Tag: Atocha train station

Madrid Nuevo Norte: Carmena Unveils the Latest Plans

28 July 2018 – El País

More green spaces, sustainable transport and a new financial district (city), which is going to change the face of the Castellana over the next 20 years. The thoroughfare that crosses the north of Madrid is going to grow up around Chamartín station, which will become a large hub due to its proximity to the airport. The mayor of the city, Manuela Carmena, having reached an agreement with the Minister for Development, José Luis Ábalos, the Community of Madrid and the property developer Distrito Castellana Norte (DCN) presented the Madrid Nuevo Norte project, also known as Operación Chamartín, on Friday. It is going to be one of the largest urban planning developments in Europe, and its aim is to launch the Spanish capital into the 21st century.

In numbers, Madrid Nuevo Norte is going to involve the renovation of an area spanning 2,600 km2, where the property developer Distrito Castellana Norte (DCN), the Town Hall, the Ministry of Development and the Community of Madrid are going to build a financial centre with large green spaces, modern buildings for latest generation offices and a new train station, which will be at the heart of the new financial district.

The future Chamartín station will become a domestic and international hub. Its strategic position, given its proximity to the Madrid-Barajas airport, will allow for journeys in record time. Adif is considering creating a direct connection between the station and the airport. The public company controlled by the Ministry of Development also announced that it is going to work on a direct connection between Chamartín and Atocha train stations.

The new business centre will be home to three skyscrapers, one of which will stand 250 m high, the tallest in Spain. The project is being inspired by the north of Europe from an urban planning perspective (experts highlight the similarities with the new financial district in Amsterdam). Specifically, due to the coexistence of work areas and residential spaces. In fact, leisure areas and housing will be created in Madrid’s new city. The idea is to build a centre that will be “open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week”, according to explanations provided by the Councillor for Sustainable Urban Development, José Manuel Calvo (Podemos).

The project will divide the space into four zones: Chamartín station, the business centre and the neighbourhoods of Malmea-San Roque-Tres Olivos and Las Tablas Oeste. In total, the Town Hall, which has led the project and  the negotiations with the private operators, has ensured that up to 20% of all the homes built in the area will be social housing properties (compared with 10% proposed by Ana Botella’s previous plan) (…).

In terms of the timings, the Town Hall expects to raise the project to the plenary this year. Nevertheless, the Community of Madrid still needs to approve several reports, including the environmental study, which is mandatory. The Community of Madrid is expected to approve the plan next year. If so, the first bricks will be laid in three or four years time. According to estimates from the property developers, this project will generate 200,000 jobs and involve an investment of €6 billion.

Original story: El País (by Luca Costantini)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Colonial Buys 110,000 m2 of Land in Méndez Álvaro (Madrid)

10 January 2018 – Eje Prime

Colonial is getting out its cheque book to inaugurate 2018. The Socimi led by Pere Viñolas has reached an agreement to acquire two plots of land with a buildable surface area of 110,000 m2 in the Méndez Álvaro area of Madrid. The group plans to build two office complexes on the plots, which are located next to Repsol’s headquarters and close to Atocha train station.

The land operation is one of the most important that Colonial has undertaken in the Spanish capital since the Cuatro Torres, according to El Confidencial. The agreement has been closed off-market, directly with small landowners.

This move will lead to the definitive launch of the urban planning project in Méndez Álvaro, which received the green light last year for the development of 129,700 m2 of land, with a buildable surface area of almost 250,000 m2, split between residential (185,313 m2) and tertiary use (61,771 m2) (…).

Specifically, Colonial has purchased one plot with a surface area of 90,000 m2, located next to Repsol’s current headquarters, and a second plot, also close to Atocha station, measuring 20,000 m2.

The acquisition of the two plots has cost €185 million. The total investment in the project, including the subsequent development of the two office complexes, will amount to €355 million (…).

