• Transaction / Assets
    Amazon's HQ
  • Seller
    Castellví, Stoneweg & 1810 Capital Investments
  • Buyer
    Catalana Occidente
  • € MM
    90

Catalana Occidente Buys Amazon’s HQ In 22@ For €90M

21 September 2017 – Expansión

Catalana Occidente has reached an agreement to purchase the Luxa office complex, in the 22@ district of Barcelona for €90 million. The offices – owned until now by Grupo Castellví, and the funds Stoneweg and 1810 Capital Investments – will house the offices of Amazon and WeWork from 2018 onwards (once their construction has been completed).

This sale is one of the most significant real estate operations of the year in the Catalan capital. The consultancy firm CBRE has advised Grupo Castellví and the investment funds, whilst Cushman & Wakefield has advised the insurance group Catalana Occidente.

The complex, located at the intersection of Calles Tánger and Badajoz, comprises two independent buildings. The first, known as Luxa Silver because of its silver façade, has a surface area of 10,000m2. The second, known as Luxa Gold, has a surface area of 7,000m2. The complex also includes 300 parking spaces. Building work at the site is due to be completed in the first quarter of 2018.

The buildings, designed by the architecture firm Batlle I Roig, form part of Group Castellví’s 22@ Business Park space. There is a third building, in the same area, known as WIP, measuring 4,500m2, which is still up for rent and which has not been included in this transaction. Castellví and the funds have invested €60 million on the construction of the three buildings. Amazon is going to occupy the Luxa Silver building. The technology giant will locate its SME support centre for Southern Europe in the building, which will result in the generation of 500 jobs, as well as an R&D centre about automatic learning, where more than 100 engineers and scientists will work.

Meanwhile, WeWork, the US multinational coworking group, will move into the Luxa Gold building.

Second operation

This is not the first time that Catalana Occidente has purchased a building in the 22@ district. At the beginning of the year, the insurance group acquired La Llave de Oro for €21 million, a building located at number 289 Calle Pere IV. The building is leased in its entirety to the technology firm Atos Origin.

Original story: Expansión (by Marisa Anglés and Gabriel Trindade)

Translation: Carmel Drake