Green Light Given to ‘La Ciudad de la Justicia’: Madrid Needs €771m For Its ‘Megaproject’

17 February 2015 – El Confidencial

The Official Bulletin of the Community of Madrid reflects the economic conditions that the Government requires of the concession companies that want to bid to construct the future judicial offices in Valdebebas.

On Monday, the Official Bulletin of the Community of Madrid reflected the economic conditions that the Government of Ignacio González is imposing on the companies that want to construct the new judicial offices in Valdebebas. Two months before the regional elections, the Community of Madrid calls for a €771.7 million contract for a “megaproject” that will not see the light until 2019. The initial bidding budget for the works to be built in the North of Madrid will exceed €1,700 million, according to estimates reflected in the public document. The companies that are interested in “bidding” for the project have until 1 April to submit their bids to the Presidential Council, led by Salvador Victoria.

The total estimated cost of the project is divided into two parts. The Community of Madrid has already invested €288 million in the site: on the land, the tunnels that have now been constructed and the Institute of Legal Medicine, which has already been built. Therefore, the chosen companies would only have to contribute the remaining €483 million to take the total to €771 million. Construction of this project is expected to begin in July next year and the site will be operational from summer 2019.

The Community of Madrid will grant a 30-year administrative concession to the winning firm, to whom it will pay a fee of around €45 million, which is the amount it currently pays for the rental of the 28 judicial offices around Madrid and their associated services. The concession will begin from the day that the building work contracts are awarded, which will be in July, and not from its completion date (scheduled for four years later), as is usually the case, which means that the Community will have a four-year grace period and the fee will be paid on a linear basis over 26 years.

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New jobs

With an area of 200,000 square metres, the Ciudad de la Justicia (City of Justice) will be located in the Parque de Valdebebas and will house the 356 courts of the Judicial District of Madrid, 554 judges and magistrates, 202 prosecutors, 362 court clerks, more than 5,000 people in the service of the Administration of Justice, more than 42,000 lawyers and 1,719 barristers, in addition to the citizens. According to the Community of Madrid’s calculations, the building work at the Ciudad de la Justicia will result in the creation of 2,200 jobs and a minimal improvement in Madrid’s GDP.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ana I. Gracia)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Jianlin Presents His Plans For Edificio España

29 January 2015 – Expansión

The Wanda Group, controlled by the Chinese magnate Wang Jianlin, will invest €114 million on the refurbishment of the Edificio España in Madrid and a further €30 million on the project to regenerate the surrounding area.

The plans of the Chinese businessman Wang Jianlin, owner of the Wanda Group holding company, to convert the Edificio España in Madrid into a luxury hotel, residential and retail complex, take an important step forwards today. The Executive of the Community of Madrid will discuss the modification to the General Urban Development Plan at their Government Board meeting. Following approval by the Town Hall of Madrid, it is expected that the Government of Ignacio González will also vote favourably.

The proposal, presented by the Santander Group (which owned the building until last summer, when it sold it to Wang Jianlin for €265 million) and supported by Wanda Madrid Development (which formalised the purchase of the building before a notary of 30 July) will result in changes not only to the historical building in the capital, but also to the area surrounding it.

Jianlin has committed, together with other businesses, such as the VP Group, controlled by Vicente Pérez, to finance some of costs of the area’s regeneration, which includes the expansion of the pedestrian area (by 12,500 sqm) and the construction of an underground walkway between Calle Ferraz and Calle Bailén. Jianlin will contribute around €30 million of the total €79.5 million to be invested, according to sources close to proceedings. 51% will be borne by the concessionary companies to be awarded the new car park in the area, according to the Town Hall.

In addition to the €265 million Wanda paid Santander to acquire the property and the €30 million it will invest in the regeneration of the plaza, the Chinese group will invest a further €114.085 million in the renovation of the building, designed by the architectural firms Foster and Lamela, which have worked together before on other projects, such as the construction of Terminal T4 at Madrid’s Barajas airport.

Comprehensive renovation

The Edificio España will be fully refurbished on the inside (the building will be completely gutted), whilst on the outside, only the main façade will remain, together with part of the sides and the existing chamfer on the rear façade (located between Calle los Reyes and Calle Maestro Guerrero).

The new project will put an end to the rear façade, designed as a “comb”, which creates five interim patios and provides access to the San Marcos church and the neighbourhood of San Bernardo from Plaza de España.

In addition, the new Edificio de España will have almost 10,000 sqm of underground space, which will be used to expand the parking area, increasing it from its current size of 2,473 sqm to 12,000 sqm, which will result in 318 more parking spaces.

In exchange for the extension of the car park, Wanda must grant 10% of this space to the Town Hall for public use or pay for that space separately. According to the proposal presented to the town hall, the Chinese investor will choose the second option.

The size of the residential area, which will include around 380 homes, and the hotel space will barely change: decreasing from 40,883 sqm to 37,916 sqm in the case of the former and from 22,720 sqm to 22,000 sqm in the case of the hotel.

The main change proposed by Wanda will affect the retail area, whose space will be increased from 3,687 sqm to almost 15,000 sqm. The aim is to create a “large retail space” between the ground floor and the third floor. “We expect to house a variety of retail activity, primarily clothing and accessory stores”, they say in the proposal.

The building work will take place between 2016 and 2020 and it is expected that the homes will be completed between 2019 and 2021. The construction work is expected to create almost 4,000 jobs, between direct and indirect roles. Once completed, 185 people will work in the hotel and retail space in the Edificio España.

Original story: Expansión (by Rocío Ruiz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Wanda Meets González To Discuss Its €3,000m Investment In Madrid

28 January 2015 – Expansión

Representatives of the business group Wanda, owned by the Chinese magnate Wang Jianlin, met with the President of the Community of Madrid, Ignacio González, first thing on Tuesday, to discuss the project to build a housing, hotel and leisure complex in the Campamento neighbourhood of the capital.

The Wanda delegation was led by its CEO, Zhu Huan.

Wang Jianlin, owner of the Wanda Group, recently announced his willingness to invest €3,000 million in a large housing and leisure complex in the Campamento area of Madrid, in the south-west of the capital, on land belonging to the Ministry of Defence.

A few months ago, the Chinese magnate bought the Edificio España, in Plaza de España, with a view to building housing, shops and a luxury hotel there; and a few days ago, he completed the purchase of 20% of the football club Atlético de Madrid for €45 million following a capital increase by the club.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake