The Canary Islands representative of Aedas Home, owned by the American fund Castlelake, headed by Evan Carruthers, Antonio González, confirmed this Thursday to Maspalomas24H the investment operation of 50 million euros in the south of Gran Canaria after having formally obtained the building permit to build its first project in the municipality of San Bartolomé de Tirajana. Aedas Homes opens an office on December 18 to begin serving those interested in the Hotel Lopesan Costa Meloneras.
This is the second investment by Aedas Homes sealed in the Canary Islands and it has been on land in Meloneras. It is an asset on Calle Mar de Escocia on which the developer will develop the Oase development of 96 2 and 3 bedroom homes with common areas with outdoor swimming pools for adults and children, a heated swimming pool, a playground, coworking, a gym, a yoga area and a sauna.
"Oase, which will also be launched on the market in the first quarter of 2025, already has a building permit, so we hope to begin construction in the first half of 2025," González points out. The total investment in the Canary Islands (land plus construction costs and others) that Aedas Homes will make in these two projects will amount to around 130 million euros; and will involve the creation of around 500 indirect jobs during the years that they are built. "Both projects will respond to the high demand for new-build housing that exists on the two Canary Islands where they are located. Both for local customers, in the case of Oase in particular; and national and international, in Serene," says Antonio González, who warns that this strong demand clashes with the great shortage of supply and recalls that Oase will be the first development to be developed in Meloneras in the last 25 years.
The first local residential development in the last 25 years in the south of Gran Canaria, "which responds to a high demand for new-build housing without supply," said González. The development will include 96 single-family homes with 2 and 3 bedrooms, a swimming pool for adults and children, a gym and a spa in the El Hornillo Urbanization.
The operation in the south of Gran Canaria comes at a crucial time for the developer. The US fund Castlelake has started a formal process to divest from Aedas Homes. To do so, it has hired Deutsche Bank as a financial advisor, with the aim of finding a buyer for its majority stake of 79%. In turn, Aedas Homes has hired Goldman Sachs to analyse possible offers and protect the interests of minority shareholders. Castlelake's decision to sell its stake in Aedas comes after several years of growth and consolidation of the developer. The US fund played a fundamental role in the creation and IPO of Aedas in 2017, but is now looking to get rid of its investment.
The sale of Aedas could trigger a new wave of mergers and acquisitions in the Spanish real estate sector. Other large developers such as Metrovacesa, Neinor and Habitat have also been the subject of rumours of sale, while international funds such as Blackstone (owners of most of the hotel beds in the south of Gran Canaria) and Apollo Global Management have shown interest in the Canary Islands market.