The emergence of the Socimi in this operation suggests that in the end, there will be a greater weight of offices in the area, taking advantage of the dual-use (residential and tertiary) assigned to the plots that border Calle Méndez Álvaro.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

KCRE Acquires 5,600 m2 Office Building in Madrid

18 December 2017 – KCRE Press Release

Kefren Capital Real Estate (KCRE) has closed the acquisition of an office building located on Calle Juan de Mariana, 15 (Madrid). The property was Grupo Segur Iberica’s headquarters until the company filed for insolvency during the summer. PwC, the receiver administering the liquidation proceedings, awarded the asset to Kefren Capital, as the winner of a competitive bid process.

The building was completed in 1994 and comprises c. 3,600 m2 above ground, spread over 5 floors, and more than 2,000 m2 below ground, including 39 parking spaces. “The building is very flexible – it would be ideal as the headquarters for: a company wanting a central location at a competitive rent; a co-working office in the south of Madrid, very close to the high-speed train; or as a mixed-use building offering the possibility of servicing last-mile logistics thanks to a loading dock at street level” states Pelayo Primo de Rivera, CEO of KCRE.

It is located in the Méndez Álvaro-Delicias district, a consolidated business area home to large companies such as Repsol, Amazon, Gas Natural, Ericsson, CLH and Mahou, with excellent public transport and road connections. The building is just a 15-minute walk from Atocha train station and Parque del Retiro (to the north), and a 5-minute drive to the M-30 ring road (to the south).

Over the last 10-15 years, Méndez Álvaro has benefited greatly from the general gentrification of Madrid’s southern neighbourhoods and the comprehensive supply of services that new office and residential developments have brought with them.

KCRE has been advised by Araoz y Rueda on legal matters and Mace on the technical side. The c/Juan de Mariana 15 office building is the 4th successful value-added transaction that Kefren Capital Real Estate has completed in 2017.

Kefren Capital Real Estate

KCRE is a real estate asset management company created in 2012 by the investment firm Kefren Capital. KCRE offers investors the full range of services required for real estate transactions: sourcing, analysis, financing structuring, deal negotiation and asset management. What differentiates KCRE from other platforms is its ability to co-invest and its investment philosophy – assets are managed from the perspective of the owner and not simply as a third-party manager.

Original story: KCRE Press Release (by Pelayo Primo de Rivera)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Palladium Strengthens ‘Only You’ With New Hotel In Madrid

24 February 2016 – Cinco Días

The Palladium group is strengthening its presence in Madrid with the launch of a second Only You hotel. The four-star property, located opposite Atocha train station, will have 206 rooms and is expected to open its doors in June.

The hotel is following in the footsteps of the first Only You hotel, located on Calle Barquillo in Madrid, which has become one of the iconic boutique establishments in the city. “We want to operate a dynamic model under the umbrella of the Only You chain, to serve both a hotel with 100 rooms, as well as one with 250 rooms”, said Juan Serra yesterday, the CEO of Only You and Ayre Hoteles, the urban division of the Palladium group, in which El Corte Inglés holds a 50% stake and which recorded double digit growth figures last year.

In this way, the Group has established a period of between six and ten months to analyse the evolution of its brand and begin its expansion. To drive its growth, Palladium will evaluate the conversion of some of its hotels, possibly including its property in Valencia, as well as its management model. According to Abel Matutes Prats, the CEO of Palladium, the group may also extend its brand “to several Spanish and European cities over the next five years, and we are not ruling out certain Latin American capital cities”. “We have built the foundations for growth and that is what we intend to do”, said the executive.

The future hotel, which will employ around 60 people, has received an investment of around €38 million, to finance the purchase of the property and its renovation. The opening of the establishment will also coincide with the extension of the hotel on Calle Barquillo, to include 55 new rooms.

The Palladium group, which recorded revenues of more than €500 million last year, is also working on the construction of its second Hard Rock Café, in Tenerife, where it will invest around €80 million and which is expected to be ready in November. Moreover, it will spend another €700 million on three hotels in Cancun, one of which will operate under the Usuahïa brand. This growth is being financed primarily using own funds.

Abel Matutes also acknowledged that the company is currently evaluating the Socimi (company structure) formula, at a time when the group owns all but three of its hotels, but he highlighted that this analysis is at “an embryonic stage”. And he said that the group will focus its investment on America over the next few years.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Laura Salces)

Translation: Carmel Drake