Tag: DCN

Baraka Injects €13.4M to Strengthen its Residential & Commercial Businesses

17 May 2018 – Eje Prime

Trinitario Casanova is continuing to add projects to his real estate business in Spain. The Murcian group Baraka has just injected another €13.4 million into its companies that specialise in the residential and commercial sectors. The group’s upcoming plans in Spain include initiating operations in Chamartín, where it has just acquired a plot of land measuring 1.2 million m2.

According to the Official Gazette of the Mercantile Registry (Borme), Baraka has injected another €10 million into its company Baraka Renta. That business division of the group focuses primarily on the purchase of land and the subsequent development and execution of rentals for various companies, both domestic and international, in the food sector.

Baraka has also strengthened its company Baraka House, where it has increased the share capital by €3.5 million. That branch of the group focuses on the development of high-rise homes for young people. “This new line is being carried out in the main cities in Spain thanks to the use of pre-fabricated constructions”, explain sources at Baraka.

In this way, the group is injecting new resources into its companies to undertake new real estate projects in Spain. The latest deal that Casanova has carried out focuses on Madrid, specifically the Operación Chamartín macro-project.

The Murcian businessman has paid €400 million to the original owners of some of the plots of land in Operación Chamartín for their reversion rights to develop 1.2 million m2 of land that is currently owned by Adif.

Rente expropriated these plots with the idea of building the railway station on the site, but, subsequently, the public company reached an agreement with BBVA and Grupo San José to develop the land.

Both companies created the property developer Distrito Castellana Norte (DCN), which is now leading this urban development operation that is going to build 10,500 homes on a surface area spanning 2.66 million m2.

Nevertheless, Casanova wants to take advantage of the claim being made by the reversionists, who are asking the administration to be awarded the right to acquire their former plots in the event that Renfe decided to change the use for which they were expropriated and to sell them, as has actually happened, according to these parties.

Casanova’s next steps for this project in Chamartín involve first paying a cheque for €400 million to the reversionists, who have received a small payment for now whilst they wait for the rights that they are requesting to be activated or not, and later on to pay €1 billion to Adif for the outright purchase of the plots. That is the amount that DCN has promised to pay the Spanish railway manager.

Second generation and reinforcements for the property developer 

Proof that the residential sector is firmly in Baraka’s sights came with the appointment of Fuensanta Casanova, daughter of Trinitario Casanova, as the Head of Development and Investment at Baraka, as Eje Prime revealed in Madrid (…).

Original story: Eje Prime (by C. Pareja)

Translation: Carmel Drake

‘Operación Chamartín’ Becomes ‘Madrid, Nuevo Norte’

31 July 2017 – Expansión

A Solomonic agreement has been reached between DCN, the Ministry of Development, the Town Hall of Madrid and the Community of Madrid to push ahead with the long-standing project, which will see the construction of 11,000 homes (including 4,100 social housing properties) and a large business centre.

But its name is no longer ‘Operación Chamartín’, ‘Distrito Castellana Norte’ or ‘Madrid Puerta Norte’….after almost 25 years since the idea was first floated by the then government of Felipe González, the development in the northern zone of the belt of Madrid’s M30, is going to be called ‘Madrid, Nuevo Norte’.

On Thursday, the Town Hall of Madrid, Adif and DCN (the property developer in which BBVA and SanJosé hold stakes) presented the strategic guidelines upon which the new project is going to be based. It reduces the buildability to 2.68 million m2, down by 20.5% compared to the 3.37 million m2 proposed by DCN, and cuts the total number of homes to 11,000, of which 20% will be social housing properties. On the other hand, the management of the plan has been handed over to the Town Hall of Madrid, which will control the timings and activities.

The players involved announced the 19 points included as the basis of the agreement, most of which are technical, and which also involve resolving the legal actions. The new plan will see a modification to the General Urban Plan (PGOU) and is divided into five areas (Chamartín Station, Business Centre, Fuencarral Malmea, Fuencarral Tres Olivos and Las Tablas) and two large zones: the South of the M30, which will constitute primarily office space and a large CBD, and the North of the M30, which will focus on housing.

