Aquila Capital, one of Europe’s leading independent alternative asset managers, has acquired a residential real estate development project in Sant Cugat del Vallès, a northern suburb of Barcelona. The project involves the construction of about 40 high-quality residential units on the 11,000 sqm site.
The residential units will have an average size of 250 sqm and include terraces, fitness facilities and swimming pools. The development’s luxury specification perfectly fits the affluent profile of Sant Cugat del Vallès, whose income per capita is the third-highest in Spain. With a high ratio of families already prevalent in the suburb – around 60% of the 87,200 inhabitants live in four-person households – there is expected to be strong demand for larger units. Construction is scheduled to start in summer 2016, once 30% of the units have been sold.
The Sant Cugat del Vallès development strongly benefits from having no direct competition in the region: other projects are further away from Barcelona, lack comparable facilities or have substantially higher selling prices. The development will also provide easy access to the centre of Barcelona with an average journey time of less than 30 minutes by public transport or car.
Rolf Zarnekow, Head of Real Estate & Infrastructure at Aquila Capita, said: “Over the last few years, Sant Cugat del Vallès has become one of the most popular residential districts in the catchment area of Barcelona and is characterised by its prosperous location as well as direct transportation links. Our investment therefore benefits from the continuously rising demand for exclusive living space.”
Roman Rosslenbroich, CEO and Co-Founder of Aquila Group, commented: “The Sant Cugat transaction follows our recent announcement that we aim to acquire a range of residential real estate assets in Spain and is the first of these to be located in the metropolitan region of Barcelona. The successful realisation of these projects underlines our conviction that the Spanish residential real estate market offers considerable investment potential.”