Tag: green spaces

Madrid’s Town Hall Definitively Approves the Mahou-Calderón Development

15 November 2018 – El Confidencial

The final piece of the puzzle has fallen into place. The Governing Board of the Town Hall of Madrid has definitively approved the urbanisation plans for the Mahou-Calderón project after the corresponding period of public consultation came to an end on Thursday. This means that the owners of the land can now start work. The plenary of the Town Hall will ratify the final project over the coming weeks, although the claims phase is not, in theory, expected to alter the plan initially approved in July: it involves a budget of €42.2 million, will see the transformation of 193,804 m2 of land in total and will be executed in three phases in just under three years. The first phase will involve the demolition of the stadium.

The demolition of the Atlético de Madrid’s temple, an operation that will cost €22.4 million, will be the first piece of work to be carried out, with the exception of the stand located above the M-30, which will remain in place to interfere as little as possible with the traffic on that road. Subsequently, the traffic from the motorway ring-road will be diverted so that the stand can be demolished. The first stage will also include the urbanisation of the roads between Paseo de los Pontones, Paseo Imperial and Paseo de los Melancólicos.

Once those first projects have been concluded, phase 2 will begin, which will see the reorganisation of Paseo de los Melancólicos and Calle Duque de Tovar, with a budget of €7.7 million. Finally, the third phase, with a final budget of more than €12 million, will include the creation of a new park by the river, which, in any case, will come after Calle-30 has been covered over, by the Town Hall. Specifically, the Town Hall has committed to providing €60 million to finance the work to cover over that road, a budget that is separate from the urbanisation project that has been approved today because it was agreed that it would be processed independently.

The Governing Board chaired by Manuela Carmena gave the final green light to this project today, which is going to be financed by the Compensation Board that comprises the landowners (Atlético and Mahou). The surface area of the space is broken down into two sections, one of which is dedicated to residential and tertiary use, and the other to roads, green areas and basic amenities.

The land dedicated to residential use occupies 33,339 m2 (with a buildability of 132,344 m2) of which 13,243 m2 will be for social housing properties, which represents more than 11% of the total. Meanwhile, tertiary use land will have a buildability of 14,705 m2. Finally, the land dedicated to social uses will span 13,893 m2 for public amenities. In addition, 73,099 m2 will be dedicated to green space and 73,469 m2 to roads .

In any case, this final procedure paves the way for the construction work to begin and for one of the major urban planning operations in the city to be unblocked. It has been in the hands of the Department for Sustainable Urban Development, led by José Manuel Calvo. As this newspaper published in the summer, the initial approval of the plan – which today received definitive approval – was a key step for the plans of Atlético de Madrid. The football club suspended the process to sell its urban planning rights in January, as it was waiting to be able to offer the three interested finalists – Solvia, Ibosa and Princeton – a series of guarantees, including the reparcelation and urbanisation project, amongst others.

With the sale of its urban planning rights, Atlético de Madrid is hoping to raise almost €200 million, an amount that it is hoping to use to repay the Mexican businessman Carlos Slim for the €160 million loan that he granted  to Enrique Cerezo’s club to finance the completion of the construction of the new stadium, the Wanda Metropolitano (…).

Original story: El Confidencial (by Paloma Esteban)

Translation: Carmel Drake

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

Town Hall of Barcelona to Build 150 Social Housing Flats in Former Urban Prison

7 May 2018 – Eje Prime

La Modelo is going to change its colour: it will turn from the grey of its former railings to the green of its new parks and family homes. That is the plan that the Town Hall of Barcelona wants to carry out with the urban prison that said goodbye to its last inmates last June. Since then, the Town Hall has been holding regular meetings with local residents and entities to build social housing properties on the land that has been left in disuse, amongst other aspects. The Town Hall’s current idea is to build 150 flats on a plot of land measuring 15,000 m2.

In total, the prison used to cover a plot measuring 27,657 m2, of which the Town Hall plans to use almost half, 14,000 m2 to develop a park that will add some much needed green space to the Eixample area in which it is located.

The first draft of the plans that the municipal government presented in the most recent meeting is one of three possible plans that the Town Hall is considering. It is the preferred option of the Town Hall led by Ada Colau, who will provide more details about the project in July, according to Idealista.

The work to urbanise the plot is not expected to begin until 2020, and so the plans may well undergo several iterations yet, although all three plans involve building public housing, green space and a section that will serve to preserve the historical memory of the 100-year old prison. What is known at this stage for certain is the amount of investment that the Town Hall is going to allocate to the project: €4.9 million, which has already been included in the current mandate, which ends in 2019.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Lar España Invests €250M To Build Sevilla’s Largest Shopping Centre

18 October 2017 – El Periódico

Lar España has started construction of the new ‘Palmas Altas’ shopping centre in Sevilla. The project will involve an investment of €250 million and will generate around 4,800 jobs during its execution phase and subsequent operation.

The centre, which will open its doors in 2019, represents the largest urban planning investment to have been made in the Andalucían capital for a decade. It is also going to be the most valuable asset in the portfolio of its owner Lar, the Socimi that specialises in shopping centres.

The first stone of the establishment was laid on Tuesday and the centre will be the largest commercial space in Sevilla, given that it will have a surface area of more than 123,000 m2. Moreover, it will have an artificial lake spanning more than 7,000 m2, along with green spaces and cinemas, amongst other facilities.

During the unveiling of the project, the CEO of Lar España, Miguel Pereda, said that the total surface area of the centre, comprising the retail and leisure space will span 100,000 m2 and will house 200 stores and terraces.

Primark and Media Markt

According to the property developers, the supermarket Mercadona has already committed to leasing a space in the new centre, as has the textile firm Primark, which will take over premises measuring 8,000m2; Media Market will occupy another large store. The cinema screens will be operated by the company Yelmo, which belongs to the Cinépolis group.

Moreover, the centre will be completed with a 3,200-space parking lot, most of which will be underground. All in all, the centre hopes to receive around 14 million visitors per year.

Original story: El Periódico

Translation: Carmel Drake