A large business centre for Madrid

One of the fundamental axes of the plan will be the Chamartín station and the Business Centre, which will be located next to the new station to allow for sustainable mobility. The event on Thursday was attended by the Minister for Development, Íñigo de la Serna; the mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena, and the President of the company Distrito Castellana Norte (DCN), Antonio Béjar. “This initiative has solid pillars and is sustainable over time. It is an avant-garde and recognisable project, which will generate investment and create employment”, said Antonio Béjar.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena, expressed her appreciation for the capacity for “dialogue and consensus” and asked for collaboration from the other political groups to move ahead with the project. “The world is changing. From now on, in Madrid, we are going to be capable of forming part of that change”. For the Minister for Development, Íñigo de la Serna, this is a new project, born out of an agreement that unites the interests of the parties (…).

In this way, the urban planning project, which just six months ago looked to be doomed to failure, seems to be back on track in the critical areas. The property developers said that Madrid does not currently have a recognisable and compact business district. This plan, they said, is designed to fill that gap.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Arroyo, L. Ruiz-Ocaña and C. Galera)

Translation: Carmel Drake

DCN Would Generate 214,000 Jobs & Increase GDP By €14,000M

20 April 2017 – El Mundo

The Distrito Castellana Norte (DCN) project planned for the North of the city of Madrid, in what is known as Operación Chamartín, would generate 214,000 jobs in total, of which almost 120,000 would see the light during the construction of the project, whilst another 94,000 would be created once the building phase comes to an end. Moreover, the project, which would involve an investment of more than €6,000 million, would increase GDP by €14,000 million and would generate revenues of €3,340 million for the public administrations from the economic activity that this initiative would create.

These data are detailed in the report Effects on the creation of employment of the project to lengthen the Castellana, which has been prepared by two professors from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM), Antonio Pulido and Julián Pérez.

The developers of the project, which group together BBVA and Grupo San José, understand that a “reductionist” project, such as the one proposed by the Town Hall would “not only deprive Madrid of the necessary infrastructure to ensure an optimum quality of life for its inhabitants and visitors, it would also inevitably have a lower capacity to generate jobs”.
During the forecast 19-year construction period, almost 120,000 full-time jobs would be created, equivalent to 0.6% of total national employment, of which 52,650 would be direct jobs, 42,037 would be indirect jobs and 23,104 would be related jobs. Of those, 80,445 would be created in the Community of Madrid.

Once the neighbourhood has been constructed, the experts calculate that the new activities that would arise in the area would result in the creation of another 94,000 jobs, of which 63,000 would be direct and 31,000 would be indirect. These would be full-time jobs, which would likely be maintained over the long term.

The development of DCN would allow the creation of 6,200 jobs each year, on average. This job creation rate would mean an average reduction in employment in Spain of 0.03%. In the Community of Madrid, the decrease would amount to 0.12% and in the city of Madrid to 0.27%.

Focus on wealth

In their report, Pulido and Pérez calculate that the construction of the DCN project, with an investment of almost €6,050 million, a figure equivalent to nearly 0.6% of Spain’s GDP, would increase domestic production by €14,000 million and would generate new income amounting to €5,400 million. 78% of the new wealth generated would remain in the Community of Madrid.

That means that the project’s contribution to GDP would amount to €286 million each year, which represents an average of €117 per Spaniard per annum. Specifically, the annual income would be €71 for every inhabitant of Madrid, €35 for every inhabitant of the Community and €1.5 for every inhabitant of Spain.

Meanwhile, the public administrations involved in the project would receive tax revenues amounting to €3,340 million, a figure equivalent to 0.6% of the annual state budget for Spain. (…).

Original story: El Mundo

Translation: Carmel Drake

Carmena & DCN Revive Operación Chamartín

6 February 2017 – El Confidencial

After a year and a half of misunderstandings, the Town Hall of Madrid and Distrito Castellana Norte (DCN), the property developer behind Operación Chamartín, have managed to see eye to eye. And in this vein, the two parties are now working to finalise an agreement that should allow the plans to be unblocked this year.

According to several sources familiar with the talks, the Town Hall led by Manuela Carmena, the Ministry of Development and the shareholders of DCN (BBVA and San José) are convinced that the long-awaited plan to develop the area in the north of the capital will have received all of their blessings by the end of this year.

The intermediary role played by the new Minister for Development, Íñigo de la Serna, has reportedly been key in arriving at this point. Since taking office last November, his priority has been to unblock this project, which is crucial for Adif (…), which owns the majority of the land on which Operación Chamartín will be developed.

