Alternative investment firm HIG Capital has acquired a portfolio of three commercial properties in Madrid with the aim of transforming them into luxury homes. These are two office buildings and a hotel, all located around Calle Arturo Soria, a highly sought-after residential area in the Spanish capital.

The three buildings have a total floor area of 20,000 square metres. The HIG subsidiary that has signed the purchase agreement, HIG Realty, will carry out a thorough renovation of the buildings to convert them into a high-end residential asset with strong environmental credentials.

Rental and sale
According to the purchaser, the three buildings have already been approved for conversion. The project envisages the construction of 267 housing units for rent and sale. Furthermore, there will be attractive communal amenities, including swimming pools, a gym, dining areas, a cinema, terraces and rooftop dining areas.

With this transaction, the US company aims to take advantage of the constant growth in demand for housing in Madrid. To do this, it is taking advantage of the availability of buildings that are no longer used for their original purpose in order to incorporate them into the residential market.

Value-added initiatives
Riccardo Dallolio, Managing Director and Head of HIG Realty in Europe, explained the company’s commitment to this project, “We believe that the current residential market in Madrid benefits from strong fundamentals due to a lack of quality accommodation and high demand. This transaction demonstrates our ability to access sizeable assets in undersupplied markets with the potential of becoming a highly liquid, institutional product as the result of implementing our value-added initiatives”.

Esteban Caja Samboal, also Managing Director of HIG Realty in Europe, explained the project’s objectives, “We plan to deliver a high-quality scheme that caters to the demand of young professionals and families for new housing with luxury amenities, within an exceptionally located district of Madrid. Given the strong market dynamics, we are continuing to look for opportunities in this sector, including converting obsolete office assets into state-of-the-art residential properties”.