AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets is investing €77m to buy a residential development in Spain.

The manager, on behalf of clients, said it has agreed a forward purchase deal to buy two phases of the Marina Living residential development in Badalona from developer Stoneweg.

The 28,000sqm scheme, which is due to complete in 2021, will comprise 216 residential units, made up of two, three and four-bedroom apartments for the rental market. It will also have 860sqm of retail space.

AXA IM - Real Assets said this transaction represents the company’s third large investment to the Spanish residential market over the past year and a half.

The manager currently has a €10.6bn portfolio of residential assets under management spread across 11 countries.

Hermann Montenegro, local team head, Iberica and Italy at AXA IM - Real Assets, said: “This ambitious project will deliver significant new supplies of high-quality residential stock to the Catalonian market, which is characterised by compelling supply-demand drivers.

“We are confident in the long-term return profile of this opportunity for our clients, thanks to the combination of our local market expertise and the project’s well-connected and desirable location that benefits from increasing occupier demand in line with local regeneration and supportive underlying market dynamics.”

Joaquín Castellví, Partner at Stoneweg, said Marina Living will provide increased housing supplies to Badalona, which is an area experiencing very high demand given its proximity to and good connections with Barcelona.

“In addition, the development of all four phases of this scheme, delivering more than 400 homes, will make a substantial contribution to the dynamic seafront area of the city.”