Impact movement in the real estate sector of Baix Llobregat. The investment group Stoneshield Capital, co-founded by Felipe Morenés Botín, son of banker Ana Botín, has announced the purchase of five buildings in Sant Joan Despí and Esplugues de Llobregat with the aim of converting them into a private scientific hub in which it plans to invest more than 200 million euros. Among the acquired properties, which total an area of 75,000 square meters, highlights the corporate headquarters of Bayer in Spain and the Il·lumina building ---the old Corberó factory---, where the offices of companies such as Áreas and Agfa are located.
The real estate asset manager, a reference shareholder of the developer Neinor Homes, has named the project BaSID: Barcelona Science Innovation District. The objective is to attract biotechnology companies and those linked to the scientific and health innovation field to these five properties, creating a specialized life science campus in Catalonia similar to the one it already owns in Madrid, known as MaSID. Stoneshield channels both projects through Deeplabs, its division specialized in the development in Spain of a scientific and technological district concept for companies in the life sciences sector that already exists in other countries.
"Our goal is to promote Barcelona as a benchmark in spaces dedicated to science and innovation. We are going to launch the first private Life Science hub in Catalonia," explains Javier de Pablo, CEO of DeepLabs along with Pilar Gil. According to the executive, BaSID "will offer cutting-edge and avant-garde laboratories and scientific facilities for all companies, entities and research centers that have needs for this type of space; of which there is currently a shortage throughout Spain." The launch of the campus and laboratories will require an investment of more than 200 million euros.
Although the pharmaceutical company Bayer has transferred ownership of its emblematic building in Sant Joan Despí to Stoneshield Capital, it will continue to occupy close to 50% of the property under a rental agreement, making the multinational BaSID's first major client. In addition to the corporate headquarters of its Iberian subsidiary, the office complex houses the Global Business Services (GBS), a technology hub that provides services for Bayer's subsidiaries worldwide in the field of data analysis and the use of artificial intelligence to make product demand predictions. At the end of 2022, Bayer announced that it had increased the staff at the Sant Joan Despí center by 100 technology workers, bringing the total to 735 employees in the hub and other departments.
A powerful hospital, pharmaceutical, and scientific hub
Stoneshield highlights that BaSID's objective isto create an innovative ecosystem based on collaborationbetween the companies that set up in the campus and the rest of the actors in the health sector that are already located in that area of Baix Llobregat bordering the Catalan capital. The management company refers to the fact that in this territory are located the headquarters of other large pharmaceutical companies, in addition to highlighting the proximity to the Barcelona Science Park and other facilities such as the faculties of the University of Barcelona and the UPC and health centers such as the Moisès Broggi, Sant Joan de Déu, Clínica Diagonal hospitals and thenew Vithas Hospital, which is being built in Esplugues. In addition, it must be taken into account that alsothe Clínic will move to this area, which will build its new hospital in the current UB sports facilities in the upper part of Diagonal."Our goal is to guarantee the best facilities for leading companies in the fields of science and innovation in a collaborative environment that goes beyond the complex itself and promotes collaboration between scientists, universities, the entrepreneurial world, and leading companies in their sector," adds Javier de Pablo.
Next to Bayer's headquarters, the other large building acquired by Stoneshield in Baix Llobregat is Il·lumina, an office building resulting from the transformation of the old Corberó factory on Gaspar Fàbregas street in Esplugues. The building was renovated in 2003 by the audiovisual group Mediapro, which occupied it until it moved its headquarters to the 22@ district. After changing hands several times, the Il·lumina complex belonged to the Tikehau Capital and Ireit Global funds until now.
Another prominent real estate group that has opted to invest in Esplugues de Llobregat is Conren Tramway, which plans to invest 50 million in transforming the old Braun factory into an office building that will add 20,000 square meters.
DeepLabs highlights that the idea is to repeat the success of MaSID, "which has become a key player in the national scientific landscape," as it hosts companies such as Takeda, Fresenius Medical Care, Xoople, Med-EL, Deimos, Cantabria Labs, Algenex, GMV, and Life Length. Specifically, MaSID has two campuses, one in Tres Cantos, with an area of 70,000 square meters and consisting of 15 buildings, and another of 5,000 square meters in the Fuencarral district.
Shareholders of Neinor and owners of student residences
The investment group Stoneshield Capital, specialized in the real estate sector, has about 3,000 million in managed assets and was founded in 2018 by Felipe Morenés and Juan Pepa. Before creating their own firm, the two financiers worked at the Lone Star fund manager. Ana Botín's son began his professional career in investment banking at UBS, while Pepa had worked in Citigroup's offices in London.
In addition to owning the MaSID complex, Stoneshield Capital is owner of 25% of the developer Neinor Homes and its other major business is student residences, although the company has also invested in logistics warehouses and in the data center sector. In this sense, its crown jewel is Miracampus, one of the largest owners of student residences, with 46 operational or under development residences located in 24 cities in Spain and Portugal, with a value of 1,000 million euros. As Juan Pepa recently explained to Expansión, Stoneshield's goal, which has just bought two residences in Porto, is to double its portfolio "in the short term" to become the "sector leader in Southern Europe".