Zaka Investments buys Madrid’s Gran Vía 20 for €44M

Pierre Bastid’s family office, Zaka Investments, has bought Gran Via 20 for €44 million from local Spanish rural savings bank Cajalmendralejo.

The 4,500m² building will be transformed into a luxury hotel designed by Philipe Starck and operated by Parisian firm Evok Hotels Collection.

The building was currently in use as the headquarters of the Registro de la Consejería de Educación, Juventud y Deporte (Registry for the Department of Education, Youth and Sports) and Cajalmendralejo purchased the asset in the mid-2014 for €20 million.

Zaka’s CEO, Romain Yzerman, has stated that the firm is “very happy for continuing with the Evok hotel group’s growth in Europe with this acquisition in Madrid. The city is experiencing a great transformation thanks to its strong appeal, with new 5-star luxury hotels and we are delighted to take part in this evolution”

Savills has advised the vendor in the sale of the 11-floor building doubling its investment in only five years. According to Carlos Ruiz-Garma, director of cross border investments for Southern Europe at Savills “Spain remains one of the main investment markets in Europe. International investors continue to bet on the Spanish hotel market thanks to its high number of foreign tourists, over 80 million a year, which consolidates Spain as the second most visited country in the world”.