The most significant operations in the Spanish real estate sector during the month of November included the sale of the Rosewood Villa Magna and the Bless Hotel Madrid by RHL Properties to Sancus Hotels. This is Sancus’s first foray into the Spanish market with its firm commitment to high-end tourism. In addition, the sale of the trio of BTR AQ Jacarena buildings by AQ Acentor to the Socimi Vivenio was also noteworthy. The amount of that transaction has not been revealed but the figure will no doubt be significant since it is the largest BTR development currently under construction in Málaga.
Meanwhile, Neinor Homes announced an ambitious project to allocate 236 million euros to build almost 900 homes in the large urban development in Esplugues. It plans to allocate 402 of the units for rent and 70% of those will be subsidised homes. In the rental segment, Elix reported that it is going to build 1,200 homes after signing an agreement with a fund managed by CBRE.
In other markets, Urbas sold a large logistics plot (spanning 1,930,000 m²) in the Henares logistics corridor to an investment fund for 25.5 million euros. And Cat Real Estate closed the quarter with the sale of four commercial premises.
Companies
The month saw several business headlines, such as the creation of an investment vehicle by AltamarCam Partners and Terralpa Investments, with 200 million euros to spend; and a new round of financing by Limehome, which raised 45 million euros thanks to AW Rostamani Group and Capital Four. Also, General de Galerías Comerciales announced that it is going to suspend its Socimi status in order to allocate its profits to investments in Valdebebas.
In addition, many real estate companies presented their quarterly results:
At the beginning of November, Merlin Properties announced that it had doubled its profits and reduced its bank debt by a quarter thanks to the sale of its BBVA branch portfolio. Subsequently, it signed a green loan that added 660 million euros to its available liquidity. The Socimi has thereby ensured the repayment of all its debt maturities until the year 2027.
Colonial prepared for the uncertainty of 2023 by doubling its profits and with an occupancy rate of 96%. The Socimi improved its rental income by 12% during the 9 months to September thanks to a strong increase in rental prices in the Paris market.
Neinor Homes closed the first nine months of the year with the delivery of 1,548 homes, which is equivalent to an annual increase of 5%. The group recorded total revenues of 506 million euros, up by 1%, with the growth of the property developer business offsetting a drop in the services business by virtue of the termination of the Kutxabank servicing contract.
Vía Célere earned 62.5% more during the first nine months of the year and has already recorded pre-sales for 2023 of 87%. Meanwhile, the promoter has acquired a portfolio of land with capacity for the construction of 700 homes, consisting of strategic land in Madrid and buildable land in Málaga and Barcelona.
The Socimi Castellana Properties registered a net profit of 26.4 million euros, up by 55.4%. The total value of its portfolio now amounts to 1.012 billion euros, or 1.105 billion euros if we include its stake in Lar España.
Urbas completed capital increases amounting to 89 million euros. The company’s share capital rose by 26% following these increases to reach 437.4 million euros, with the new shares that started trading accounting for 20.37% of the total.
The Socimi Inversa Prime closed a financing agreement for 50 million euros and so was able to postpone its capital increase. With this amount, BME Growth’s most liquid Socimi also reinforced its Strategic Plan for 2021-2023.
VBare recorded a profit of 1.2 million euros during the 9 months to September 2022 and maintained its occupancy rates at a maximum. The company’s gross rental income increased by 7% during the period from January to September.
Haya also improved its results, increasing its volume of transactions by 2% to September, ahead of the economic slowdown. The company reported transactions worth 1.8 billion euros during the first 9 months of the year (and a cumulative figure of 2.8 billion euros over the last 12 months).
And in terms of alliances and collaborations? Aldes, Soudal and Ursa created Build for Efficiency, focused on industrialisation, sustainability and comprehensive project management; BBVA renewed its contract with CBRE GWS as its Facility Management manager for more than 740,000 m² of office space; and the alliance between Green Building Council Spain and Rockwool Peninsular was also renewed.
Residential
The Socimi Vivenio completed a remarkable operation with the purchase of the trio of BTR buildings AQ Jacarena (Málaga) from AQ Acentor. Although the amount of the operation is unknown, the figure is thought to be high as it is the largest build-to-rent development currently under construction in Málaga, involving a total investment of 85 million euros. In addition, Persépolis Investments purchased the building on Calle Sagasta, 27 in Madrid from Colonial to build luxury apartments.
So far this year, Aedas Homes, Vía Célere, Dorsono Investments and Metrovacesa are some of the promoters that have started work on the most new build homes. In addition, Aelca’s activity in Andalucía stands out. In Sevilla, the firm is marketing 455 new-build homes and finalising land management for another 1,500; in Granada, it is gaining in strength with another five projects that will add up to 400 new homes; and in Almería, it has a supply of 340 new homes.
November is ending with multiple future projects on the table. The most ambitious of all is that of Neinor Homes, which is going to allocate 236 million euros to the construction of almost 900 homes in the large urban development in Esplugues. Neinor plans to allocate 402 of the units for rent and 70% of those will be subsidised homes.
In a similar vein, Colonial has announced a future residential project that will offer another 374 homes for rent, in a mixed project involving offices and commercial premises. The Socimi is seeking to earn 25 million euros a year through Madnum, this mixed megaproject, which will be located in Méndez Álvaro, in Madrid.