In fact, one of the first points of the agreement has been to restore the project’s initial dimensions, in other words, the land covering more than 3.1 million m2 upon which DCN had planned to construct 16,000 homes and which the Town Hall of Madrid cut in half with its proposal for Puerta Norte. (…).

The second major agreement involves maintaining the average buildability ratio of 1.05, which will be achieved by concentrating the tallest buildings in one area: the main financial district. This will allow the heights of the buildings in other areas to be reduced, such as in the residential areas. It also means that there will be hardly any buildings in the northern most area of the plot, on the land bordering the neighbourhood of Fuencarral, where large green areas are planned.

First agreement and next steps

The next meeting will be held (…) on 16 February to firm up the broad outline of the agreement. Once this meeting has been held, the Town Hall believes that it will be able to draw the sketches for Operación Chamartín, or, at least, complete them after one more meeting.

Nevertheless, it is important to remember that this will be a preliminary agreement and all of the parties will have to negotiate further to determine the details (…).

If the conversations progress as planned, they may give rise to a set of revised plans by the middle of the year. From that moment on, the whole administrative process will come into play: and in order to accelerate it, the idea is to conduct it through a series of modifications to the Partial Plan and General Town Planning Plan, which means that all of the blessings should have been given by the end of 2017 or beginning of 2018.

The councillor for Sustainable Urban Development, José Manuel Calvo, said that concentrating the development’s tertiary activity (offices, hotels and retail) between Chamartín station and the M-30 will still form a fundamental part of the plan. That is where a major business centre will be constructed, which will be connected to the Cuatro Torres complex – an idea that was included in Calvo’s proposal for Madrid Puerta Norte. (…).

Meanwhile, BBVA and San José maintained that construction work will begin on the plots of land that are closest to Chamartín station, given that the development of that whole area will take two decades and will be completed in various phases (…).

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Castellana Norte Wants To Become The New “City” Post-Brexit

20 October 2016 – Expansión

BBVA and the San José group are refusing to throw in the towel on their plans to construct the Castellana Norte urban development (previously known as Operación Chamartín). To this end, the heads of the company Distrito Castellana Norte have engaged the real estate consultancy firm Colliers to perform a study, which will delve into the need for Madrid to have a new supply of offices and high quality residential properties.

“Madrid is a very attractive business centre, with good infrastructure and security, but there is clearly a lack of high quality products on the market at the moment, because the market has grown in a heterogeneous way and the stock of available offices is extremely poor compared to the centres of other European cities”, explained Antonio Pan de Soraluce, the Director General at Colliers International España.

Sources at the consultancy firm highlight the opportunity that exists to turn Madrid into a international destination of choice and to become the new “City” in Europe. “Projects such as Castellana Norte are very attractive because companies are becoming increasingly demanding about where they locate their offices. We have an opportunity not only because of Brexit, but also because we are a very attractive location for companies from Latin America looking to open offices in Europe”, said Pan de Soraluce”.

20% of the total surface area (more than 3 million m2) in Distrito Castellana Norte will be allocated to offices, homes and businesses, whilst the remainder will be used for infrastructure and communal space.

International comparisons

The project has very low buildability ratios when compared with other similar urban planning projects around the world. “We have studied 200 projects, of which 14 are similar, given that they also involve the regeneration of obsolete railway and port infrastructures, and we have identified that Castellana Norte has the third lowest buildability coefficient of them all”.

Projects assessed included La Défense in París, Canary Wharf in London and Postdamper Pl. in Berlín. All of those projects received institutional support and some even benefitted from public financing. That is something that is not happening with the Town Hall of Madrid, against whom the property developer company has filed an appeal for cancelling the project that was planned initially. The Community of Madrid and the Ministry of Development have supported DCN’s appeal, given that they own most of the land where the project was due to be constructed.

To date, the company owned by BBVA and San José has invested more than €120 million on the Castellana Norte development.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Operación Chamartín’s # 2 Jumps Ship To Castlelake

21 September 2016 – El Confidencial

Just three years ago, BBVA and San José hired David Martínez as the CEO of Duch, the property developer of Operación Chamartín, which was subsequently renamed Distrito Castellana Norte. It was a high profile move, given that Martínez was CEO of Valdebebas at the time, the only large real estate development in the capital that had managed to resist the crisis.

