Reyal Urbis has not seen the bids for its first major asset auction as interesting enough and has left the process deserted. This real estate company – the largest defaulter in the Treasury and in the liquidation phase controlled by the Mercantile Court number 6 of Madrid – has decided to change the strategy and cut up that portfolio for sale for which it was asking for 220 million euros. Now, it will put several smaller lots on the market to maximize income, sources in the real estate sector confirm.
After the summer, Reyal Urbis prepared the launch of the largest auction of assets from its liquidation portfolio. Extended until the end of last year, the bids submitted have not been high enough, so the strategy now turns to auctioning several lots with land, offices and hotels, among other assets. The sector already expects for this first quarter to be able to bid for these properties. In this way, it is considered that due to the great investor appetite for real estate, the bids for certain assets are higher and the sum, therefore, is also higher.
Included in the macro-auction was the Rafael Hotels chain, with establishments in the Madrid neighborhoods of Atocha, Pirámides and Ventas (Madrid); in Badalona (Barcelona), and the Hotel Pleta (Baqueira Beret). Precisely it remains to be seen whether that chain will now come out as a joint lot, for a value close to 70 million, or some asset will be disintegrated, such as that of the Pyrenees ski resort, a five-star boutique hotel.
Among the assets of the large lot that will now be put back on the market is an office building on Calle Torrelaguna in Madrid, which houses the headquarters of the Olympic Broadcasting Services of the International Olympic Committee.
Similarly, the market expects land from Reyal Urbis in urban developments in Valencia, Malaga and Jerez (Cádiz), among other locations.
Liquidation of Reyal Urbis
In 2017, the developer was declared in liquidation, after four years in bankruptcy proceedings and eleven years after its start-up. The company arose from the merger of Reyal with Banesto's real estate company, Urbis.
The company's portfolio reached 1,170 million euros and had to face a debt of 4,660 million.