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Operación Chamartín Negotiations: First Agreements Reached

26 January 2017 – Expansión

The Town Hall of Madrid and the Ministry of Development have reached their first agreements regarding the re-development of the north of the city, which will be divided into three different areas. There will be a dedicated financial district and the residential buildings will be six-storeys tall on average.

The first advances have been made in the negotiations between the new Minister for Development, Íñigo de la Serna, the mayoress of Madrid, Manuela Carmena and her councillor for Sustainable Urban Planning, José Manuel Calvo. (…). The points agreed include the division of the area into three sections: south of Calle 30, north of Calle 30 and Chamartín station, which the Town Hall insists must be renovated.

Each one of the developments will “be approached and managed independently”, according to the agreements reached. In the southern section, most of the space will be allocated to economic activities involving tertiary services, in other words, the new financial district, which will be called the Central Business District. It will be located in the Chamartín area and its construction will have to take into account the renovation of the train station.

In the northern section, most of the space will be used for residential purposes, with the presence of “mixed economic activity” as well. The general idea is that the buildings in this area will be six-storeys tall on average (…) although there may be exceptions. (…).

What has not been agreed yet is whether the new Operación Chamartín will include the construction of the tallest skyscraper in the European Union, with 70 floors and another five towers of a similar height to those already at the top of the Castellana, per the plans presented by BBVA and the real estate company San José. (…).

A priori, it seems that the criteria put forward by the Town Hall of Madrid will prevail in terms of the reduction in the number of homes compared the number initially planned. In the version prepared by Manuela Carmena’s government, the figure decreased from 17,700 homes to 4,600. The fact that according to the agreement reached, the residential blocks will be six storeys tall on average, appears to be in line with the height of five and six-storeys proposed by the Sustainable Urban Planning Department for this area. (…)

The parties will hold their next meeting on Friday, when they plan to address “the definition of the basic criteria” for the development of the new financial district, such as the distribution of urban charges and the connection with Calle Agustín de Foxá and Avenida de San Luis. (…).

The aim of the Sustainable Urban Planning Department is to have “a project that has been agreed between all the players” ready by between March and June. Then, the planning instruments will be processed to allow construction to begin”.

Original plan

17,700 homes, of which 1,700 would be subsidised (VPO).

Five office skyscrapers, including the tallest tower in the European Union, with 70 floors.

80% of the land would be dedicated to public spaces. The remaining 20% would be reserved for residential developments, the financial district and businesses.

Carmena’s proposal

4,600 homes. The alternative proposed by Carmena’s Government proposed 1,000 VPO homes and another 3,600 private properties.

Two unique buildings. They would be located in the business district, would be 40-storeys tall and would be accompanied by another two 20-storey towers.

274,000 m2 of green space and plans to increase the surface area dedicated to public services to 254,000 m2.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Bécares and M. Belver)

Translation: Carmel Drake