AEW Europe and Kennedy Wilson have bought office and retail assets, respectively, in Madrid.

The companies acquired the Edifico Amura office block and La Moraleja Green shopping centre.

Kennedy Wilson said its purchase was its first in the Spanish shopping centre sector.

AEW Europe paid €37m for the Amura, an 18,178sqm building on the outskirts of Madrid.

It bought the asset for its value-add Europe Value Investors (EVI) fund from Union Investment Real Estate.

The building is currently 67% let to seven tenants, including Euronet Business and GEA Process Engineering.

Carsten Czarnetzki, portfolio manager for EVI, said: “Amura is a well-located, good-quality asset that offers us the opportunity to add value and grow income through the lease up of vacant space and the deployment of modest capital expenditure.”

The Madrid office market, according to Czarnetzki, has a shortage of high-quality office accommodation and offers “potential capital value upside” as the Spanish economic recovery continues.

Union Investment said it would reinvest profit from the sale – 12 years after purchase – in Spain.

Philip La Pierre, head of investment management in Europe at Union Investment, said the office markets in Madrid and Barcelona offered “interesting opportunities to renew and increase” the company’s Spanish portfolio.

Kennedy Wilson, meanwhile, paid €71m for a 95.2% stake in La Moraleja.

The property, sold by ING Real Estate at a 6.2% yield, totals 318,700 sq ft of space.

KWE’s interest is 303,500 sq ft, with the remaining 15,200 owned and occupied by Spanish supermarket chain Sanchez Romero.

Existing occupancy is 80%, with annual net income at €4.5m.

Mary Ricks, president and chief executive at Kennedy Wilson Europe, said the asset provided “significant value-enhancing asset management opportunities”.

“There are large reversions to be captured, both by letting up the vacant space and improving existing rents, which sit around 20% below its competition,” Ricks said. 

“Madrid’s growing economy and improving property fundamentals, coupled with stronger consumer confidence, will translate to strong levels of rental growth.”

ING Real Estate, meanwhile, continues to sell properties, with a 450,000sqm portfolio of mixed-use land remaining, according to Erik Vester, global portfolio manager of investments.