In terms of land sales, operations stand out such as the sale of land for the construction of 212 subsidised homes in Cádiz by La Junta and the purchase of land by Momentum in Vallecas to build 220 apartments. Also, ASG Homes started work in Sevilla on Residencial Argos III (194 homes) and Aedas Homes announced three new residential complexes in Entrenúcleos (173 homes).
In the rental market, Elix announced that it is going to build 1,200 homes after signing an agreement with a fund managed by CBRE. The agreement is in line with its strategy of investing in stabilised housing for affordable rent and facilitating access to housing for middle-income households.
For its part, B Capital Partners is going to manage the 600 homes that AXA acquired from Blackstone. This agreement will be key to its growth since it will increase its portfolio under management by 40% from 1,500 homes for rent to 2,100.
And Vía Ágora is making its debut in the build to rent format with a residential complex comprising more than 230 homes and an investment of 40 million euros in Valdebebas. Meanwhile, Nestar (formerly Lazora) announced that it will stop at the figure of 10,000 BTR homes built to focus its investment on capex.
Another headline in the living sector is the extension of the 2% rental increase limit, a measure that generated a strong reaction from the sector. Asval, the Coapi and the ANA believe that the measure discourages rental investment and that it will divert the offer to the sales sector, aggravating the problem of access to housing.
Offices
Sofidy bought its first asset this month: an office building in Madbit (Julián Camarillo) for 29.8 million euros. In the rental segment, the penultimate month of the year saw some important movement in the big cities with Acciona and Tristan Capital leasing more than 22,000 m² in the 22@ district of Barcelona to the French company Webhelp.
The financing by Bain Capital of the Pamplona 64-66 building in the 22@ district for the Glenwell Group, a sustainable benchmark in the segment, also stood out. As did Incus Capital, which closed the purchase of a performing loan amounting to 40 million euros secured by offices. That operation was carried out on behalf of a Korean bank and includes assets in Madrid and Barcelona.
Future projects? Aena is going to launch the first hectares for offices and hotels in Barajas (Madrid) in 2023 and in Barcelona, at the end of 2024. The airport operator has set out its calendar for its Airport Cities until 2026, which will enable logistics, office and hotel space in Madrid, El Prat, Valencia, Sevilla and Málaga.
In the capital of the Costa del Sol, Suba is going to develop a new office project. The future complex will have a gross leasable area of more than 20,000 m² along with more than 43,000 m² of open areas.
Hotels
The most notable hotel operation during the month of November was the sale of the Rosewood Villa Magna and the Bless Hotel Madrid by RHL Properties to Sancus Hotels. With the purchase of these two luxurious hotels located in the Spanish capital, Sancus made its debut in Spain with its commitment to high-end tourism. In the hotel rental sector, AQ Acentor leased part of AQ Urban Sky (Málaga) to IHG Hotels & Resorts to house the first Staybridge Suites in Spain.
Also this month, a major alliance was formalised in the hotel segment. InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG) and Iberostar Hotels & Resorts signed a long-term commercial agreement covering their resort and all-inclusive hotels. Up to 70 hotels (24.3k rooms) will join the IHG system under the Iberostar Beachfront Resorts brand, which will become IHG’s 18th brand.
Other headlines included Aena’s launch of the first hectares in Barajas for hotels; the Socimi Millenium’s purchase of hotel land spanning 66,543 m² on the beach in El Palmar (Cádiz) for 12 million euros; and Barceló’s 40 million euro investment in the purchase and renovation of a hotel in Granada.
Industrial and Logistics
The logistics sector continued to register transactions. In the Henares corridor, Urbas sold logistics land (1,930,000 m²) to an investment fund for 25.5 million euros. In the logistics crown of Barcelona, in Granollers, Trammel Crow bought more than 21,000 m² of logistics land. And in other markets? Nuveen and Scannell joined forces to build a 40,000 m² logistics platform in Tarragona; MSC bought 61,000 m² to settle in Plaza Zaragoza; and in Manises, on the outskirts of Valencia, Scannell Properties reported that it will open a 19,171 m² logistics warehouse during Q3 2023.
In Madrid, GLP is selling a logistics platform spanning more than 22,000 m² in Getafe and another 19,000 m² from another platform located in Pinto.
Also noteworthy is Valfondo IM’s activity, which in mid-November achieved 100% occupancy for its logistics portfolio. At the end of the month, the manager of Montepino’s industrial assets bought 2 million m² of logistics land in the most sought-after area of Illescas, where it has already started work on the first projects.
Retail
One of the most high-profile operations in the retail segment featured Mirasierra Gallery and Puerta de Algete, the two retail parks that Abrdn bought from Ten Brinke. They are both leased in their entirety and the key to the success of both spaces is their good tenants led by large supermarkets such as Aldi and AhorraMas.
Another supermarket chain, Lidl, announced the opening of six new stores over the next two weeks to bring the total opened so far in 2022 to close to 40. Throughout this year, the supermarket chain has invested more than 200 million euros in new openings and has created more than 700 new jobs.
The retail giant Primark is going to invest 100 million euros in the opening of eight new stores in Spain and in the expansion and renovation of its existing portfolio. The multinational has 56 establishments across the country and expects to hire another 1,000 people through its new expansion plan taking its total workforce to more than 10,000 people.
Other headlines? Cat Real Estate closed the quarter with the sale of four commercial premises and is planning to invest 4 million euros before 2023; the contract to operate the Plaza de Armas shopping centre (Sevilla) has gone on the market for 5 million euros; and Colonial announced that it will dedicate 5,000 m² to retail.
Read the original article in Spanish.