FBD Property and Leisure Ltd (FBDPLL), the hotels and property company now solely owned by Farmer Business Developments, is to further develop one of its resorts in the south of Spain. It will form a €40m joint venture with Taylor Wimpey plc, one of the largest house-building companies in the UK, to develop the well-known La Cala Resort.

The new development will consist of 103 units comprising 55 townhouses and 48 apartments. Construction will begin immediately with the first units to be handed over in 2017. This is the second JV for FBDPLL with the London-quoted company as 60 units have already been developed since 2014. The first 60 units had a gross value of €20m. To date, 55 of the 60 units have been sold.

This has generated sales of €17.9m, with the remaining five units expected to sell over the coming months.

FBDPLL expects net cash of €12m on the sale of 163 units as part of the overall development. La Cala currently has 448 units (apartments, townhouses and villas) and there is planning permission approved for a further 1,045 units.

David Kelly, CEO of FBDPLL said: “We are now seeing significant momentum building in the Spanish hotel and residential property sectors. Investment in Spanish property jumped by 263% to €17.8bn in 2014.”

He added that this is supported by visitor numbers which were up 5% in 2015 to almost 70 million people. He said Spain is very attractive and the weak euro is also a big plus for non-euro investors.

Javier Baluster, CEO of Taylor Wimpey Spain, said: “Following a difficult period of economic recession, the Spanish hotel and property market is now on a positive growth trajectory.”

FBDPLL own and manage three hotels in Ireland, including Castleknock Hotel and Country Club in Dublin, Faithlegg House Hotel and the Tower Hotel in Waterford, and two resorts in southern Spain, La Cala and Sunset Beach Club. FBDPLL recently announced a €5.5m investment at the Castleknock Hotel.