Pontegadea, the private investment company of Spanish billionaire Amancio Ortega, has made its first move into the UK Build to Rent (BTR) market with the £150 million acquisition of a residential development on London’s Baker Street.
The transaction sees Pontegadea acquire 219 Baker Street in the West End from investor and developer Ridgeback Group, adding 86 apartments to an already substantial UK property portfolio. The deal, equivalent to approximately €175 million, represents a reported yield of 4%.
Ortega is the founder and main shareholder of Inditex, the global fashion group behind Zara and brands including Pull&Bear and Massimo Dutti. While his wealth is closely associated with the international retail sector, Pontegadea has built up a major global property portfolio, with UK real estate holdings now valued at more than £2.7 billion.
The Baker Street acquisition is particularly notable from a built environment perspective because of the history of the property itself.
The Grade II-listed Art Deco building was originally constructed in 1932 as the headquarters of Abbey National, which later became part of Santander. The building was converted to residential use in 2004 and subsequently upgraded by Ridgeback.
Its acquisition provides Pontegadea with an immediate foothold in the professionally managed UK rental market without the development and construction risks associated with delivering a new BTR scheme from the ground up.
The deal also extends the investor’s presence across different areas of the UK property market. Its existing London assets include The Post Building on New Oxford Street, while in 2025 Pontegadea acquired an 850,000 sq ft Amazon logistics warehouse near Liverpool for £81 million.
The move into BTR comes at a significant time for institutional investment in UK rental housing. BTR transactions reached a record £2.2 billion during the second quarter of 2026, demonstrating continued investor appetite for established, income-producing residential assets despite wider pressures facing development and construction.
For the wider property sector, the £150 million Baker Street transaction is another indication of how the UK rental market is attracting international capital traditionally associated with commercial real estate.
Pontegadea’s arrival adds another major global investor to the sector and, with an established London residential asset providing its entry point, could signal further interest from the group as the UK BTR market continues to mature.
Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
