Madrid Attracts Many Of The Companies Relocating Their HQs From Cataluña

10 October 2017 – Expansión

Over the last 10 days, several companies with their headquarters in Cataluña, such as Oryzon, Dogi, Eurona, Proclinic and Sabadell have announced that they are moving their HQs outside the region. Oryzon has established its registered address on Carrera de San Jerónimo in Madrid (…) and the telecommunications operator Eurona has also moved to the Spanish capital (…). Meanwhile, Proclinic has announced that it is moving its headquarters to Zaragoza; Sabadell is moving to Alicante; CaixaBank to Valencia; Gas Natural and Abertis to Madrid, in both cases; and Catalana Occidente is still considering if/where to move.

According to sources consulted, no effective consultations are being carried out at the moment, but Madrid is becoming one of the major alternatives. Prime rents are higher in the capital than in Barcelona, ranging between €25/m2/month and €35/m2/month along Paseo de la Castellana, and peaking at historical maximums of €37/m2/month in Torre Serrano. Meanwhile, in Barcelona, the average rent in the city centre amounts to €19/m2/month, reaching maximums of €24/m2/month on Avenida Diagonal. In any case, the performance of prime rents in both cities has been very good so far this year, with growth of 9% in the last quarter with respect to the same period last year, according to CBRE (…).

In terms of absorption, 128,108 m2 of space was leased during the second quarter of the year in Barcelona and 156,334 m2 of space was leased in Madrid. Availability is greater in Madrid, at around 12%, compared to 8% in the Catalan capital.

According to José Miguel Setién, of JLL, whilst it is really hard to find spaces of 3,000 m2 on Avenida Diagonal, there is more high-quality space available in the business district in Madrid, due to the renovations that have been carried out since 2013. As such, the market for medium-sized operations has performed exceptionally well there, even during the summer.

Overall, it is estimated that 1.5 million m2 of surface area is available in Madrid; of which 220,000 m2 is free in the centre of the capital, according to Ángel Estebaranz, National Director of Offices at Aguirre Newman. There is space available in several well-known offices such as Torre Foster, Torre Europa, Castellana 81, Castellana 77, Castellana 200 and Plaza de la Independencia, mostly grade A renovation products. Even Torre Picasso has almost two floors available, which would allow the right tenant to locate its corporate headquarters in one of the most iconic buildings in the city (…).

When it comes to choosing a new location, the nature of the company’s business plays a critical role. In this way, financial and legal companies tend to locate their offices in the business centre of cities, whilst pharmaceutical companies, for example, position themselves between the M30 and M40 ring roads, since they do not require such iconic buildings, but do need a lot of space, available in areas such as Campo de las Naciones, Alcobendas, Moraleja, Sanchinarro… Tech firms, like Google and Amazon, tend to establish themselves within the city centre but not in prime areas, such as Atocha, for example. Meanwhile, publicity firms are moving to Chamberí, with WPP and Havas’ new headquarters to be located in that neighbourhood, and Telcos are concentrating in urban areas of the city with rents of between €22/m2/month and €25/m2/month, says José Mittelbrum, National Director of Offices at CBRE (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Lucía Junco)

Translation: Carmel Drake