics operations at its centres in Getafe (15,000 m2) and Alcalá de Henares (almost 12,000 m2). The new centre will house 200 workers and will contain 1,600 m2 of space dedicated to offices and rest areas for employees (…).

Original story: Inmodiario 

Translation: Carmel Drake