OneCoWork Invests €5.5M to Open 3,700m2 Coworking in Barcelona

18 March 2019 – Eje Prime

OneCoWork is going to invest €5.5 million to open its third shared office space in Barcelona in 2020. The company, founded in 2016 and led by Benjamin Nachoom, will open its new centre on the corner of Via Laietana and Avenida de la Catedral, in a building owned by the insurance company Zurich.

The office will span 3,750 m2 and will be opened on a gradual basis, with 1,800 m2 due to be inaugurated in April 2019, 600 m2 during H2 2019 and the remainder in 2020.

The group plans to have 40 coworking offices across Europe by 2022, including one in Madrid and another in Valencia, Bilbao or Málaga.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Marta Casado Pla)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

OneCoWork to Open a New Centre on Via Laietana in 2019

29 October 2018 – Eje Prime

OneCoWork is strengthening its commitment to Barcelona and is broadening its horizons. The company, founded in 2016 by the Israeli businessman Uri Nachoom, is going to open its third co-working centre in the Catalan capital next spring, according to reports from the company speaking to Eje Prime.

The new centre is going to be located on Via Laietana. With this operation, OneCoWork will have three shared working spaces in Barcelona. It also has a presence in Marina Port Vell and Plaza Cataluña. The company expects to end 2019 with a community of 1,100 members.

Similarly, another of the group’s objectives involves opening a centre in Madrid at the end of next year. Although the exact location of that property has not been decided yet, the company is already considering several possibilities in prime areas of the Spanish capital. According to explanations from sources at the company “everything depends on the supply in the market”.

Sevilla, Málaga and Valencia are also in the spotlight of OneCoWork, which is already studying which cities to open more offices in. Nevertheless, first, the company wants to gain a presence in the main European capitals: Paris, London, Amsterdam and Berlin are some of its objectives in the short term.

The company wants to close 2020 with twelve centres and a community of 10,000 members located all over Europe. For the time being, all of its funds are its own, but “as we grow, we will have to rely on external investments or agreements with building owners or third parties”, say sources at the company.

Going for gold in Barcelona 

OneCoWork opened its first centre in Marina Port Vell in November 2016. The company started out in a building measuring just over 1,000 m2. Around 200 professionals work there now and it reached an occupancy rate of 100% in just three months.

“We really value the city of Barcelona. It is the perfect place for attracting talent and for businesses to evolve”, explain sources at the company. Proof of that commitment to the city came with the opening of its second centre in Plaza Cataluña, in the heart of the Catalan capital, at the beginning of September. That space, distributed over six floors, has capacity for 400 members and is home to companies such as N26. That firm occupies an entire floor in OneCoWork’s newest co-working office.

Moreover, OneCoWork is also considering entering the 22@ district of Barcelona and other areas, “an ambition that will certainly materialise in 2020”.

In parallel to its own projects, the Spanish co-working has also started to invest in startups and to this end, holds a stake in two emerging companies.

Original story: Eje Prime (by B. Seijo & J. Izquierdo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Zurich Buys an Office Building in Plaza Cataluña from Sum Capital Spain

25 October 2018 – Eje Prime

The Zurich Group has assured itself of a space in the heart of Barcelona. The Swiss group has purchased an office building in Plaza Cataluña from Sum Capital Spain, the property developer behind OneCowork, a chain of co-working offices that will remain as the tenant of the property, according to explanations provided to Eje Prime by sources close to the operation, whose consideration has not been revealed.

The asset, located at number 9 Calle Estruc, between Plaza Cataluña and Portal de l’Àngel, has a surface area of 1,648 m2. The property is distributed over five storeys with a terrace (and an average surface area of 250 m2 per floor). It will be completely occupied by the coworking chain created by Uri Nachoom, the sole administrator of Sum Capital Spain.

Nachoom is a familiar face in the Catalan capital’s real estate sector as the former co-owner of the Salamanca Group holding company, the firm that relaunched the Marina Port Vell marina and which guided the growth of OneCowork, a company that is going to invest €150 million in the opening of forty centres all over Europe by 2023.

Now, the Israeli businessman has decided to sell this property under the sale&leaseback method, taking advantage of the interest in the Spanish office market from large funds and insurance firms. The operation has been signed through REX Spain, one of the Zurich Group’s subsidiary companies, and has been advised by the real estate consultancy JLL (…).

It’s not all about the 22@ district in Barcelona 

The office market in Barcelona is not all about the 22@ district. Although the city’s technological hub accounts for most of the current investments, Zurich’s purchase of the OneCowork building highlights the interest that the city centre is continuing to generate. Other large players such as Hines, Emesa and Pontegadea have benefitted in recent months from the interest of some companies and startups to work in the heart of Barcelona.

At the beginning of October, WeWork leased two spaces in the centre of the Catalan capital (…).

Also, since May, the real estate company owned by Amancio Ortega, Pontegadea, has been the landlord of Lidl in its building in Plaza Cataluña, where the Zara flagship store is also located. In total, the German supermarket chain leases 3,155 m2, distributed over four storeys.

Original story: Eje Prime (by J. Izquierdo & B. Seijo)

Translation: Carmel Drake