AIF Capital Group, a specialist for regulated alternative investment funds, has acquired the Princesa underground car park in a central downtown location in Barcelona. After the purchase in June this year, this already is the second acquired property in the Catalan metropolis. The purchase was made for the open-ended special alternative investment fund (AIF) Parking Fund Europa, which focuses on parking garages and underground parking lots.
The Princesa underground parking lot is already the eighth property for the parking lot fund launched in 2019. The new investment property is located at Vía Laietana 20 in the Ciutat Vella district alongside the well-known Las Ramblas and has around 180 parking spaces on four levels. A long-term lease agreement has been signed with one of the TOP 3 parking operators in Spain.
Due to its central location, the underground car park benefits from a broadly diversified user mix and is used by long-term parkers as well as short-term parkers. In the immediate vicinity are numerous office buildings, retailers, apartments, restaurants, and tourist attractions such as Plaza Cataluña and the Picasso Museum. With a population of around 1.7 million, Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain and the economic center of Catalonia.
The property site is located in the planning area of the 2018-2023 Mobility Plan for the Ciutat Vella district. Associated with this is a redesign of Vía Laietana with traffic-calming measures for a pedestrian and bicycle-friendly location. The aim is an urban adaptation to new and improved sustainable forms of mobility as well as a contemporary and improved traffic control in busy periods.
Daniel Wolf, Managing Director of AIF Management, says: “The Princesa underground car park is a very good complement to our other investment property in the Catalan metropolis. The location offers the best conditions for integrating various mobility services such as car sharing, e-mobility or last mile distribution. Our two purchases in Barcelona provide us with a solid basis for further investments in Spain. As part of our partnership with one of the TOP 3 parking lot operators, we have already been able to identify new concrete investment opportunities.”
AIF Capital Group has been involved in the parking industry since 2011 and considers itself a market leader in this segment. Among other products, this fund enables institutional investors to specifically invest in a Europe-wide diversified parking garage portfolio. The Stuttgart-based investment managers regard investments in this segment as a strategically sustainable investment due to stable and crisis-resistant cash flows.
AIF Capital Group is also active with several funds in the areas of care and social real estate, residential, food retail as well as in the segment of sustainable infrastructure, including renewable energies.
