Azora, the Madrid-based global private equity real estate manager, has signed an agreement with a global institutional investor to create Brisa, a new vehicle focussed on build to rent residential developments across Spain.
Including leverage, Brisa will have an implied total investment capacity of over €1 bn and will target the development of more than 8,000 units over the next five years.
Concha Osácar, founding partner of Azora, commented: 'There is still an acute shortage of good quality rental housing in Spain, most notably for affordable accommodation targeting middle income earners.
'Brisa aims to help alleviate that issue through the delivery of more than 8,000 sustainably developed new homes in the most supply constrained micro-locations across Spain over the coming years.
'The success of this capital raise demonstrates that international investors continue to recognise Azora as a market leader in Spain in general and in the residential sector in particular.'
Brisa’s strategy will be the same one Azora has implemented since the launch of its first residential vehicle back in 2003, with a primary preference for turnkey projects in long-term collaborations with national and local developers.
It will also be complemented by land acquisitions for own-development opportunities, in order to ensure a sizeable and stable rhythm of production of new BTR units. Locations are likely to include in and around Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca and Valencia, amongst others.
Javier Rodriguez Heredia, senior partner of Azora and responsible for the real estate vertical, commented: 'Housing is the most important social infrastructure a country has. We’re very excited to continue investing in a segment with such a high social impact and which is so important for the wellbeing and development of the younger generations and families in Spain.
'The affordable rented residential space is key in providing solutions to the real housing needs of this segment of the population, which is having great difficulties in accessing good quality housing and which constitute the social backbone and future of Spain. It’s a major challenge which we believe we can address through the collaboration and strategic partnerships with the top Spanish developers.'
The portfolio will be property managed and leased by Azzam, Azora’s wholly owned residential leasing and property management subsidiary, which was established more than a decade ago and currently manages some 15,000 PRS units on behalf of Azora and other institutional investors.
Azora has been investing in the Spanish residential-for-rent sector for nearly 20 years.
