The golf courses, star during the 'boom' a nightmare for developers and banks
It is one of the most toxic assets that generated the largest real estate bubble in Spain ever concocted. We refer to the golf courses and housing developments
that many saw in them the ability to sell their homes between 25% and
30% more expensive, simply because of being with one of them no matter
what the future would the same as for the subsequent management.
The result, real corpses scattered throughout Spain bankrupt in the hands of banks or SAREB, like many other real estate assets waiting to find a buyer in the battered Spanish property market.
"Golf in Spain has a dimension of industry and rarely considered as such, but the numbers are staggering. Almost 60% of the approximately 400 existing golf courses were built in Spain under housing developments, according to a report from consultancy firm, Aguirre Newman, in 2011, four years after the bubble burst.
Not surprisingly, "in most cases, with honorable exceptions, golf has been used as a tool to sell homes, mostly second homes, much more expensive and as the figurehead of the building project," explains The Confidential Iñaki Aranguren, president of the Association of Golf Courses in Madrid and CEO of Making Golf Group, a company dedicated to the management of golf courses and refloat responsible for many of them.
Photo: Solvia.es
The result, real corpses scattered throughout Spain bankrupt in the hands of banks or SAREB, like many other real estate assets waiting to find a buyer in the battered Spanish property market.
"Golf in Spain has a dimension of industry and rarely considered as such, but the numbers are staggering. Almost 60% of the approximately 400 existing golf courses were built in Spain under housing developments, according to a report from consultancy firm, Aguirre Newman, in 2011, four years after the bubble burst.
Not surprisingly, "in most cases, with honorable exceptions, golf has been used as a tool to sell homes, mostly second homes, much more expensive and as the figurehead of the building project," explains The Confidential Iñaki Aranguren, president of the Association of Golf Courses in Madrid and CEO of Making Golf Group, a company dedicated to the management of golf courses and refloat responsible for many of them.
Photo: Solvia.es
"The first thing they did was to build the promoting golf course to teach prospective buyers of homes, so that from the beginning they generated losses," he added. "Now we have finished and open golf courses
that are an inexhaustible source of loss because the developers refuse
to close them and at the same time, no money and no buyers to take the
promotion forward."
And, as Aranguren says, the golf courses are like an alligator eating every day. From 400,000 to 2,000,000 per year, depending on the resort. "50% are staff costs and other expenses 50% are derived from pure and golf course maintenance."
The promoters saw the golf courses the ability to sell their homes between 25% and 30% more expensive The fundamental problem arose after 2007 in those development projects that are not fully developed and have not been able to create a critical mass of members who could bring the cost of maintenance of golf courses associated with them.
"Now, with the housing slump and the major setback suffered by the second-hand housing, has been an almost impossible task no longer maintaining the facility, but almost survival.
Thing that prevented developers and builders have left the scheme has been the fact that the golf courses are a fundamental part of real estate, ie, houses and apartments to be built around it, "says Aranguren.
The toxic legacy that developers have left the bench
For Mary Monastery, director of Malaga Andalucía de Aguirre Newman, "if the golf course is not built, operated and maintained, penalizes the promotion, so compared to other projects, is a competitive element. Golfing provides added value. Moreover, as other property assets, these products have also adjusted their prices. Each function of the area, depending on supply and demand, but not the fact itself of having a same golf course. " He adds that, like any other asset real estate, "will be output in areas where the stock is decreasing and increasing demand."
However, the future of many of these projects is uncertain. "First, today there is no demand for such assets, and two, in the unlikely event find a buyer for the asset it would be worth little more than its operating account," says Iñaki Aranguren, who remembers also how many of these products, like many other real estate assets, ended up in the hands of banks.
Like hundreds of finished and half-finished developments, solar and many other real estate assets, products associated with golf courses have served to cancel part of the debt incurred by the promoters. For example, a button.
