Álvaro Gross

Alvaro joined in 2014 as an associate in the Real Estate team. After a short hiatus of almost two years acting as Legal Counsel in the British shopping malls developer “intu”, Alvaro joined Herbert Smith Freehills again in July 2019 as head of the Real Estate Funds practice. 

He has experience advising both national and international clients on the acquisition of real estate portfolios (shopping centres, office buildings, logistic warehouses and hotels) and non-performing loans (NPLs), as well as advising on refinancing and mortgage backed securities transactions. He also has experience in commercial lease agreements, sale and leaseback transactions, joint venture agreements and other corporate transactions, such as mergers and acquisitions and private equity asset deals. He has comprehensive due diligence skills and has participated in drafting legal opinions and giving general legal advice on licensing and planning matters.

Álvaro is very well recognised in the market and is extremely well respected by both clients and colleagues. He is not only solution and client orientated, responsible and committed to business needs, but has also proven problem-solving skills and a team player and hard worker. He always shown consistent proactivity and adaptability to changes. He is an effective leader, with excellent communication skills.

In the 2020 edition, he was ranked in Best Lawyers for real estate law practice.

Álvaro’s credentials include, amongst others:

• Costco Wholesale Spain, on its expansion throughout Spain, on the acquisition of a plots and subsequent development through turn-key construction agreement of large retail warehouses
• a joint venture in Xanadu Shopping Centre formed by intu-Nuveen on the acquisition of developable plot of land located in Móstoles and to be devoted to the shopping centre expansion*
• Quirón Salud, the largest private healthcare group in Spain (owned by Fresenius Helios)
  • on the construction and development of the first private hospital in Córdoba, Spain
  • on the acquisition of 100% of Clínica Ruber and the Ruber Internacional Hospital (Grupo Ruber) in Madrid, Spain
  • on the lease of part of the called "Quinta Torre" (Madrid) for the installation of a luxury hospital
• Oaktree Capital Management  
  • on the acquisition (and financing) of a €740 million mortgage loan portfolio comprising Spanish and Portuguese commercial real estate properties held by FMS Wertmanagement (Project Gaudí)
  • on the sale of Viladecans business park in, Barcelona, to private investment fund Meridia Capital
• P3 Group
  • on the acquisition of a logistic warehouse located in Valencia from Pescanova
  • on the acquisition of a €243 million portfolio of logistic assets located in different cities in Spain (Madrid, Zaragoza, Toledo, Guadalajara, Valencia and Bilbao) from GreenOak Real Estate
  • on the acquisition of a plot in Illescas, Toledo, and the development of one of Spain's largest logistic warehouses with an area exceeding 120,000 sqm, and its subsequent lease to a major online retailer

*Experience prior to joining Herbert Smith Freehills

Background

Prior to joining Herbert Smith Freehills, he worked for more than six years in Freshfields. Prior to joining Herbert Smith Freehills in 2019, he spent almost four years as a Senior Associate at the Madrid Office, period after which he joined Intu as Legal Counsel and spent almost two years of his career. He speaks Spanish and English, as well as working knowledge of French.