AEW, acting on behalf of AEW Europe Value Investors II, has acquired a portfolio of four office assets located in Madrid and Barcelona with a total GLA of over 25,000m². This is the second investment for the fund following the recent acquisition of a Munich office building in May 2019. The purchase price was not disclosed.
Two of the four properties are located in Claudio Coello 124 in Madrid’s Central Business District and in Comte d’Urgell 143 in Barcelona’s Central Business District. Both these assets are core assets with an average occupancy of over 87%. The remaining two assets are located in the Barcelona submarkets of Mas Blau and Sant Joan Despí with an average occupancy of 50.3%.
AEW will deploy its local asset management team to oversee light to extensive refurbishments of the assets followed by an intensive hands-on leasing strategy to reposition the portfolio and drive value taking advantage of the asset locations and the local market fundamentals.
Carsten Czarnetzki, Fund Manager of EVI II, commented: "The acquisition of this portfolio is a unique investment opportunity for EVI II comprising two core Central Business District assets in Madrid and Barcelona as well as two value add assets in decentralized areas. AEW will now deploy an active asset management plan and an intensive leasing strategy in order to add value and attract new tenants to increase the occupancy rate. We will continue to source high-quality opportunities for EVI II through our extensive international network of investment teams.”
