Barcelona is preparing to close another historic year in hotel investment after reaching its peak in 2023, with 517 million euros, as a result of two large operations (and the Sofia hotel) that totaled almost 400 million euros. Until September, with 12 operations and a volume of 426 million euros (25% of the total funds raised in Spain) it already suggested that this figure could be exceeded.
The closing of a large operation this morning suggests that it could have been definitively overcome. The real estate consultancy Colliers, which advised on the operation, has announced the sale of the Vincci Bit hotel, owned by the Rosales real estate group (), to a national investor for 60 million euros. “With the closing of this transaction, Barcelona is positioned as the most dynamic urban destination in 2024, exceeding 500 million euros of investment in nearly 20 transactions. This operation also confirms a notable trend of this last year, in which we have seen how in processes that have aroused maximum interest in the market, a national investor has finally been the chosen buyer,” stressed Laura Hernando, general director of Hotels in Colliers. The Vincci Bit hotel has 177 double rooms with a four-star category and was inaugurated in 2012.
Among these 20 operations, five stand out due to the high volume of funds committed (285 million euros). The most relevant was the purchase of the AC Forum hotel by him for 80 million euros, followed by the one closed this morning (Vincci Bit) and the sale of the OD Barcelona hotel to a Russian investor for 55 million euros. Apart from these three operations, two others also stand out for their high volume. In January, for 50 million euros. Just four months later, the German management company ASG sold to a family office British the Hampton by Hilton Barcelona Fira Gran Vía hotel for 40 million euros.
This figure could have reached historically high levels if two sales operations had been closed that would have added around 150 million euros to the final investment volume. These are the Barceló Raval hotel, owned by the German fund Union Investment, and the Kimpton Vividora hotel, in the hands of the Casacuberta family. and anticipates that the sale could be closed in the first months of 2025 (Unión Investment bought it for 40 million in 2012), while JLL, the consulting firm in charge of the sale of the Kimpton Vividora, has a mandate to achieve up to 110 million euros for the sale. sale of the asset, with 156 rooms, and located in the Gothic quarter of Barcelona.
Aside from the sale and purchase, this year has been marked by the entry of new international brands in Barcelona in assets in which the Canadian fund Brookfield has been involved in some way. This was the owner of the Sofía hotel, one of the most emblematic five-star luxury hotels in Barcelona, until he sold it in April 2023 to Blasson Property Investment for 180 million in April 2023. A year later he reopened it with the Grand brand Hyatt. The last major global brand that has landed in Barcelona has been . It was last October when he named the former Expo hotel, owned by Brookfield after purchasing a portfolio of four Selenta hotels in 2021 for 440 million, becoming the first of that brand in Spain.
