According to a recent report from Aura, there is much interest in all segments and also in various regions of the country, not just Madrid and Barcelona, but also Toledo, San Sebastián, Málaga and the Balearics, que which recorded notable demand in March.
According to this report, the largest transaction of the month was recorded in the banking sector for the second month in a row, with Bantierra’s sale of a portfolio of non-strategic real estate assets to the Spanish Association of Rural Savings Banks for €320 million. Also in the banking sector, Bankia sold its €103 million loan portfolio containing doubtful credits to small- and medium-sized property developers (Project Gold) to the investment fund D.E. Shaw.
In the residential sector, the business in which the the family office Mazabi acquired several properties in the centre of Madrid for €170 million can be highlighted; or the purchase by an anonymous wealthy Mexican investor of a majestic residential building on Plaza Marqués de Salamanca, 11, for €48 million (in the highest grossing transaction involving a residential property in the Spanish capital for at least a decade). From BBVA, the US fund HMC purchased an old office building close to Avenida de América in Madrid, which it plans to convert into an attractive residential property, which should provide a much needed boost to the quality of the housing supply in the area, notes Aura.
The retail sector was especially dynamic in shopping centres in March. The British fund Intu finalised the completion of what looks set to be a record-breaking deal in the Spanish real estate market, with its purchase of the Xanadú shopping centre in Madrid, from Ivanhoe Cambridge for a reported figure of around €520 million.
Furthermore, Lar went on a spending spree buying up the Parque Abadía shopping centre in Toledo from Rockspring for €63.1 million and 22 Eroski stores located all over Spain for €47.6 million. Meanwhile, further afield, New Winds Group bought the Málaga Plaza shopping centre from Inversiones Igueldo for an undisclosed sum; and Savills IM completed the acquisition of a retail park in San Sebastián for €16 million.
At High Street retail level, this report highlights that Generali bought a store at c/Preciados, 9, in Madrid from IBA Capital and CBRE GI for €100 million. Thor Equities purchased the 520 m2 store at number 5, Puerta del Sol, also in Madrid, for €43 million.
In the office segment, Villar Mir sold 49% of the soon-to-be-built fifth tower, at the top of Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid, to the Philippine investor Andrew Tan for around €150 million. BBVA sold a portfolio of 14 office buildings located in Cataluña, Madrid and the Community of Valencia, whose GBV exceeds €300 million, for an undisclosed sum, and the British fund GreenOak completed the purchase of the Vallsolana Garden Business Park in Sant Cugat del Vallès (Barcelona) from the Swiss entity UBS for €25 million. Finally, there is the Socimi Axiare Patrimonio, which bought an office building, also in Sant Cugat, for €19.5 million.