With those credentials, Martínez became the number two in command at Operación Chamartín, behind only the Chairman, Antonio Béjar. He was also the key figure that allowed the project to be relaunched, a year later, with the consent of the three administrations involved: the Ministry of Development, the Community of Madrid and the Town Hall of Madrid.

But that consensus broke down with the arrival of Ahora Madrid in Palacio de Cibeles. They reversed the plan and submitted their own proposal, Madrid Puerta Norte, which cut the scope of the original plans in half.

In the middle of this blockade, whose most recent chapter has just been written by the High Court of Justice in Madrid, with the admission of the appeal submitted by DCN against the Town Hall, Martínez has abandoned ship to join one of the major international funds in the Spanish real estate sector: Castlelake.

As El Confidencial revealed, the US firm has reached an agreement with Merlin to launch its own property developer from what was leftover of the former firm Vallehermoso, and the 1 million sqm of land that the fund has been acquiring over the last two years.

New property developer

Martínez said goodbye to DCN on 1 September to join this new company, which is expected to start work in October under the brand, Aedas Home. The firm has offices on Paseo de la Castellana and an 11-man team that used to form part of Vallehermoso, Sacyr’s former property developer subsidiary, which was liquidated two years ago.

Martínez’s recruitment is a statement of intent regarding the plans that Castlelake has for Spain, given that he is one of the most recognised professionals in his sector in Spain – he was at the helm for eight years at Valdebebas and then has spent another three years at Operación Chamartín. In fact, many consider him to be the real brains behind these two developments, on whose future the final configuration of the north of Madrid depends.

With Aedas Home, Castlelake has finished shaping the new map of the largest property developers in Spain, a market whose present and future is marked by the clear commitment that three large international funds, in particular, have made to the Spanish real estate sector: Lone Star, which acquired the developer Neinor from Kutxabank for €930 million two years ago; Värde, which together with Marathon and Attestor has launched Dos Puntos from the ashes of the former San José Desarrollos; and now, Castlelake.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

BBVA Gets Ready To Reactivate ‘Operación Chamartín’

14 September 2016 – Expansión

Antonio Béjar, the Chairman of Distrito Castellana Norte, the company owned by BBVA and Sanjosé, has criticised Manuela Carmena’s team for “turning their backs on locals” and not thinking about Madrilenians.

Operación Chamartín reached a deadlock in May, when the Town Hall of Madrid, with votes from Ahora Madrid and PSOE, decided to deal a blow to Distrito Castellana Norte’s project and present an alternative option, which is unlikely to prosper, as it faces the outright refusal of the Community of Madrid and the Ministry of Development.

One of the biggest victims in this lethargy is DCN, which has seen how a project that had been fallow for decades and that seemed to be on the verge of progressing, following the approval of the final general town plan (PGOU) and the apparent acceptance of the parties involved, is now in danger of becoming little more than ink and paper following the arrival of Manuela Carmena’s municipal government.

Despite the circumstances, the Chairman of DCN, Antonio Béjar (pictured above), said in an interview with Expansión, that he feels “more encouraged than ever”. “This is an initiative that affects 500,000 people (i.e. the citizens who live in and around the affected areas). “We have always thought that it would be impossible to undertake this project behind people’s backs. For this reason, right from the start, we employed means and made efforts to get people to participate and contribute ideas”, explained Béjar.

The Director also explained that, in the face of the flood of suggestions and information requests received, they decided to open an office in Fuencarral a few months ago, and they plan to open at least two more – in Las Tablas and Chamartín – with the aim of maintaining an “open and permanent dialogue with people”. Béjar hopes that the municipal Government will reconsider its decision given the response from locals. “The Town Hall’s blockade against our project is very unpopular”, he said.

Similarly, the Chairman of DCN hopes to be able to resume talks with the Town hall and the other bodies involved to remedy the situation and whereby share the property developers “negotiating spirit”. Nevertheless, he warns that red lines exist, which are not going to be ignored. “We are not willing to be the sponsor of a project that lacks ambition or is associated with low quality. Moreover, we represent investors that have a duty to not, cannot and will not invest in projects that do not have appropriate returns”.

For the Director, the plan proposed by the Town Hall is a “very poor initiative”. “The administrations do not have the resources necessary to cover works that require billions of euros. They propose that the public sector bears the business risk, either through taxes or other items of social spending and they force citizens to pretend that they are entrepreneurs”.

