AEW’s EVII fund completes first Spanish acquisition.

AEW, on behalf of AEW Europe Value Investors II (EVI II) has purchased a portfolio of four office properties in Madrid and Barcelona in the fund’s second acquisition following that of a Munich office building in May 2019. 

The portfolio includes two core properties in Claudio Coello 124 and in Madrid and in Comte d’Urgell 143 in Barcelona with an average occupancy of over 87%. The other two properties are located in the Barcelona submarkets of Mas Blau and Sant Joan Despí and have an average occupancy at acquisition of c. 50%. The total portfolio has a GLA of over 25,000m².
 
AEW plans to conduct an extensive refurbishments of the buildings followed by an intensive hands-on leasing strategy to reposition the portfolio and add value leveraging on the quality of locations and on the back of a growing economy.
  
According to Carsten Czarnetzki, Fund Manager of EVI II, «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 decentralised 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.”
 
The fund, which is part of AEW’s Europe Value Investors series, is targeting to deploy total equity of approximately €500 million, which will provide a total investment capacity of circa €1 billion with 50% LTV leverage. It focuses primarily on identifying office properties with upside potential in established and developing locations in Europe’s most liquid markets.

Cushman & Wakefield acted as advisor to AEW was along with Baker McKenzie. The vendor, Inmobiliaria Norte Sur S.A. (INSSA) was advised by JLL.