Big operation in the Spanish real estate market. Black RockThe world’s largest mutual fund manager Landing on the national brick in one of the most traditional operations of 2023 Auction of the building located at number 50 María de Molina street in MadridIn the Salamanca region, as confirmed by different sources only to El Periódico de España, Prensa Ibéric,a and ACTIVOS, the economic vertical of the group.
In June this year, the Council of Ministers authorized the auction of part of the Eurocis building belonging to the Ministry of Finance for the third time (the first two were not bidded). The starting price was almost 156 million. By the end of the deadline, the public administration received six offers. It was a limited company Barnaby Investments submitted the highest bidalmost 205 million eurosIncreasing the minimum price requested by the Treasury by more than 30 percent.
Until now there was only evidence of this. Spanish promoter and manager Grupo Lar was behind Barnaby InvestmentsIt belongs to the Pereda family and is one of the main agencies in the national real estate market. However, the identity of the capital partner of Grupo Lar, in which BlackRock will take part in its first real estate operation in Spain, has not yet been publicly disclosed. Grupo Lar and BlackRock did not want to comment when contacted.
The world’s largest fund goes to Spain
BlackRock’s arrival in the national real estate market is a novelty for several reasons. First and foremost, because it is relevant. world’s largest fund managerIt has under management approximately 9.5 trillion US dollars, equivalent to 8.5 billion euros. Although it is the major shareholder of a large number of Ibex 35 companies, among others Banco Santader or BBVAHe did not have any investment in ‘brick’.
This changed in May this year when the manager formalized the renewal of his Real Estate team at European level, which included the inclusion of 54 managers on the Old Continent alone. Adolfo Favieres was appointed head of BlackRock in Spain, will serve as general manager and Jesús Moler will serve as second sword in the position of ‘vice president’. Both worked together at management company Barings, which they left in 2021 to form Neberu Capital.
Favieres, who attended the Regional congress just a few weeks ago, assured that real estate investment “will begin to revive from the first quarter of 2024” and “The third quarter will be a good time to invest“, something his company is following to the letter. The head of BlackRock in Spain also pointed out that there will be investment opportunities in Spain in the coming months: on the one hand, due to the repayments that certain funds will have to pay, forcing them to sell assets to their participants, and on the other hand, the decline in the value of assets and high interest rates will provide refinancing due to “finding capital will become difficult”.
‘Hyper luxury’ apartments and student residences
Grupo Lar, which will act as BlackRock’s delegate backer and investment manager, is in the design phase of the future project. The building has many owners, but so far the Treasury has held more than half of its surface. This forces the manager to negotiate future restructuring. Grupo Lar sources confirmed this to be true in conversations with this newspaper. Allocating one part of the complex to student dormitory and the other part to hyper luxury apartments is on the table.This information was also published by ‘idealista/news’ a few weeks ago.
A large number of students studying at the prestigious Institute of Management (IE) currently reside in the facility, located in Castellana’s fifth skyscraper. The new residence will allow welcoming everyone into one renovated space and has great features. Moreover, such students, most of whom are of foreign origin, pay more than 1,000 to 1,500 Euros per month to reside in such complexes. High purchasing power ensures that the numbers come out of the operation.
On the other hand, Grupo Lar plans to add an as yet unidentified number of ‘branded residences’ to the projectan English language in which ‘branded houses’ are referred to in the industry. Such properties are super-luxury apartments or chalets marked by brands such as D&G or Lamborghini. To contextualize, the latest ‘branded residences’ built next to the Canalejas Center in Madrid cost at least three and at most 18 million euros. The executive, led by Miguel Pereda, asked three top consulting firms to design the project.
A challenge awaits
Before Grupo Lar and BlackRock can take ownership of the property sold by the Treasury, the Contract Board must resolve an objection. Executive WhiteniSecond place in the auction with a bid of 197.5 million He pushes the claims because he thinks the winners’ bid has “fundamental formal flaws”.
Whiteni’s sources and legal advice ensure: Grupo Lar did not specify exactly how much of the offered price it would pay each year.Taking into account the division allowed by the specifications, which, according to the terms of the auction, may constitute a significant defect. From Grupo Lar, they always showed calmness regarding the procedure, confident that the award would work out satisfactorily in their favor.