Casais Group, CREE Buildings and First Properties have entered into a strategic partnership with B&B Hotels to industrialise and accelerate hotel developments across the Iberian Peninsula. The partnership brings together Casais Group’s construction expertise, CREE Buildings’ industrialised construction solutions, First Properties’ property development and co-investment capabilities—in its capacity as the partnership’s capital and development partner—and B&B Hotels’ position as one of Europe’s fastest-growing hotel operators.

The agreement facilitates the intention to move beyond the traditional model of developing individual projects by establishing as standard a scalable and repeatable approach to hotel construction. Using this integrated method will enable the partners to deliver facilities more quickly, ensure complete cost predictability, consistent quality, and a significantly smaller environmental footprint. By combining industrialised construction with structured property development and co-investment, the model reduces execution risk and shortens the time to asset stabilisation – offering institutional investors an income-generating hotel from the moment of completion.

“Over the last three years, we have demonstrated that industrialised construction in the hotel sector in Portugal and Spain works well with actual projects and produces concrete results. This partnership is the next step: moving from proof of concept to a platform capable of operating at scale, with the right partners in all areas of the project,” said António Carlos Rodrigues, CEO of the Casais Group.

This partnership builds on the success of five semi-industrialised hotels, and two fully completed hotels on the Iberian Peninsula which were built using the CREE construction method. The B&B Guimarães, completed in Portugal in 2023, has 95 rooms and a gross floor area of 8,300 m², with the structural assembly completed in just eight days – enabling delivery 40% faster than would have been the case with conventional construction methods, a 60% reduction in the carbon footprint and a 33% saving on materials. The B&B Tres Cantos, in Madrid, opened in 2024 with 120 rooms spread over six floors and covering 4,500 m², assembled in 14 days – resulting in a 77% reduction in on-site working hours and 60% emissions and waste, which earned it the Re:Think Hotel award. A third project in Amadora, Portugal, is at an advanced stage of preparation, while other hotels are in the final stages of completion in Spain.

“For B&B Hotels, industrialising construction is the way to reconcile business growth with environmental responsibility. Proof lies in the results to date on the Iberian Peninsula. At the B&B Hotel Guimarães, we reduced the carbon footprint by 60% and saved 33% on materials, while at the B&B Hotel Tres Cantos, we cut emissions and waste by 60%. CREE’s timber-hybrid system enables us to deliver projects more quickly, with predictable costs and a significantly lower environmental impact, and this is the standard we aim to consolidate as we grow,” said Paulo Pinto, CEO of B&B Hotels Spain and Portugal.

“The true strength of this partnership lies in the willingness of all partners to collaborate, challenge conventional delivery models and converge around a shared vision. By combining CREE Buildings’ patented timber-hybrid construction system—based on a timber and concrete composite—with the complementary expertise of our partners, we have created a scalable platform to accelerate the sustainable development of hotels across the Iberian Peninsula and beyond,” said Joanna Demkow-Bartlome, COO of CREE Buildings.

First Properties brings its property development and capital investment expertise to this partnership. As such, it will be responsible for raising and structuring investment, co-investing alongside its partners, and developing greenfield hotel projects, from the land acquisition stage right through to developments becoming stabilised, income-generating assets. Its role effectively deals directly with the three barriers that have historically hindered institutional capital from investing in greenfield hotel developments: risk during the construction phase; the unpredictability of costs and completion dates, and compliance with ESG criteria. When combined with an industrialised construction method, First Properties is able to offers a clear proposal to investors to finance or co-invest during construction and to take a stake in a hotel that is fully operational and generating income from the moment of completion – shortening the path to a stabilised asset and an exit from the investment. The partnership is being launched on the Iberian Peninsula as the first phase of a platform designed to grow.

“When it comes to institutional capital, the obstacle to investing in new-build hotels has always been construction risk and uncertainty about what one will actually end up owning. Our role is to eliminate both of these obstacles. We co-invest alongside our partners from the outset and deliver a stabilised, income-generating asset from Day One – and industrialised construction is what makes that promise credible, with predictable costs, predictable timelines and a building designed to retain its value. This is the model we intend to roll out across the Iberian Peninsula and beyond,” says Leonard Boord, Director of First Properties.