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4 November 2017 – Expansión
Centro Canalejas, located just a stone’s throw from Puerta del Sol, in the heart of Madrid, will open its doors at the beginning of 2019. It will house the first hotel to be operated by the Canadian luxury chain Four Seasons in Spain, as well as high-end homes, which will be sold for an average price of €13,000/m2. Moreover, it will include a shopping arcade on the lower floors and a 400-space parking lot.
The complex, promoted by OHL Desarrollos, Grupo Villar Mir and Mohari Limited – a company controlled by the Israeli businessman Mark Scheinberg– will unify seven historical buildings, some of which were constructed at the beginning of the nineteenth century, into a single unit, involving an investment of €525 million.
A luxury hotel operated by Four Seasons will occupy the majority of the space in the centre. Specifically, the hotel will have 200 rooms, whose surface areas will range from 45 m2 to 400 m2. They will occupy the entirety of the second, third, fourth and fifth floors, although the hotel will have a presence throughout the whole building. It will have 4,200 m2 of common areas as well as a spa, banquet halls and meeting rooms, one of which will have capacity for 600 people. Moreover, it will have two restaurants, one on the first floor, measuring 400 m2, and another on the seventh floor, measuring 425 m2.
Exclusive homes
The complex will also contain 22 exclusive homes with surface areas of between 150 m2 and 700 m2 for one of the penthouses, which will include a 350 m2 terrace. The homes, which will be located on the upper floors of the building, will be sold for an average price of €13,000 /m2.
“We have not started to market them yet. We obtained the definitive licence in July and we expect to start work in November, but several interested parties have already approached us”, explained Francisco J. Meliá, CEO of Centro Canalejas Madrid and Director General at OHL Desarrollos, the company responsible for developing the project.
Flagship development
Moreover, the centre will have a shopping arcade, measuring 15,000 m2, spread over three floors. The retail space will house luxury fashion and accessories brands, as well as gastronomic offerings.
The property developers and those responsible for the development have highlighted the architectural challenges involved in adapting the buildings to their new uses whilst respecting their heritage value and they underlined that more than €7 million has been invested in the conservation of 16,700 pieces.
“Centro Canalejas is going to be a flagship development in Madrid and not only because of its ocean liner shape”, explained the architect Carlos Lamela, Director of Estudio Lamela and author of this architectural project.
Original story: Expansión (by Artur Zanón and Rebeca Arroyo)
Translation: Carmel Drake