Savills Investment Management has purchased the Bahia Real retail park in Santander, Spain, for one of its pooled funds, for €60 million in an off-market transaction from project developer Citygrove and Burlington.
Savills IM said two existing investors provided the additional equity for the acquisition in Santander, with the assets under management (AUM) of the fund now standing at €1 billion.
The portfolio now comprises 20 properties in 10 countries, diversified across the office, retail and logistics sectors, acocording to the statement.
The Bahia Real retail park is a c. 20,000 sqm site almost fully let to 23 tenants including high-quality retail names such as Mercadona, the leading grocer in Spain, Tiendanimal (pet supplies), Sports Direct (sporting goods), Maisons du Monde and Jysk (furniture / furnishings).
The retail park is complemented by an attractive leisure offering including a gym (Basic Fit) and the region’s newest multiplex cinema (Ocine) as well as a selection of restaurants. There is ample car parking space as well as sufficient space for bicycles, motorbikes and electric vehicles, including charging stations. Photovoltaic systems are installed on both parts of the building – one system produces electricity for the tenants, the other is owned by a Spanish energy company.
The development also benefits from being directly adjacent to the long-established “Valle Real” shopping centre, which houses fashion brands as well as a Carrefour hypermarket and DIY store. The range of tenants at both the specialist market and shopping centre complement each other, increasing the attraction to regional consumers.
Santander is the capital of the Cantabria region in northern Spain and has a population of 200,000. It has an excellent road network including the A67 motorway, as well as a bus and train connection between the city centre and the retail park ensuring good accessibility for residents of Santander and the surrounding areas. The catchment area of the “Bahia Real” retail park consists over 500,000 inhabitants.
Gerhard Lehner, Managing Director and Head of Fund Management Germany at Savills IM, said: ”We are pleased to have raised additional equity from existing investors for the acquisition of this high-quality retail park. This underlines the high level of investor satisfaction with the Fund’s performance, as well as the stable and sustainable distributions since the Fund’s launch in 2008. Relative to other asset classes, retail parks generate high distribution yields in the current market environment and exhibit great resilience. This makes Bahia Real is an ideal addition to the portfolio.”
