Tag: demolition work

Project Maravillas: Construction Work Resumes

30 December 2016 – Expansión

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) lifted the injunction issued the day before that had paralysed the demolition work at the Precision Artillery Workshop, located next to Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid, where the Residencial Maravillas cooperative plans to construct 320 new homes.

After obtaining approval from the Town Hall of Madrid, the project promoted by Domo Gestora was paralysed after the TSJM admitted the request filed by the ‘Ecologistas de Acción’ group to not demolish the Precision Artillery Workshop, located on this site.

The building forms part of the properties that the Ministry of Defence used to own on the plots, and according to the ruling from the TSJM, it does not have any historical value or need to be maintained for heritage purposes.

The work to demolish the building began on 16 December. In November 2014, the Ministry awarded these plots, which had fallen into disuse, to Domo for €111 million, which acquired them with the aim of constructing a development containing 320 homes, with an average price of €325,000. (…).

Original story: Expansión (by R. Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Juan Bravo 3 Plot Worth 7% More Than 12 Months Ago

6 March 2016 – El Confidencial

The recovery of the real estate market is starting to be reflected in the income statements of real estate companies and Socimis, especially in the value of their assets. According to information submitted to Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) by Lar España, the famous plot of land located on Calle Juan Bravo, 3, which is going to be home to the most exclusive luxury housing development in the capital, has risen in value by 7% in the last year.

The Socimi has owned 50% of the land, alongside the US manager Pimco since the beginning of 2015, when both companies joined forces to buy Eurosazor (the development company created by Rafael Ortiz and the businessman Fernando Fernández Tapias) which owned the 26,203 m2 plot on Juan Bravo, 3 and another 5,318 m2 plot on Claudio Coello, 108.

Lar and Pimco acquired both residential assets for €120 million, in such a away that the purchase amounted to €60 million for each plot. Six months later, in June 2015, the consultancy firms JLL and C&W valued the plots at €61.3 million, and by the end of last year, that figure had increased to €64.35 million, up by 7.1%. This increase in value is explained not only by the recovery of the residential market, but also the scarcity of plots of land and new homes on the market in the neighbourhood of Salamanca, the most sought-after by wealthy individuals, both domestic and international – especially Venezuelans.

This increase in value has been generalised for the whole of the Socimi’s portfolio. The value of the assets acquired between its debut on the stock exchange and 31 December 2015 amounted to €898.9 million, in other words, €46.2 million more than their combined acquisition prices, which represents an increase of 5.4%. By type of asset, besides residential, Lar’s shopping centres have increased in value by 4.4%, its office are up by 6.6% and its logistics centres are up by 11.1%.

Juan Bravo, 3 is, nevertheless, one of the most important assets in the portfolio, at least from the media’s point of view, given that the market has been waiting for work to begin there for more than a decade. (…).

The demolition work is about to begin

Now… the project is increasingly closer to becoming a reality, after it recently received the licence from the Town Hall of Madrid that will allow it to demolish the basements and consolidate the land. This is the first step to obtaining the construction permit and, therefore, the definitive launch of the project, which will be designed by the Madrilenian architecture firm Rafael de La-Hoz (see photo above).

Although the details of the project have not been revealed yet, all indications are that around one hundred homes measuring between 250 m2 and 450 m2 will be constructed on the 2,250 m2 plot of land, which has a buildable capacity of 26,000 m2. Prices could reach, on average, €10,000/m2, with the most affordable homes averaging around €8,000/m2 and the most elite averaging around €14,000/m2. (…).

Original story: El Confidencial (by E. Sanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Town Hall Seeks To Resume ‘Canalejas’ Construction Work

20 July 2015 – El Confidencial

Almost four months have passed since Madrid Town Hall’s Department of Town Planning decided to suspend some of the construction work at the monumental Canalejas Project, as a precautionary measure. The council, which was led at the time by Ana Botella, took the decision because it considered that some of the demolition work being carried out by the Villar Mir Group was affecting certain areas that are protected due to their historical value and was exceeding the work permitted by the municipal licence.

Following the electoral change, the new team responsible for Town Planning at Madrid’s Town Hall, led by Manuela Carmena, seems willing to resolve this situation as soon as possible. According to sources close to the project, the council is working to create a technical committee that will allow the works to recommence, however the Town Hall has denied that this is the case, at least for the time being. (…).

At the end of 2012, the Villar Mir Group purchased seven buildings located on Plaza de Canalejas (number 1), Carrera de San Jerónimo (number 7) and Calle Alcalá (numbers 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14) from Banco Santander. The group paid more than €200 million for the buildings and with an additional investment of around €300 million, is going to create a unique complex that will house around thirty luxury homes, a shopping centre measuring 16,000 m2 spread across three floors and a five-star hotel to be operated by the Four Seasons chain with 215 rooms and measuring 26,000 m2.

To achieve this, all of the buildings need to be joined up and to make that possible, Madrid’s Town Hall (PP) changed the protection in place on some of the buildings a few months ago. Specifically, it reduced the ‘Building of Cultural Interest’ protection to the front bay (crujía) and roof of the building at Canalejas, 1 and the front bay (crujía) and patio at Alcalá, 14; it also reduced the protection on all of the buildings to confine it to the façades.

Suspension of the building work

And it was the work performed on the front bay (crujía) between Calle Alcalá, 14 and Plaza de Canalejas, 1 that led to the stoppage of the works, as the Town Hall considered that protected pillars, slabs and stairs had been demolished…Nevertheless, sources linked to the project say that all of the work has been performed in accordance with the scope of the licences granted. The rest of the works – which affected 90% of the complex – have continued in the meantime, in accordance with the licences obtained.

In order to resume the suspended work, the planning experts consulted say that the licence for the next phase of the work needs to be granted, i.e. the licence for the new construction work. And for that to happen, the construction company must legalise their actions. The creation of a technical committee could accelerate the process, whereby leaving the final decision in the hands of professionals and not Madrid’s Town Hall.

It is worth remembering that Canalejas, along with other projects such as Operación Chamartín, Campamento and the shopping centre that is planned for Madrid Río, are coming under the spotlight of the new mayoress, Manuela Carmena, who is now less critical of these projects than she was in her electoral program. Carmena recently met with Antonio Béjar, the head of the Distrito Castellana Norte project, and promised that she would evaluate the most important urban planning project in the capital.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Elena Sanz)

Translation: Carmel Drake