Numerous important headlines were published in the real estate sector during the second month of 2023. Culmia, Avintia, Pecsa and Vía Ágora acquired more than 2,000 BTR homes; Zurich sold three office buildings in the centre of Barcelona; Carmila sold four shopping centres in Andalucía for 75 million euros; and the Barcelona Free Zone Consortium awarded the former Nissan land to Goodman.
Companies
February was a busy month for real estate companies in Spain. Various names stood out, such as Sareb, after it received the ok from the CNMC to purchase the remaining 10% stake in its own developer, Árqura Homes; Euroval, which expanded its portfolio with the purchase of the French firm Galtier FI, a valuation services company working with all types of assets; and Scan Global Logistics (SGL) and CVC Capital Partners Fund VIII (CVC), which joined forces (CVC acquired a majority stake in SGL from an investment group led by AEA Investors Small Business Private Equity).
Other news? Brainsre unveiled a new summary panel: a quick overview of the most important KPIs in the market in any location; meanwhile, the fund Pollen Street submitted a bid to buy the servicers Finsolutia and Haya Real Estate; Nuveen Real Estate presented its first diversified pan-European Value-Add strategy after raising around $175 million in initial commitments; Neinor launched a partial repurchase offer for its green bond amounting to up to 100 million euros; Pontegadea withdrew from an agreement to buy the Meta headquarters in Dublin; and Caixabank granted a 10-year term financing arrangement amounting to 268.5 million euros to Torre Rioja to strengthen its liquidity.
Residential
There were several headlines in the residential sale and purchase market. In Madrid, firms such as Culmia, Avintia, Pecsa and Vía Ágora stood out, with the acquisition of more than 2,000 BTR homes between them. Also in the Spanish capital, the fund City Partners Visio sold a residential building to Incus Capital; and Argis invested 40 million euros in the purchase and remodelling of a building. Meanwhile, in Barcelona, Vandor Real Estate purchased a building in the Eixample district of Barcelona for 4.8 million euros.
In the rental market, Barcelona City Council bought two buildings for social rental in the Eixample neighbourhood; Nestar (Azora) added 128 BTR homes in Alcalá de Henares; Ktesios bought 52 affordable rental homes from Unicaja in Toledo and Batipart acquired a building comprising 32 rental homes and two commercial premises in Málaga.
Other news? Neinor Homes invested more than 35 million euros in the development of 81 homes in Las Rozas (Madrid); Gestilar and DWS announced they are going to build a new build-to-rent project valued at 30 million euros in Valdebebas (Madrid); Insur invested 61 million euros in the development of 311 new homes near Sevilla; Diglo sold 120 properties in Pamplona and Segovia for 29.7 million euros; and Aedas made its debut in Laredo (Cantabria) with 106 homes.
Future projects and land purchases? Metrovacesa stands out, with its plans to invest 24 million euros in a new project in Almería; another 22 million euros in 120 homes and five premises in Valencia; another 15 million euros in the purchase of land in Granada; and another 12.8 million euros in 60 homes in Córdoba. Also, Grupo Fogesa and Único Homes invested 12.5 million euros to acquire land in Móstoles and Los Berrocales; whilst Grupo Pinilla bought land from Tiuna Inmobiliaria to develop homes in the Puerta de Hierro area of Madrid.
In addition, February also saw: the destiny of 1,000 homes for affordable rent in El Cañaveral placed in the hands of young people thanks to Madrid City Council; the signing by Raquel Sánchez of a deal to build 688 social rental homes; the negotiation between Sareb and the Generalitat Valenciana for the sale of 500 homes for social rental for 50 million euros; the announcement of Ayuso’s housing strategy for the next legislature; and proposals from Unidas Podemos: to limit the purchase of housing by non-resident foreigners.
Offices
The office sector continued to be active in February. Zurich sold three office buildings in the centre of Barcelona; the Mutualidad de Arquitectos (HNA) bought Torre Mízar in Madrid, which houses the headquarters of Ilunion, for 36 million euros; and number 106 Francisco Silvela (Madrid) was sold to the Mutualidad de la Abogacía.
In terms of new office rentals, in Madrid, Shiseido moved into a 3,138 m2 space owned by Merlin Properties in Pozuelo for its new offices; and in Barcelona, Bridgestone leased 2,200 m2 of offices from Conren Tramway in the 22@ district, whilst Linde Gas Spain moved into its new offices in the Ensanche district of the Catalan capital.
In addition, Basic-Fit rented premises in Málaga to open offices and a gym; TMEIC Port Technologies moved into offices spanning 1,000 m2 in the CV15 building in Valencia; and IWG opened a new coworking space measuring more than 1,200 m2 in Rivas (Madrid).
Hotels
Important purchases? Apollo Global Management acquired the Hotel Las Águilas Tenerife. Other major headlines included the new management by the L&H chain of a new hotel next to the Callao Cinemas in Madrid; and future projects from Hampton by Hilton, with a hotel at Alicante Airport and from the Serras Collection, with another new luxury hotel in a RetailCo building in Sevilla.
Logistics
In February, Corum acquired a warehouse rented to Amazon in Tarragona for 22 million euros from Goodman; Heylen Warehouses bought land in Illescas to build a 15,000 m2 warehouse; and Panattoni sold an 11,000 m2 warehouse in Guipúzcoa to Echemar.
The latest rentals in the logistics sector? Frigicoll leased a 23,000 m2 warehouse in Tarragona; Flex rented more than 11,400 m2 of space in Getafe; Recalvi and Pick & Pack leased two modules of a logistics platform in Madrid; Analin rented a 5,459 m2 logistics platform in Valencia; and the Danish firm Jysk leased almost 20,000 m2 of logistics space in Picassent (Valencia). In addition, the Barcelona Free Zone Consortium awarded the former Nissan land to Goodman.
Retail
The most notable operations in the retail segment in February were Carmila’s sale of four shopping centres in Andalucía for 75 million euros; the purchase by Proudreed Spain and BPN Capital Partners of the Quadernillos shopping centre in Alcalá de Henares (Madrid); Klépierre’s 15 million euro investment in the remodelling of the Maremagnum shopping centre in Barcelona; and the purchase by a private investor of a store in San Sebastián for more than 1.5 million euros.
In addition, Ikea moved into an establishment spanning more than 2,500 m2 in the centre of Barcelona and MVGM announced that it will manage and market the León Plaza shopping centre going forward.
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