AEW has announced the off-market acquisition of a prime retail asset on Passeig de Gracia 89, directly opposite the iconic La Pedrera (Casa Mila), in the heart of Barcelona’s main luxury shopping district.
The deal was made on behalf of AEW Europe City Retail Fund from a private vendor.
The property, which has a total GLA of over 560 sq m spread over three floors, is fully let to Italian luxury clothing company Loro Piana, part of the LVMH Group, and has a long WALT of 13 years.
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain and is among the most popular destinations for tourists across the EU. Located at the corner of Carrera Provenza and Passeig de Garcia in the north of the Eixample district, the property, which has a large frontage, benefits from excellent visibility, said AEW.
Additionally, Passeig de Garcia is renowned for being one of the most important luxury high streets in the world where global luxury retail brands, including Hermes, Fendi, Louis Vuitton and Prada are based.
Christina Ofschonka, Fund Manager for Europe City Retail at AEW, said: “This investment is perfectly aligned to the Fund’s strategy of targeting prime highstreet retail assets in thriving European cities, which offer secure income and strong covenants. We continue to add high quality assets to the Fund portfolio which now counts 22 assets across eleven cities including Milan, Madrid, Paris, Copenhagen, Glasgow, with a total value of €620 million.”
Nikos Koulouras, Head of Investments for AEW’s Private Equity Funds in Europe, added: “We are very pleased with the latest off-market acquisition of this prime retail asset on one of Europe’s most sought after streets for luxury retail. We continue to believe in the strength of the Spanish real estate market and we have further appetite for acquiring prime high-street assets in both Madrid and Barcelona.”
Advisors on the transaction were Herbert Smith Freehills, Hollis, CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield.
RPA Perspective AEW's Europe City Retail Fund has been busy over the past six months, having agreed its first deal in the Netherlands in June with the acquisition of the 54 Lijnbaan prime retail asset in Rotterdam for an undisclosed sum - 1,975sqm of retail space spread over three floors with two large frontages and is let to the fashion retailer, Pull and Bear.
In May, the AEW Europe City Retail Fund made its first acquisition in the UK as it bought the former Scottish Stock Exchange building in Glasgow for €37m.
Christina Ofschonka, fund manager for Europe City Retail at AEW, said at the time: “After recently completing the fund’s first acquisition in the UK, I am pleased that this has been closely followed by the Fund’s entry into the Dutch market.
“This acquisition adds another high-quality asset to the fund’s portfolio as we continue to deploy capital into a strong pipeline of selected opportunities across Europe’s largest metropolitan areas.”
The latest acquisition brings the Europe City Retail fund’s portfolio to 23 assets across 11 cities, including Copenhagen, Dublin, Glasgow, Madrid, Milan and Paris, with a total value of over €630m.
