District 22@ Attracts 500 New Companies Each Year

18 August 2016 – Inmodiario

There are 8,300 companies operating in District 22@ (in Barcelona). Since 2012, 2,000 new companies and 12,000 jobs have been created, taking the total number of employees in the district to 95,000. The proliferation of companies is going hand in hand with an increase in the commercial sector, whose presence in the district is growing year after year and District 22@ looks set to become an extension of the main shopping areas in Barcelona.

In this sense, in just a few years, 22@ has become one of the most sought-after areas for the purchase of real estate assets to attract businesses and for the sale of land for offices. In fact, 20% of all of the space leased in the city is signed in this district. The area will become a natural extension of the first-class shopping and office districts over the next few years, such as the part of La Diagonal that adjoins el Ensanche, la Rambla de Catalunya and el Paseo de Gracia.

“District 22@ is going to play a fundamental role in the expansion of the commercial centre and powerhouse of the city towards the east. Its international prestige and potential for growth to create businesses has turned it into a “prime area” for setting up companies in Barcelona and the expansion of the main shopping areas to this part of the city”, said Miquel Laborde, founding partner at Laborde Marcet, a real estate and investment company.

Centre of attraction for large companies

One of the district’s primary assets is its ability to attract large companies. One out of every four operations signed in 22@ involves large offices. In fact, 23% of the operations signed in 2015 were for surface areas spanning more than 2,000 sqm. In this sense, although only 3% of the companies in the district have more than 50 employees, their staff account for 60% of the total workforce employed in 22@.

Hand in hand with the large companies come the opening of multiple secondary retail premises, which are expected to grow exponentially in number over the coming years. “There is money, business and almost 100,000 workers per day in the district and so companies have all of the factors in their favour to expand and consolidate successfully”, said Laborde.

District 22@ has confirmed itself to be a district for business and real estate expansion with considerable power to attract investment from domestic and overseas players. The high presence of international companies is also reflected in the workforce of the companies operating there, where 1 out of every 10 workers is foreign. In addition, 30% of the companies are export businesses and 40% of their sales come from overseas markets. By sector, companies linked to IT and communication are the most prolific, followed by companies in the energy and design sectors.

Original story: Inmodiario

Translation: Carmel Drake