AEW has announced the off-market acquisition of a prime retail asset on Passeig de Gracia 89, directly opposite the iconic La Pedrera (Casa Mila), in the heart of Barcelona’s main luxury shopping district, on behalf of AEW Europe City Retail Fund from a private vendor.
Financial details were not disclosed.
The property, which has a total gross leasable area of over 560 m2 spread over three floors, is fully let to Italian luxury clothing company Loro Piana, part of the LVMH Group, and has a long weighted average lease term of 13 years.
Christina Ofschonka, fund manager for Europe City Retail at AEW, commented: 'This investment is perfectly aligned to the Fund’s strategy of targeting prime highstreet retail assets in thriving European cities, which offer secure income and strong covenants. We continue to add high quality assets to the Fund portfolio which now counts 22 assets across eleven cities including Milan, Madrid, Paris, Copenhagen, Glasgow, with a total value of €620 mln.'
Nikos Koulouras, head of Investments for AEW’s Private Equity Funds in Europe, added: 'We are very pleased with the latest off-market acquisition of this prime retail asset on one of Europe’s most sought after streets for luxury retail. We continue to believe in the strength of the Spanish real estate market and we have further appetite for acquiring prime high-street assets in both Madrid and Barcelona.'
Advisors on the transaction were Herbert Smith Freehills, Hollis, CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield.
