The winners of the Iberian Property Investment Awards 2024 were announced at an impressive ceremony in Madrid yesterday, which brought together more than 300 Iberian real estate professionals.
This prestigious award, which is judged by an outstanding panel of 48 leading real estate professionals in Spain and Portugal, highlights diversity and excellence in the Iberian market, underlining the importance of innovation, sustainability and corporate social responsibility in the sector.
The purchase of 1,763 affordable rental properties by DWS, "Deal of the Year in Spain".
The German asset manager, one of the world's leading asset management companies with more than 941 billion invested, was the star of the gala, winning one of the most prestigious awards of the night, specifically for the acquisition of a 50-year concession on a portfolio of 12 buildings with 1,763 residential units in the metropolitan area of Madrid. This investment in Plan Vive positioned DWS as the first end-investor to enter into affordable housing, at a time when only developers had taken that risk.
This is a disruptive operation in Spain in which several factors converge:
Public and private collaboration, between the Community of Madrid and prestigious real estate companies such as Culmia (developer) and DWS (investor and asset manager).
Coverage of a societal need for affordable rental housing, with strong population increases in large cities and with a scarce, obsolete and low quality supply (only 4% institutional).
ESG impact - rental housing at a steep discount below market rents and a very affordable effort rate compared to standard effort rates for free market BTR, so the Social impact is a reality. There is also a strong Environmental impact by using the innovative modular construction methodology provided by Avintia (having built a factory specifically for Plan Vive), and a high level of environmental credentials with the possibility of achieving Breeam Excellent certification.
CTT IMO YIELD, by Sonae Sierra, winner in 2 categories: "Deal of the Year in Portugal" and "Financial Innovation of the Year".
The jury awarded the Portuguese firm, which received the prestigious award for the best deal of the year in Portugal for the creation of a Collective Investment Vehicle, under the name of CTT IMO YIELD. Establishing a long-term relationship between the two companies and a group of investors, the transaction had an agreed value of 138 million euros, and the properties total around 240,000 sqm of gross leasable area with multiple uses, such as Retail, Logistics, Residential and Offices.
The vehicle is an innovative solution that will focus on the management of part of the real estate assets of CTT - Portugal's postal company - with unique characteristics, comprising around 400 properties, many of them steeped in history. For this very reason the jury decided that the initiative was also worthy of the title of best financial innovation of the year.
More than half of the portfolio's value is concentrated in the Lisbon and Porto districts and most of the properties are leased on long-term triple-net leases, with opportunities for property development remaining.
CBRE Spain awarded "Commercial Leasing of the Year".
In the heart of Madrid's CBD stands Velázquez 86D, the office leasing transformation and innovation project with which the consultancy firm CBRE won the award for best leasing operation of the year.
The metamorphosis of Velázquez 86D exceeded the expectations of its owner (Colonial). In just four months, the building reached full occupancy, welcoming major tenants including Bain & Company, AON, Sagardoy Abogados, White & Case and GPF Capital.
BNP Paribas Real Estate also received a double award. "Research Report of the Year" and "Marketing Initiative of the Year".
The European report of BNP Paribas Real Estate was recognised as the best report of the year thanks to the collaboration of 7 economists and 9 national directors of Research. This research tries to tell what is currently happening globally (Europe) in all sectors of the real estate market, with a special focus on the commercial real estate sector and the residential sector and more importantly, what is expected to happen in the coming years, which is key when making any investment or decision in the real estate sector.
On the other hand, with an innovative showcase of its best 12 deals advised during 2023, the consultancy was also recognised with the best marketing initiative of the year. Once again, the jury highlighted the high level of collaboration between different departments to carry out the "Advent Calendar" project.
Orion Capital Managers receives "Green Asset of the Year" award
The European Private Equity firm was recognised for its innovative Oriente Green Campus project, managed by Norfin. Located in Lisbon, it is a transformation of an obsolete asset and derelict structure - retaining 91% of the structure, resulting in significant embodied carbon savings - into a highly sustainable world-class office building. Despite the change of use from retail to offices, the reuse of the structure has saved an estimated 20,000 tonnes of CO2.
Ktesios SOCIMI recognised with the "Social Impact Initiative of the Year".
Ktesios SOCIMI embarked on its mission to democratise access to affordable housing in 2019 by strategically purchasing vacant or underutilised flats in Spain's forgotten regions. It was with this mission to recover "the forgotten Spain" that SOCIMI managed to be recognised with the best social initiative of the year.
A dedicated Special Story will be available soon, including exclusive video interviews with the Winners.