In January 2023, the top 3 Spanish real estate operations were: Colonial’s sale of three office buildings in Madrid to Prallariz; DWS’s purchase of 1,763 build-to-rent homes from Culmia under the Plan Vive; and Brookfield’s sale of the Sofía Hotel in Barcelona for 230 million euros.
Below we present our summary of the most important operations by segment, according to Brainsre.news:
Companies
During the first month of the year, several companies closed important deals. Firms such as Axa stand out, which announced the creation of two Socimis to invest in rental housing in Spain that will be listed on the Paris Stock Exchange. Also, Urbas agreed with Saudi Arabia to develop up to 1,500 homes as part of its Vision 2030 program and, in parallel, registered a 200 million euro bond program to make new purchases. Finally, Ádsolum started 2023 with new investment vehicles in the BTR and BTS residential segments.
Which other companies were in the news? Intrum, which announced that it is going to manage Ellington Management’s under-performing portfolio in Spain; Itálica Partners, the financial consultancy recently launched by Javier García del Río, the former president of Sareb; and Excem, whose shareholders have accepted Narbón’s proposal to buy the Socimi.
Residential
There were various big news stories in the residential sector. In Madrid, DWS acquired 1,763 build-to-rent homes from Culmia under the Plan Vive; Tikehau Capital bought a 3,000 m2 residential building on Calle Fray Luis de León (Madrid) from Urbania; AXA IM Alts announced that it will develop a project comprising 540 affordable homes; and Habitat Inmobiliaria invested 40 million euros in a new development in Tres Cantos.
In Barcelona, Vandor Real Estate bought a building for 9.2 million euros; and KKH Property Investors sold a penthouse in the Mandarin Oriental Residences complex for 40 million euros. In addition, the Generalitat Valenciana purchased a building in Benidorm, which it intends to allocate to social housing.
Land purchases for future developments? Highlights include AQ Acentor’s acquisition of three plots for 120 homes in Málaga; Arcano’s purchase of land for 100 homes in Cádiz; upProject, with 28 million euros to develop two new promotions comprising 62 and 27 homes in Murcia; and Aviva and Layetana with a plot to promote affordable housing in Terrasa (Barcelona).
In terms of properties for sale, it is worth mentioning the Diglo offer, which comprises more than 800 properties for sale with discounts of up to 60%. 58% of Diglo’s supply corresponds to residential properties, with numerous single-family homes and semi-detached houses, garages and storage rooms. And in terms of new home launches, Aedas Homes’ first development in the Zeta district of Málaga stands out, with 67 homes.
Other highlights included the alliance between Cívitas and Puerto Banús to invest 80 million euros in luxury housing in Málaga; and Limehome’s plans to open 600 new apartments in Spain and Portugal this year.
Offices
In January, Colonial sold three office buildings in Madrid to Prallariz for 300 million euros. The properties span a gross leasable area of 35,000 m2 in total and are located in the financial centre of the Spanish capital.
In terms of new office rentals in Madrid, companies such as L’Oréal stand out, which opened its new headquarters on Calle Alcalá 546, in Madbit; Grupo Planeta, which opened its new space at number 14 Calle Arapiles; Dentsu Creative Spain, which has leased 3,000 m2 on Paseo de la Castellana; Terumo Europe España, which moved to an asset owned by Iberdrola Inmobiliaria; and UCI, which leased 4,000 m2 in a new office building owned by Inmo Criteria Patrimonio (Inmocaixa).
Meanwhile, the most significant rentals in Barcelona involved Lexington, which leased a space spanning 2,080 m2; a teaching institution that is going to occupy 13,000 m2; and the shipping company Hapag-Lloyd, which is moving its offices to Avenida Diagonal.
In addition, Santander was in the news as it is remodelling 40 of its branches in Spain to reinforce its support for the agri-food sector and IWG hit the headlines with the opening of a 3,900 square metre coworking space in Barcelona.
Hotels
In the hotel segment, Brookfield managed the sale of the Sofía Hotel in Barcelona for 230 million euros; Stoneweg and Bain Capital bought two Be Live hotels (in Mallorca and Tenerife) from Globalia for 83 million euros; SaaJ Hotels Invest took over the Martiánez Hotel (Tenerife) to add it to its alliance with Silken; Universal Beach Hotels acquired the MySeaHouse Hotel Neptuno (Palma); Schroders Capital purchased another hotel, with 67 rooms, in Ibiza; and the owners of Fermax bought the Hotel Costamar in Jávea.
In addition, Hampton by Hilton announced that it will open a 72-bed hotel at Alicante Airport; B&B Hotels is going to open its first establishment in Logroño with 75 rooms; and Meliá announced several new agreements: it has agreed with the Abu Dhabi fund to continue managing the 17 hotels put up for sale by Equity Real Estate; in addition, the brand will manage the old Rey Juan Carlos Hotel in Barcelona.
Logistics
At the end of January, Grupo Epsa bought 2.5 million m2 of industrial land in Seseña. The land will be used to create one of the largest industrial estates in the country, with up to one million m2 dedicated to logistics warehouses.
In addition, the Socimi Meridia sold a logistics warehouse in Barcelona for more than 11 million euros; Montepino invested 50 million euros in the construction of its first logistics complex in Zaragoza; Clarion Partners Europe purchased an 18,000 m2 plot to develop a warehouse in Barcelona; Roebuck bought a 15,000 m2 plot of land in Torrejón de Ardoz to develop a centre together with Grupo Sesé; and TXT sold a 4,000-square-metre warehouse in Guadalajara to a Spanish family office.
New rentals? New contract highlights include the lease signed by Grupo Suardiaz, which will occupy 39,000 square metres of logistics space in Seseña; and the Bomi Group, which rented more than 27,500 m2 in San Fernando de Henares.
In terms of future projects, Ciudad Real’s purchase of 50,000 m2 of industrial land for 4 million euros stood out; as did Lidl’s acquisition of a 158,000 m2 plot in León. In addition, Logicor announced that it will deliver a turnkey project to Trace Logistics in Girona; and Aldi reported that it will open a new logistics centre in Sagunto in 2024.
Retail
In retail, highlights include Arcano’s sale of premises rented by Zara in Vigo for 14 million euros; Atland, which created a new Socimi and made its debut by acquiring a Dia supermarket in Barcelona; and Palma City Council, which announced that it is taking over three stores to turn them into neighbourhood hostels.
Several upcoming projects were also announced during the month including Midfield Capital’s new venture, a new shopping centre in San Sebastián costing 50 million euros; and the opening of 50 new supermarkets by Aldi in Spain in 2023.
Read the full article in Spanish.