Béjar fears that the unmovable attitude of the Town Hall will continue, at least until a new national Government is formed. “Political priorities should not take precedence over technical matters. We have not even been allowed to negotiate with the Town Hall”.

In the same way, he points out that the concession of land from Adif expires on 31 December and that the option to extend the period “is not currently on the table”. “We cannot keep investing forever without any signs of returns”, he noted.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Cifuentes Files Appeal Against Suspension Of Operación Chamartín

3 August 2016 – Expansión

The Community of Madrid has submitted an administrative appeal against the decision taken by the Town Hall of Madrid on 25 May to cancel Operación Chamartín and replace it with its own project, Madrid Puerta Norte. The Community of Madrid considers that that decision was “arbitrary” and that it will damage the economy of the city.

The President of the Community of Madrid, Cristina Cifuences, has indicated that the appeal “has been presented on the understanding that the decision will result in a financial loss for all Madrilenians”. And she added that the Government that she leads “wants to protect the interests of Madrilenians against the withdrawal of the project” given that, in her opinion “it has not been agreed by any of the administrations involved” and “cuts the number of (planned) infrastructures and jobs in half”.

Cifuentes explained that, although Adif and the company promoting the project (DCN) have also submitted their own appeals, they are different legal initiatives, motivated by different interests.

Autonomy

Moreover, Cifuentes denied that her appeal is an “attack on the autonomy” of the Town Hall and assured that it will not harm the relationship between Manuela Carmena’s team and the Community of Madrid. “It is not a matter of confrontation between the administrations”, said Cifuentes, who noted that, during the last year, 17 agreements have been signed between the Community of Madrid and the Town Hall of Madrid, which represent “indisputable proof of our good will” in our on-going search to benefit all citizens.

Original story: Expansión (by Esther Martín)

Translation: Carmel Drake

DCN Files Appeal Against Suspension Of Operación Chamartín

1 August 2016 – Expansión

On Friday, the company Distrito Castellana Norte submitted an administrative appeal before the High Court of Justice in Madrid. Through this measure, DCN seeks to obtain a ruling that nullifies the agreement whereby the Town Hall of Madrid suspended Operación Chamartín.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake

Operación Chamartín: BBVA Prepares To Denounce Carmena

5 July 2016 – Cinco Días

The President of Distrito Castellana Norte, Antonio Béjar, has revealed that the company’s legal team will present an appeal to the High Court of Justice in Madrid (TSJM) within the next few weeks to denounce the nullity of the decision taken by the Town Hall to reject this project under development, known as Operación Chamartín.

In an interview with Europa Press, Béjar also detailed that “later on” and if the “blocking” situation continues, DCN’s legal team will submit a claim for damage to property and economic losses against the Town Hall after it rejected its plans without any technical basis, even though they fulfil the General Urban Development Plan (PGOU).

The President of Distrito Castellana Norte, the entity driven by BBVA and Grupo San José, expressed his “disappointment” at the position adopted by the Town Hall for denying its development plan based on “primarily political criteria, with no technical or legal basis”.

Regarding whether the outcome of the elections may change the Town Hall’s position and facilitate negotiations, Béjar said that the municipal government team has expressed “publically that its position was going to mainly depend” on the political decision taken by the Ministry of Development (Ana Pastor is a supporter of DCN’s project) in the event that there is a change in government.

“The Town Hall will have to take a decision in this regard. Meanwhile, we will not rest on our laurels, it is our duty to defend our rights when we understand that they have not been adequately addressed”, said the President of DCN.

“We are convinced that the courts will overturn the Town Hall’s decision, we consider that the reasons employed have no legal grounds”, he added to indicate that, according to the criteria set forth in its appeal, the Town Hall may only reject the definitive approval of the plan if it is able to cite reasons of general interest, whereas, in his opinion, the Town Hall has cited “minor formal reasons”. (…).

Meanwhile, Béjar confirmed that the Town Hall’s “blocking” of the development of Operación Chamartín, by rejecting its plan and presenting its own plan for Madrid Puerta Norte, is “detrimental” for Madrilenians. According to him, the municipal alternative is “not feasible and cannot be carried out in practice”.

“Madrid Puerta Norte – the Town Hall’s alternative project – is a proposal designed to drive out private initiatives…and to allow the public administrations to become the next property developers, using taxpayers’ money…” said the President of DCN. (…).

Original story: Cinco Días

Translation: Carmel Drake