Zara Founder Nears Largest European Office Buy in Years

Amancio Ortega already boasts the world’s largest individual real estate empire, but he may soon grow it even more.

The Zara founder is negotiating the acquisition of the Capital 8 office complex in Paris through his family office, Bloomberg reported. There’s no guarantee a deal will be struck, but Ortega is in an exclusive negotiating window, eyeing a deal for approximately €850 million ($985 million), which would be Europe’s biggest for an office building since 2022.

Invesco Real Estate acquired the property in central Paris in 2018 for €789 million. It has since spent more than €100 million on renovations, according to reports. It listed the complex last summer with an estimated guide price of €1 billion. Tenants at the property include Tikehau Capital, Paul Hastings and Makemo Capital.

Representatives for Invesco and Ortega’s family office, Pontegadea, declined to comment.

Last year, Ortega’s family office purchased the five-star Hotel Banke in Paris for $113 million, a rare venture into hospitality for the real estate investor.

The 90-key hotel, located in the Opera District, was formerly the offices for Banque Suisse et Française before becoming a hotel in 2009 and was temporarily closed at the time of the sale.

Last month, Forbes named Ortega the world’s richest real estate baron with a $25 billion property portfolio spanning more than 200 assets across 13 countries, moving past heavyweight developers like Donald Bren and Harry Triguboff.

Last year, he spent more than $3 billion across eight countries, buying office buildings, hotels, industrial assets and a luxury retail complex. The biggest deal was his record-setting $850 million all-cash purchase of Vancouver’s Canada Post building, a million-square-foot office hub leased to Amazon.

Pontegadea has deployed roughly $24 billion into real estate since Zara’s parent company, Inditex, went public in 2001. Ortega is set to receive a record $3.8 billion dividend this year, capital likely to find its way into more marquee assets.

— Holden Walter-Warner