AQ Sells BtR Project in Valencia to Catella for €66M

Madrid, 3rd May 2022. A purchase agreement was signed between AQ Acentor, a real estate developer specialised in developing projects in metropolitan areas, and Catella AM, for the Alfambra development in AQ Turianova for €66 million.

The development comprises two buildings and has 281 one- to four-bedroom rental units and has already been granted a First Occupancy License (LPO). AQ Acentor will be responsible for bringing the homes to market, which come with a parking space and storage room, as well as communal areas with gardens, paddle tennis courts and swimming pool. Alfambra is the first of six developments that the developer is building within AQ Turianova. Due to its size and qualities, it is the first and primary BTR development to be handed over in the city of Valencia.

AQ Acentor is developing 1,200 of the 2,300 homes that will comprise the new neighbourhood in the City of Turia. With an area of roughly 380,000 m2, it will be located in the area surrounding La Nueva Fe Hospital and will also include a large urban park and Infinity by AQ Acentor – Spain’s largest retail project under development – as well as other services. The neighbourhood’s urban development works are more or less completed. Specifically, the company will oversee six developments that will include subsidised housing as well as properties for rent and for sale. Grupo Bertolín oversees the building of AQ Turianova properties and urban development projects

The new neighbourhood will have a new infrastructure network, aimed at guaranteeing the quality of life of the residents, which will include a 3-km bike lane and improved connections with the rest of the city through the new Malilla bridge, as well as the creation of a new access from the V-30. It will also incorporate more than 65,000 m2 of green areas distributed in such a way as to intersperse and serve all residential areas, as well as the installation of nearly 40,000 m2 of areas with educational-cultural, recreational, sports and leisure facilities.

Raúl Moreno, Head of Development at AQ Acentor, stated: “AQ Turianova is one of AQ Acentor’s most ambitious projects to date. In terms of the number of properties as well as Infinity and urban development alike. It is an example of urban regeneration in which we are committed to improving a capital city such as Valencia. The agreement we signed today with a benchmark fund such as Catella, as well as the positive progress of the other homes we currently have on the market, backs up our commitment to this project”.

Ana Cebollada, Manager at AQ Acentor and Head of the AQ Turianova project, highlighted: “This operation is a milestone in itself because it breaks with the market dynamics characterised by transactions in the off-plan phase, in which the transfer of an already developed asset is not the norm. Furthermore, with the LPO, the first neighbours will start setting up home in the new neighbourhood, which is the best sign that AQ Turianova has already been brought to life”.

The consulting firm Colliers and the law firm Uría Menéndez oversaw the operation. Antonio de la Fuente, Managing Director of Corporate Finance at Colliers and consultant to the operation stated: “this transaction is the most relevant of those closed in Valencia to date, in terms of investment volume and number of homes, and places the City of Turia at the top of residential investment in Spain and up there with many other comparable European cities”.

Through this operation, AQ Acentor has already closed 10 turnkey sales agreements for residential build-to-rent projects for more than €300 million and is the second signed between Catella AM Iberia and AQ Acentor who, in 2019, agreed on the purchase and sale of a 171-unit residential building for rent located in Villaverde (Madrid).

About AQ Acentor

AQ Acentor is a property developer specialised in developing projects in metropolitan areas such as Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga and Valencia. The company launched in Spain in 2014 and has an accumulated investment of more than €2.6 billion and a portfolio comprising more than 6,100 new-build homes, 100,000m2 of GLA in retail space, 1,000 beds in hotel assets and 15,000m2 of office space. With a multidisciplinary team of more than 110 professionals, AQ Acentor keeps its ear to the Spanish real estate market in search of residential-focused investment opportunities, yet open to all real estate segments, through a sustainable and environmentally friendly development model.