Parking, data centers and hospitals: The new ‘jewels’ of real estate?

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

Investment in medical centers will be strengthened as the population in Asia, Europe and North America increases demand or spending on medical care, a consequence of the aging population.

The end of the cycle and the search for high returns point to alternative assets. Investment in this type of real estate grew by 8.4% in 2018. Beyond the most common as student residences, coworking or coliving spaces, real estate investors are looking for new assets to invest in.

Today, last-mile logistics opens the door to new uses for parking lots and, as a consequence, to new opportunities for investors. In Spain, Merlin Properties has launched a pilot test to use the parking lots of its office buildings as logistics centers from which to distribute orders to large cities.

The investment in parking lots peaked in 2017, according to the Global Investment Atlas 2019, prepared by Cushman & Wakefield. In 2018, investment in this type of assets fell 42.4%, a little surprising figure given the high investment figure in this type of assets in the previous year. The number of markets where these types of assets were traded also fell over the past year. In 2017, parking operations took place in ten European cities, a figure that fell to the three cities in 2018.

One of the attractive, and relatively unexplored options in Spain, is the investment in data centers. The availability of these types of assets and the need for governments to access information suggest that investment in data centers will rise. Last year, investment volumes in these types of assets grew in Asia and Europe in 2018 but contracted 48.7% globally.

Investment in medical centers is also an upward value. The report emphasizes that investment in these types of assets will be strengthened as the population in Asia, Europe and North America increases demand or spending on medical care, as a result of the aging population. Despite this trend, investment volumes in these types of assets fell globally last year, although they kept transaction volumes above the average of the last ten years.

In this sense, one of the assets on the rise are the residences for the elderly. In Spain, Azora has partnered with Banca March and Indosuez Wealth Management to create a socimi with an investment capacity of 250 million euros. Adriano Care will focus its activity on nursing homes, creating added value through repositioning and renovation of facilities.

Sustainability is, in turn, a factor to be taken into account by investors. When investing in an asset, the physical integrity of the asset, the efficiency of energy and water expenditure, the investment necessary to reform the property and whether it is a durable or disposable construction, Cushman & Wakefield should be taken into account.

This article was written and published in Spanish and has been translated into English via Google Translate. Click here to read the original article.

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