Banco Sabadell, for example, has 'inherited' two golf courses that entered its portfolio lieu of payment. "They are in L'ampoule (Tarragona) and Picassent (Valencia) and has decided to keep it coincides in areas that are considered to help improve the conditions to boost the sector," says a source from the bank. The bank also has a small hotel with a golf course in Sabiñánigo, Huesca and homes already completed, on golf courses in a dozen developments in Andalucia, Murcia and Valencia.
The savings banks that now offer owners of failed promotions are around 30 to 50%, but still with a very weak demand "We have not carried out any development in this regard, or what comes to starting a project from scratch nor we had to finish either because they were ready," nuance from the company that, through its real estate subsidiary Solvia sells apartments from 40,000 euros in Sucina, Murcia , while also offering product of more than 260,000 euros in Las Lomas del Marques, in Málaga .
Sabadell has not been the sole heir. Banco Popular has nearly two dozen promotions that focus on Malaga, Cadiz, Murcia, Las Palmas and Huesca, while recognizing SAREB have two projects: Golf El Puerto in Puerto de Santa María (Cádiz), and Hacienda Golf Alamo, in Murcia.
"The collapse of prices on the coast has left a very delicate situation in the real estate development courses in the interior. Discounts that banks now offer owners failed promotes s are around 30 to 50%, but still a very weak demand. Needless to say that this situation places the fields in a situation of extreme weakness in order to keep their doors open, "adds Iñaki Aranguren.
The promoters refuse to shut
"The ability to close the golf courses in real estate development is not on the table of most of the current owners, the banks, or SAREB own majority. Firstly, by a matter of pure marketing and price associated with the existence of a golf course development in comparison to the competition, and on the other by its commitments to those who already bought homes and are members of the golf course, "says Iñaki Aranguren, who explains that in some cases have been raised temporarily pending management could find to continue the activity other than that created closure.
There are examples as the field Santamarina in San Vicente de la Barquera, or the case already mentioned by The Confidential Garden Arcos in Cadiz town of Arcos de la Frontera , where about 172 hectares had plans to develop a luxury hotel, 525 homes and a golf course. Only 80 houses and 32 villas were built and finally on 5 May saw the temporary closure of the golf course, until further opening before summer, with change management team.
Retamares Golf Club in Madrid.Outright failures and few success stories
Polaris World is perhaps the paradigm not only supported housing developments in golf, but the urban macro-erected from scratch proliferated in those years.
"From the point of view golfing, not lacking anything. Six golf at the highest level, the ability to play all the fields within 25 kilometers projects near airports, hotels to stay, good time ... Yet The bursting of the bubble promoters caught without developing much of the project and the creditor banks swooped above should have been one of Europe's largest golfing projects, "recalls Iñaki Aranguren.
With the voluntary bankruptcy of the company created to manage the IRM assets at the request of the SAREB itself, the fate of the project is completely separated from what the developers intended. The operation cost Bancaja, CAM, Banco Popular, major creditors, a total of about 1,170 million euros supposed, according to experts, one of the largest urban Spain busts.
To Aranguren, not all golf courses and housing developments are doomed to failure. "To quote an American said, is the third owner who takes the project forward.'s First owner has the idea but just breaking, the second is the creditor bank, and the third is the professional who just managing."
Retamares Golf Club in Madrid is an example. Having spent not two but three previous hands, Caja Madrid and NH the last two, the private company Making Golf Group has transformed a track record of historical losses since its founding in operating profit. "In these cases, no added real estate business, it is essential to generate external traffic to the partners themselves in other ways. Specifically, the opening two years ago, in the midst of the worst crisis in the sector, a luxury hotel designed by architect Joaquin Torres and his studio A-Cero was one of the pillars to combat the crisis. There are also cases such as La Zagaleta. A successful example of development / real estate development of very high standing, "says Aranguren.
Source: http://www.elconfidencial.com/vivienda/2014-09-15/los-campos-de-golf-de-estrella-durante-el-boom-a-pesadilla-de-promotores-y-bancos_185984/
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