(MADRID) - Hines, the international real estate firm, announces the acquisition of the office building located at Avenida Diagonal 407 in Barcelona, on behalf of its Hines European Core Fund (HECF), from Banco Sabadell. With this acquisition, Hines increases its presence in the Barcelona office sector in the CBD, a sub-market with restricted supply and limited investment opportunities.
The tower, located on Avenida Diagonal, 407, at the intersection with Calle Balmes, is one of Barcelona’s most iconic office buildings. The building, measuring 11,823 square meters above ground level and with a height of 83 meters, boasts 22 office floors. Along with the sales agreement, Hines and Banco Sabadell have entered into a lease agreement that will allow the bank to remain temporarily at the property, its former main corporate office hub in Barcelona, until early 2023. From then on, Banco Sabadell will occupy four floors including its main commercial branch and private banking office in the city for the long term.
Following the agreement, Hines will carry out a comprehensive refurbishment of the building following the highest quality standards to maintain the unique character of the tower and transform it into a Class A asset. The building will target LEED Platinum or BREEAM Excellent certification and class A energy efficiency to meet the workplace demands of future tenants. Once the property is renovated, Hines plans to lease part of the office space on a multi-tenant basis.
As a result of this transaction, HECF will own four assets in Spain, in the logistics, high-street retail and office sectors and continue to analyze opportunities in the residential-for-rent sector.
Vanessa Gelado, Senior Managing Director and country Head of Spain, at Hines said: “This new acquisition enables us to strengthen our position in the office sector in Spain. Barcelona’s financial district is a highly restricted market where very few investment opportunities arise each year. The Class A office market has historically performed very well in Barcelona, and at Hines we have no doubt that once this unique asset is refurbished, the market’s upward trend will continue.”
Simone Pozzato, Fund Manager – Hines European Core Fund (HECF), added: “This is a true landmark office building in the heart of Barcelona which bolsters our portfolio in Spain. It’s a rare opportunity to acquire a trophy asset in such a fantastic location which also has potential to add value via an actively managed refurbishment program. Upon completion, we’re confident occupiers will be attracted by the impressive views of Barcelona’s skyline and cutting-edge technology underpinned by standout ESG credentials. One of HECF’s strategic targets across Europe is to continue to turn iconic existing buildings with strong architectural heritage into even greater future-proofed green buildings.”
Garrigues and EY advised Hines on the purchase of the property. Banco Sabadell was advised by Savills Aguirre Newman and Pérez Llorca.
About Hines
Hines is a privately held global real-estate investment firm founded in 1957, with a presence in 255 cities in 27 countries. Hines has approximately USD 83.6 billion[1] in assets under management. In addition, Hines provides investment management services to more than 367 properties covering 12.84 million sqm. Historically, Hines has built, renovated or acquired 1,486 properties, totaling more than 45 million sqm. The company has more than 171 ongoing developments worldwide. With extensive investment experience across the risk spectrum and all property types, as well as a pioneering commitment to sustainability, Hines is one of the largest and most respected real estate companies in the world.
Since entering Europe in 1991, Hines has expanded its European platform to include offices in 16 cities, as well as a presence in 62 cities in 13 countries. Hines oversees a portfolio of AUM valued at approximately EUR 21.7 billion of assets under management in Europe, representing over 3.8 million sqm of assets for which Hines provides services at third-party property level, in Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Visit www.hines.com for further information.
[1] It includes both Hines’ global organization and RIA AUM as of 30 June 2021.
About Hines European Core Fund (HECF)
The HECF was set up in 2006 with the aim of providing investors with a resilient income profile and benchmark’s outperformance, derived from a diversified portfolio of high-quality assets located in prime locations across major European cities. As of Q3 2021 the HECF portfolio was 97.5% occupied with an aggregate fund value of c.€2.4bn. The portfolio of the Fund comprised 32 assets including forward commitments, invested in 16 city markets across ten different European countries.
