A fund overseen by ActivumSG Capital Management has sold the 161-guest room Hard Rock Hotel Madrid it established in the heart of the Spanish capital’s Museum District to Arlaes Management, an investment and management company comprised of international investors, for €65 mln.
ActivumSG Iberia Fund I acquired the former municipal office building opposite the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía in the Atocha district of Madrid after seeing the potential to convert it into a hotel.
The 12,598-m2 hotel opened its doors to guests in July 2021. This followed intensive asset management by ActivumSG to obtain planning consent for change of use, the acquisition of an adjacent plot for broadening the future hotel’s amenities and overseeing the extensive works to transform the building. The team also signed a management agreement with Hard Rock International, which will continue to operate the hotel featuring restaurants and bars, an outdoor swimming pool in the gardens, a fitness center and a guest car park.
Brian Betel, ActivumSG’s head of direct transactions in Europe, said: ‘We’ve taken this hotel project from a concept through to an operational asset primed for new ownership, in line with our development strategy of creating and selling great hotels. Our pan-European hotel strategies started in 2015, when we began to assemble a portfolio of assets in Spain’s major destinations. We went on to acquire Odyssey Hotel Group last year for scaling its footprint across the continent. We’re positive about the sector, anticipating a rebound in tourism and eventually business travel as the COVID-19 pandemic recedes, so we’re looking for fresh investment opportunities.’
Following the sale of the Madrid property, ActivumSG funds own, are building or operate 22 hotels across Europe through their investments with a total of almost 4,000 guest rooms, or keys. This number increases to more than 7,750 keys, given the pipeline of openings for Odyssey Hotel Group in the coming years.
Advising ActivumSG Iberia Fund I on the Madrid hotel sale were JLL and Latham & Watkins, while Knight Frank acted for Arlaes Management.
