Iberia Coop – a fund owned in 10% by Sonae Sierra and 90% by international investors – has reached an agreement for the sale of AlgarveShopping and Albufeira Retail Park to Frey, a French company specialised in the development and management of open-air shopping centres.
Sonae Sierra will continue to be responsible for the property management and leasing of the shopping centre and the retail park.
This transaction is part of the capital recycling strategy that Sonae Sierra has been implementing, seeking to invest in assets with value-creation potential, as well as in development projects.
Fernando Guedes de Oliveira, CEO of Sonae Sierra, said: “We are very pleased with the completion of this transaction, which is another important milestone in the implementation of Sonae Sierra’s strategy and a market recognition of the high quality of the real estate assets in which we invest. At the same time, the maintenance of the property management and leasing of AlgarveShopping and Albufeira Retail Park attests the investors’ high confidence in our experience and expertise, and their continued trust in Sonae Sierra as the partner of choice in the geographies where we operate”.
AlgarveShopping and Albufeira Retail Park have a diverse and attractive commercial and leisure offer of around 60,000 sq m with multiple local and international brands, including all brands of the Inditex group (Zara, Pull & Bear, Bershka, etc), Fnac, C&A, H&M, JD Sport, Rádio Popular and Worten, a Continente hyperrmarket, about 20 restaurants, a cinema and a parking lot for 3,000 vehicles.
Located in an area with approximately 280,000 inhabitants (excluding hotel stays, which may increase the area of influence to 800,000 people during the summer), AlgarveShopping and Albufeira Retail Park have performed very well since their inauguration, with a Global Occupancy Rate of 99.8% and over 7.5 million visits per year.
RPA Perspective In another boost for the region, Barings, one of the world’s largest diversified real estate investment managers, has provided, on behalf of one of its managed accounts, a €40 million senior construction loan to finance the development of a retail park in Dos Hermanas, located outside of Seville, Spain.
The 36-month loan, which has been provided to a joint venture between Kronos Investment Group and a global investment management company, will fund the construction of a 64-unit, 48,646 square meter retail park, with 2,000 parking spaces, including electric car charging stations. The project is over 70% pre-let, ground and infrastructure works have been completed and full planning and building permissions have been obtained. The retail park is expected to open in Summer 2020.
Dos Hermanas has a population of 133,000 and is located 15km from the centre of Seville, Spain’s fourth largest city. The development is being positioned as the new town centre, providing much needed new leisure and food and beverage offerings and an “events plaza”, to ensure it is relevant to current consumer trends.
Ben Silver, Head of Global Real Estate Debt, Barings, said, “This is our latest loan to close in Western Europe as we continue to build our global debt platform. We are excited to be part of real estate transactions like Dos Hermanas and look forward to seeing opportunities from similar Sponsors.”
Sam Mellor, Head of Real Estate Debt Portfolio Management and Origination – Europe, Barings, added, “Dos Hermanas is a growing dormitory town close to Seville and this loan will enable the construction of the dominant retail scheme for the immediate and undersupplied catchment area. The strength of the project is evidenced by the high demand for the space, which is already substantially pre-let.”
