LaSalle has purchased Las Mercedes Retail Park, the retail and commercial park in the east of Madrid, on behalf of its open pan-European fund Encore+. The purchase price was not disclosed.
Completed in 2015, the retail park comprises a total lettable area of just under 22,000m². The asset is fully let and anchored by the DIY retailer Bauhaus as well as the discount grocery store Aldi.
The property is located in the Barajas district of Madrid, within a higher-than-average income catchment area of about 440,000 inhabitants. There are numerous shopping and leisure facilities in the immediate vicinity, including the highly frequented Plenilunio shopping centre. The neighbouring Mercedes Business Park is home to more than 12,000 employees of numerous international companies such as Coca-Cola, Vodafone, Fedex and DHL.
Las Mercedes Retail Park is also located close to the airport and the A-2, M-11 and M-21 motorways. The location is less than 30 minutes by car from the centre of Madrid and has excellent public transport connections.
David Ironside, Fund Manager for Encore+ at LaSalle Investment Management, says: “With Las Mercedes Retail Park, we have identified an exceptionally attractive opportunity to increase exposure of Encore+ to high-value, income-generating retail assets with a heterogeneous industry profile and potential for alternative uses. The transaction comes at an opportune moment when the vacancy rate in Madrid is historically low while the new development pipeline is limited. The location is compelling as an established urban retail and office submarket, providing a mix of strong-performing long-term tenants which will generate diversified cash flows and sustain strong returns for our investors.”
