New real estate transaction in the 22@ technology district. The Belgian developer Codic has sold to BanSabadell Vida, the life insurance company of Banco Sabadell and Zurich, the future headquarters of the video game company Socialpoint, currently under construction.
Socialpoint is one of the pioneering companies in the gaming industry in Barcelona, creator of mobile games that accumulate more than 600 million downloads, such as Dragon City and Monster Legend. Founded by Horacio Martos and Andrés Bou and sold to the US multinational Take-Two for 235 million in 2017, Socialpoint currently occupies several floors of a building located on Llacuna street with Gran Via, next to the Barcelona Activa headquarters and the Glòries shopping center.
Now, it has leased from Codic a new corporate headquarters that will rise on Pamplona street 101, on the corner with Almogàvers, a few meters from the Razzmatazz venue. The building to which Socialpoint will move has an area of 4,500 m², has been designed by BCA Arquitectura and has been named Binar. Its delivery is scheduled for October 2023, but before the project culminates it has already been sold to Bansabadell Vida for around 30 million euros, in an operation structured as a forward funding, according to industry jargon, advised by consultants Savills and BNP. This is the second building in which Codic divests in 22@ once its lease is closed. A few meters from this plot, also on Pamplona street, but on the corner with Sancho de Ávila, the Belgian group promoted another office building ---the first it developed in Barcelona--- which was fully leased by the French technology firm of human resources software Payfit. Shortly after, in April 2022, the complex, called Step-Up and which also has 4,500 m², was sold to another insurer, in this case, Generali, for 35 million euros.
"Codic is very happy and proud to have sold its second operation, Binar, in the 22@ district. After the start of works in early 2022, we leased the entire building to Socialpoint, a leader in the video game market. Very quickly, one of the leading investors in the Spanish real estate market, Bansabadell Vida confirmed its interest in acquiring the building and the acquisition deed has been signed today, April 4, 2023," explains Christophe Jacobs, general director of Codic Spain.
According to the developer, "Codic, as a European real estate player, continues to reaffirm its confidence in the Barcelona market and is preparing to start the works on its third office building, Standout, also in 22@". With a presence in Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Hungary, and Spain, Codic is a group owned by the Descours and Mulliez families in alliance with Thierry Behiels, the firm's CEO.
For his part, Alex Bujanda, investment director for Spain and Portugal at BanSabadell Vida, has stated that "with this purchase, the exposure to assets in the district that has undergone the greatest transformation in Barcelona in recent decades is reinforced, becoming the epicenter of innovation in the city of Barcelona and attracting a multitude of companies that are committed to innovation and knowledge. The purchase of this building is another example of the investment strategy for Grade A assets, with top-level ESG ratings and socialization spaces. The contract with SocialPoint demonstrates that this building is in line with the new trend in demand from large corporations that require such attributes for their headquarters".
According to Savills, in the current economic context, real estate investors are precisely looking for assets of this profile, that is, very well-located office buildings with long-term contracts that offer them medium and long-term security.