Catella Asset Management has acquired a build-to-rent project in Valencia from Spain's AQ Acentor for €66 mln.
The Alfambra development comprises two buildings with 281 homes in total, and is situated within the AQ Turianova project in the city of Valencia. It has already been granted a First Occupancy License (LPO).
Alfambra is the second development that AQ Acentor has sold to Catella, following the deal closed in Villaverde in Madrid for 171 BTR units in 2019.
AQ Acentor will be responsible for bringing the homes to market, which come with a parking space and storage room, as well as communal areas with gardens, paddle tennis courts and swimming pool.
Alfambra is the first of six developments that the developer is building within AQ Turianova. AQ Acentor is developing 1,200 of the 2,300 homes that will comprise the new neighbourhood.
Covering an area of roughly 380,000 m2, it will be located by La Nueva Fe Hospital and will also include a large urban park and Infinity by AQ Acentor - Spain’s largest retail project under development - as well as other services. Grupo Bertolín is overseeing the building works.
Raúl Moreno, head of development at AQ Acentor, said: 'AQ Turianova is one of AQ Acentor's most ambitious projects to date - in terms of the number of properties as well as Infinity and urban development alike.
'It is an example of urban regeneration in which we are committed to improving a capital city such as Valencia. The agreement we signed today with a benchmark fund such as Catella, as well as the positive progress of the other homes we currently have on the market, backs up our commitment to this project.'
Ana Cebollada, manager at AQ Acentor and head of the AQ Turianova project, said: 'This operation is a milestone in itself because it breaks with the market dynamics characterised by transactions in the off-plan phase, in which the transfer of an already developed asset is not the norm.
'Furthermore, with the LPO, the first neighbours will start setting up home in the new neighbourhood, which is the best sign that AQ Turianova has already been brought to life.'
The consulting firm Colliers and the law firm Uría Menéndez oversaw the operation.
Antonio de la Fuente, managing director of corporate finance at Colliers said: 'This transaction is the most relevant of those closed in Valencia to date, in terms of investment volume and number of homes, and places the City of Turia at the top of residential investment in Spain and up there with many other comparable European cities.'
Following this operation, AQ Acentor has secured 10 turnkey sales agreements for residential build-to-rent projects to the value of more than €300 mln.
