American Retailer Claims Prime Barcelona Asset
Real estate giant Hines expanded its retail portfolio this month with the purchase of Arcs 10, an upscale retail asset in Barcelona. Houston-based Hines forked out almost €40m for the 1,200m² property, located close to the Cathedral and Plaza Sant Jaume in Spain’s perennially popular tourist hotspot.
The building is leased to Barcelona-based international fashion retailer Desigual, who emerged in Ibiza back in 1984 to become one of the largest fashion retailers in Europe with a presence in 42 countries around the world. Arcs 10 is also home to the four star hotel, Catalonia Catedral.
Hines acquired the retail asset from a private Spanish investor on behalf of its Pan-European Core Fund (HCEF), a euro-dominated Luxembourg-based investment fund established in 2007. Managed by the Hines group, the fund aims to develop an extensive portfolio of commercial real estate assets across Europe.
The acquisition comes at a time when confidence in Spain’s economic stability and future performance is riding high among investors.
” With the acceleration of economic growth, take off of retail sales and consequent performance of the High Street, Spain is an attractive market, where tenant activity is seen to be strongly improving, for both existing retailers in the market, and newcomers seeking to make a presence, ” said Jamie Rea, managing director for Hines España.
As part of its Europe expansion, Hines entered the Spanish market with an investment in 84 acres of land in downtown Barcelona in 1996. That investment, fronting onto the Mediterranean Sea, is now known as Diagonal Mar, one of Europe’s largest mixed-use developments, totalling more than 37 hectares.
The project consists of a retail and leisure centre, which opened in November 2001, five residential phases totalling 1,400 apartments, three hotels, three office buildings and the third-largest public park in Barcelona. Hines expanded its Spain operations in 2000 by opening the Madrid office and in 2004 with its Marbella office.
Significant purchases of this nature are proving to boost investor interest in Spain’s real estate markets. Investors in residential properties have been growing in numbers in recent months, buoyed further by euro weakness against other currencies. With major players taking the lead, this is a trend that is set to continue well into 2016 and beyond.
Article by +Roxanne James on behalf of Propertyshowrooms.com
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Investor Appetite Increasing for Thai Hotel Opportunities
Despite the sluggish economy, demand remains strong for real estate in Thailand with the nation currently leading the region in the hotel residence boom, the property investor’s vehicle of choice throughout 2015.
Economists estimate the real estate market grew by almost 10% this year after receiving a boost from the government’s property stimulus measures, implemented to stimulate interest from property buyers overseas.
The stimulus measures include reductions in housing transfer and mortgage fees, personal income tax deductions for those purchasing a property for less than €75,000 and soft loans amounting to €250,000 offered by Thailand’s Government Housing Bank, (GH Bank) .
In October last year, the cabinet approved cuts in housing transfer and mortgage fees to 0.01% each for six months for homes priced at €75,000 or less, down from 2% and 1% respectively. Also approved was a proposal allowing first-time buyers who purchase a home below the same threshold to deduct 20% of the value of the home from their annual personal income tax over a five-year period.
Thai Condominium Association president Prasert Taedullayasatit said the tax incentives would boost the overall housing market in the fourth quarter by 20%-30%, increasing full-year housing market values by 12.6% from last year.
Investment in hotel residences surged in Thailand in 2015, with many opportunities falling well below the new threshold for tax incentives. The sector has a significantly improved outlook on the back of the Thai government’s stimulus measures and construction has been stepping up to meet rapidly increasing demand for robust, income-generating assets in branded hotels.
According to research by Thai-based hospitality consulting group C9 Hotelworks, there are currently more than 28,000 hotel-branded residential units for sale across the region overall, representing almost 120 projects. In Thailand, there are 44 developments on the market, representing 4,775 units, with the top three locations for hotel residences being Phuket, Bangkok and Pattaya.
The average price per square metre for urban properties in Thailand is €5,960, while in resort destinations it is €3,283. One key catalyst for the rising tide of buyer interest has been an increasing number of mixed-use projects that contain hotel and real estate components. Recognised hotel brands are being tapped to help engineer pricing premiums for property sales, which in market-wide terms has equated to 26% in urban locations and 14% for resort products.
Commenting on the research, C9 managing director Bill Barnett said: ” The historic pattern of hotel and real estate marriages has moved away from the beach and leisure destinations and is gaining traction in urban city offerings. Traditional lifestyle buyers are being supplanted by end users, with Asians representing the largest transaction segment. Bangkok’s stirring success story at the St Regis Residences demonstrated this, while the more recent Four Seasons offering has struck a chord with both local and overseas buyers “.
The two leading Southeast Asian real estate marketplaces are Thailand, offering 37% of the region’s hotel project residences, followed by Indonesia with a 22% share.
Article by +Roxanne James on behalf of Propertyshowrooms.com
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