Co-Working Spaces in Madrid & Barcelona Rise by 71% YoY to September

23 October 2018 – Eje Prime

Co-working spaces are on a roll in Spain. This global phenomenon in the office market is also reflected in ratios that keep on growing. In Madrid and Barcelona alone, 55,900 m2 of this type of flexible office space was leased between January and September, which represented an increase of 71% with respect to the same period last year.

According to the Flexible spaces in Spain study, compiled by the consultancy firm Cushman&Wakefield, during the first nine months of the year, 26,800 m2 of co-working office space was leased in Madrid and 29,100 m2 in Barcelona.

This growth is the result of the commitment to co-working spaces by large corporations. According to explanations provided in the report, “at the beginning of the 2000s, small spaces predominated, occupied by self-employed people and freelancers; nowadays, those spaces still exist, but the potential of the co-working phenomenon has led to companies such as Banco Santander (Openbank), Accenture and Everis, amongst others, also using flexible spaces for some of their activities”.

The boom in flexible and shared office space intensified in 2014, the first year of the recovery. Besides large corporate groups, which rely on this office model for optimising their real estate resources and the productivity of their employees, international co-working giants have arrived in Spain in recent years to create supply to meet the growing demand.

WeWork and Spaces (owned by Regus), global specialists in this segment, already have expansion plans for the domestic market. The same is happening with the main Socimis, such as Merlin and Colonial, which, in addition to promoting brands that manage co-working spaces, are also adapting several of their properties to convert them into flexible offices.

Madrid and Barcelona are the focus of this market. WeWork already has 35,000 m2 of office space leased in the two capitals. It is managing one fifth, 7,000 m2, from 22@, the technological hub of Barcelona, one of the epicentres of co-working in Spain. Spaces is planning to grow in the same district, where it already has 6,000 m2 of space across several buildings.

In terms of the large Spanish real estate companies, Merlin and Colonial are, to date, the firms that have backed this new trend most convincingly Both have entered the sector by purchasing or teaming up with specialist companies this market. Colonial acquired the brand Utopicus at the end of 2017, as revealed by Eje Prime, and now has a commitment to open ten new co-working centres from 2019, which will span a total of 15,000 m2 between Madrid and Barcelona.

Meanwhile, Merlin has launched the brand Twisttt, through Loom House, a Spanish shared office manager in which the Socimi owns more than 30%. Other domestic players such as Inmobiliaria del Sur have already made investments in this sector. In October last year, the Andalucian real estate firm launched iSspaces, a co-working centre in Sevilla measuring 1,800 m2 (…).

The identity of the next players to enter the stage is a mystery, but the fact that co-working has a long journey ahead in the office market in Spain and around the world is very much a reality.

Original story: Eje Prime (by J. Izquierdo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Insur Records Profits Of €3.7M During First 9 Months Of 2017

30 October 2017 – Eje Prime

Grupo Inmobiliaria del Sur (Insur) has seen its results soar thanks to the good times that the residential sector in Spain is enjoying at the moment. The company recorded a profit of €3.7 million during the first nine months of the year, according to a statement filed by the group with Spain’s National Securities and Exchange Commission (CNMV).

The group’s turnover also soared during the first nine months of the year. Insur’s revenue amounted to €59.7 million, which represents an increase of 82.2% compared to the same period last year. The acceleration in Insur’s property developer activity and the rise in pre-sales (up by 43.1%) helped this growth.

By category, property development contributed €32.4 million to Insur’s total turnover during the first nine months of the year, compared to €21 million in the same period last year. Revenues from construction, leases and management contributed €18.3 million, €7.5 million and €1.5 million to the group’s turnover, respectively, during the nine months to September.

One of the group’s milestones in recent months has been its entry into the co-working sector, with the launch of the iSspaces business centre in Sevilla, a building with a surface area of 1,800 m2 comprising 30 offices.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Insur Launches Its Co-Working Business With 1,800m2 Space In Sevilla

17 October 2017 – Eje Prime

Insur is moving into the co-working sector. The Andalucían real estate company has launched an iSspsaces business centre in Sevilla. The building, which has a surface area of 1,800 m2, contains 30 offices, three meeting rooms and one training room with capacity for 80 people. With this move, the group is following in the footsteps of WeWork and Spaces, which have both opened their first centres in Spain in the last month.

This is the first space of its kind in Andalucía, “a place adapted to the new needs of companies that are looking to bring themselves in line with current models of working”, explains the Director of Insur, Alejandro Fernández.

According to Fernández, “the total saving in terms of investment in this business centre compared to a traditional office is 84.7%”. The offices measure 5nm2 each, with space for between one and ten desks.

iSspaces is located in the Edificio Insur, on Avenida de Diego Martínez Barrio 10, in Sevilla, next to some of the city’s strategic transport hubs, such as the San Bernardo metro and train station, several bus stops, the Santa Justa train station and with fast access to the motorways linking with Málaga, Cádiz and Huelva.

The co-working business is entering Spain with a vengeance in 2017, as shown by several investments undertaken in recent months in Barcelona and Madrid. In the Catalan capital in September, the North American multinational WeWork, which specialises in the management of coworking spaces, leased an office building in the 22@ district of Barcelona, thanks to an agreement signed between the real estate developer Grupo Castellví and the real estate funds Stoneweg and 1810 Capital Investments, according to Eje Prime. Moreover, during the same month, the company also signed a lease for another property in Madrid, owned by Colonial, on Paseo de la Castellana.

Similarly, another company in the sector, Spaces, has opened an office measuring 1,500 m2 in the centre of Madrid, on Calle Manzanares, whilst it awaits the opening of its first centre in Barcelona, in the 22@ district.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake