During the month of April, the real estate news in Spain was defined by coronavirus and the State of Emergency decreed by the Spanish Government on 14 March. The impact of the pandemic on the Spanish economy and, specifically, on the sector really dominated the headlines, although operations were actually closed in the commercial and logistics markets and new projects were announced in Madrid and Málaga.
Offices
The French fund manager Amundi Inmobilier purchased an office building in Barcelona’s 22 @ district from Conren Tranway; it will house the first coworking centre of the office specialist Wojo in Spain. For that property, which has a constructed surface area of 12,500 square metres, the firm disbursed €56 million, as confirmed by Brainsre.news.
Meanwhile, the global investment firm Partners Group sold an office building located on Calle Gobelas 35-37, in La Florida (Madrid) to the SCPI Elialys, a French real estate investment company belonging to Advenis Real Estate Investment Management. The amount of that transaction was not disclosed.
Industrial and Logistics
The logistics company Mountpark, controlled by the firms USAA Realco-Europe Holdco and Mountpark, announced a €70 million investment to launch a new logistics project called Mountpark Illescas I, located in the town of Illescas (Toledo).
Also, the American company Panettoni bought a plot of land from the investment fund Bain, for its first project in Spain: an industrial park that will span more than 28,400 square metres, and comprise 28 loading docks and more than 140 parking bays.
Hotels
The Spanish family office Mazabi announced that it is planning to invest €200 million in the purchase of hotels, taking advantage of the current situation caused by coronavirus since it is confident about tourism and the sector over the long-term.
The Maro Golf tourism and residential project was the first to be validated by the Andalucían Government since the coronavirus outbreak. With an investment amounting to €311 million, the real estate company owned by the Larios family is planning to transform 250 hectares of agricultural land into a luxury hotel, residential and golf complex.
Residential
The cessation of non-essential economic activity for two weeks during April paralysed the construction of 4,809 developments and a total of 131,471 homes in Spain, according to data from the Brainsre big data real estate platform. Of those, almost 57,000 were due to be delivered this year.
The City Council of Pozuelo de Alarcón, in Madrid, gave the green light to the construction of a new urban development: Montegancedo. The new area will span 680,000 square metres, including almost 216,000 sqm for residential use, and will allow for the construction of 1,050 homes in one of the richest areas of Spain.
Coronavirus
The Government has approved a battery of measures to fight the effects of coronavirus on the Spanish economy. In terms of housing, the Government has suspended all evictions of vulnerable people for six months and it has extended all existing contracts that are about to expire. It has also activated a €1.2 billion ICO loan line for tenants who are having trouble paying their rent.
Moreover, it has established a moratorium on rental payments for the tenants of commercial premises.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised its forecasts for the performance of the Spanish economy in 2020. In its World Economic Outlook report, the international body indicates that it expects Spain to suffer a fall in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of 8% in 2020, whilst it predicts a rise in unemployment to more than 20.8%.
Top 10 most popular news articles – April 2020
- Madrid’s City Council Meets with Real Estate Experts to Consider How to Bring the City Back to Life
- The Bank of Spain Asks for the Method for Valuing Homes to be Changed during the Pandemic
- Europe’s Hotels will take Four Years to Return to their Pre-Crisis Profitability, says Barclays
- The CGPJ Proposes that Tenants be Permitted to Oppose Evictions due to Non-Payment
- The Large Real Estate Companies Refuse to Adjust their Workforces due to Covid-19
- New Build Homes have Appreciated by 148% over the Last 25 Years
- Coronavirus Halts the Construction of More than 4,800 Projects and 131,500 Homes Across Spain
- What Impact has Coronavirus had on the Real Estate Market in China?
- Estate Agents Request that Property Brokering be Considered an Essential Activity
- The Town Hall of Madrid wants to Apply the Sworn Statement Formula to First Occupancy Licences
