Hines has signed a forward purchase agreement for a 31,000m² multifamily rental residential scheme in Madrid, on behalf of the flagship Hines European Value Fund 2 (HEVF 2). Located in one of Madrid’s fastest-growing residential districts in the northeast of the city, the agreement to acquire the completed Valdebebas 125 scheme was agreed and signed off-market through the Hines local team in Spain from Acciona, listed on the Ibex 35 Spanish Stock Exchange. Hines and Acciona worked closely together on the scheme design and specifications before signing the forward purchase agreement. Acciona will now develop and deliver a high-quality scheme, which is expected to be completed in 2022. The project has been designed to obtain the highest environment certifications and Hines is committed to ensuring that the scheme will set a new benchmark for purpose-built rental residential real estate in Madrid.
Incorporating around 395 apartments of varying sizes for individuals, couples and families, Valdebebas 125 is located close to the train station and facing the new Valdebebas Central Park. It will provide a home for around 900 people. The community will also include 7,600m² of landscaped spaces with private leisure amenities, together with a supermarket, convenience retail and restaurants that will service the entire Valdebebas area.
“This transaction gives us an early entry into a nascent market in Spain benefiting from a demographic and lifestyle shift from homeownership to renting. At present, demand from the institutional investment community for well-located, high-quality purpose-built multifamily projects is significantly exceeding the volume of opportunities, so we are particularly pleased to have secured this asset," said Vanessa Gelado, Hines Spain Country Head. “The project enables us to leverage the Hines expertise in this sector, where we have delivered over 2.4 million m² of residential space globally, alongside our knowledge of the local Madrid market to ensure we first optimized all aspects of the project to deliver a scheme which meets demand and exceeds expectations of modern contemporary living in Madrid.”
“Our team in Spain have done a fantastic job in originating this market-leading value-add residential for-rent scheme in Madrid on an off-market basis for the fund. Once again, Hines is demonstrating the invaluable benefit of embedded local presence to secure major acquisitions in prime locations in Europe’s leading city markets," said Paul White, HEVF 2 fund manager. “Alongside two further assets initial investments for HEVF 2 in Munich and London, we expect to execute transactions committing over €300m of the fund’s equity in Q1 2020, with several more deals developing well. We’re very happy at the pace and quality of pipeline in this opening phase of the fund’s investment period.”
