The rental housing manager Bialto has started the commercialization of its first residential building, in the Marina del Prat Vermell neighborhood, in the Sants-Montjuïc district, in Barcelona. This is the first phase of a residential complex that lays the foundations for the new business division of the German fund DWS and the real estate asset manager Bialto, a platform specialized in the management of free housing projects for rent in Spain, which is part of the Urban Input Group, created to enter the free housing market for rent in Spain.
The Vila Bonaplata complex, projected as a residential area of 200 apartments on Passeig de la Zona Franca, already has a building of 68 homes available for rent, which adjusts to the new real estate criteria that gave rise to Bialto. The second phase of the new work will be ready by the end of 2022.
The new manager has identified, for the moment, the areas of Barcelona and Madrid and their areas of influence where there is a shortage of rental housing supply to promote buildings that offer various shared services with common areas. "Bialto was born from observing the macrotrends of the real estate market and the needs of a segment of the population that wants to live in the city, with a stable location and paying a rent that adjusts to their salary, and that allows them to carry out their daily life without problems, providing them with solutions," argues Howard Pierce, founding partner of Urban Input.
Bialto wants to "create community and neighborhood", indicates Howard Pierce and explains that the complexes have more common services in residential areas such as a swimming pool, but also include a coworking space, a meeting area for "neighbors to socialize with each other and for neighborhood businesses to make themselves known, for example," and also a gym, paddle tennis court, children's area, barbecue areas or chill out.
Pierce adds that the rental supply in Barcelona and other Spanish cities is far from the European average, and 90% of it is in the hands of private owners. "Bialto was born at the end of 2020 to increase the proportion of free rental housing, with vertical developments and managed by professionals," he specifies. Bialto's target market is long-term tenants in affordable urban locations, typically in the first ring of major Spanish cities.
Now, Bialto is already marketing Vila Bonaplata and has a development under construction in Badalona, with an expected delivery for the first quarter of 2023, and plans two future projects in Madrid, probably in the Vallecas extension and in Getafe. According to market sources, the DWS fund invested around 100 million euros to acquire the properties with the build to rent formula. In the case of Vila Bonaplata, the homes have two to four bedrooms, with an area between 80 square meters and 150 square meters. Rental incomes are around 1,200 or 2,500 euros per month.