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Wanda’s Plans For Edificio España Get Green Light

30 January 2015 – Expansión

Yesterday, the Governing Board of the Community of Madrid gave the green light to the refurbishment of the Edificio España, owned by the Chinese group Wanda, controlled by the magnate Wang Jianlin.

The businessman, who also owns 20% of the football club Atlético de Madrid, will invest €114 million in the renovation of the property, located in Madrid’s Plaza de España, which it purchased from the Santander Group for €265 million. Inside the Madrid skyscraper, he will create a luxury hotel, more than 300 homes and a retail space, which he plans to expand to 15,000 sqm.

The permission to refurbish the Edificio España has been granted in parallel to the negotiations that the Wanda Group’s team is conducting with the Madrid and central Governments to create a macro-complex on the site of the old barracks in Campamento, in Madrid.

To this end, the Secretary of State for Defence, Pedro Argüelles, met yesterday with the CEO of the Wanda Group, Laurent Fischler, to discuss the purchase of that land, which covers around 200 hectares, and where Jianlin plans to invest €3,000 million in the development of a residential, housing and leisure complex.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake