Hines, the international real estate firm, and German investment company Universal-Investment, have successfully completed the acquisition of two prime high-street retail assets with associated office space in Madrid and Barcelona on behalf of the Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) €1.3bn separate account.
These purchases represent the eighth and ninth acquisitions for the BVK mandate. In Madrid, the property located on Calle Preciados / Maestro Victoria has been purchased from Spanish Groupo Baraka for €100m. The Barcelona acquisition on Paseo de Gracia was bought from a private vehicle managed by Banco Popular for €90m.
These transactions reinforce Hines' already strong presence in Europe where it has €10.8bn assets under management in most major countries and cities across the continent.
The Preciados transaction comprises two adjacent buildings, Preciados 13 and Maestro Victoria 5. Calle Preciados is the busiest pedestrian street in Madrid, and with a combined area of almost 5,000 m², Hines expects to create a prime flagship retail location on one of Spain's busiest shopping streets.
The asset located in Paseo de Gracia 17 is currently Banco Popular's headquarters in Barcelona. Hines will redevelop the property to deliver a refurbished building offering over 3,000 m² of prime retail space and 5,000 m² of Class A office space, making it a unique asset for both retailers and companies alike.
BVK is Germany's largest pension scheme group with approximately €69bn assets under management. Hines has now completed nine transactions allocating over €900m of the €1.3bn investment mandate which is targeting prime high street retail assets across Europe.
Peter Epping, managing director - Investment Management for Hines Europe and fund manager for the BVK account, said: "Both assets represent great investment opportunities for BVK in two of the best streets in each city. We are excited by the opportunity to deliver value-add creation through the redevelopment of both assets."
Lars Huber, CEO of Hines Europe, added, "Since being awarded the BVK mandate in Q4 2015, Hines has successfully acquired a number of high quality retail assets in prime locations on high streets across European territories including France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and Denmark. We are excited to add these two prime assets in Spain's most important cities."
Alexander Tannenbaum, managing director of Universal-Investment, adds, "The purchase of Preciados andPaseo de Gracia represents a great opportunity to further diversify BVK's portfolio, as well as investing in a country that is potentially expected to grow at a high pace during the next years."
Aguirre Newman advised Hines on the acquisition of Preciados, whereas CBRE were the advisors in Paseo de Gracia's acquisition.
