Ifema Wins the Concession to Operate Madrid’s Palacio de Congresos

18 January 2018 – Eje Prime

(…) Ifema has been awarded the concession to operate the ‘Palacio de Congresos‘ in Madrid for the next 50 years, according to confirmation provided on Thursday by the Mayor of the Spanish capital, Manuela Carmena, and the President of the Community of Madrid, Cristina Cifuentes. The public entity will invest more than €50 million to revive the property, which has a surface area of 40,000 m2, and which has been in disuse since 2011.

Coincidentally, the presentation of this agreement was made in one of Ifema’s existing conference spaces in Madrid, where the International Tourism Fair (‘Feria Internacional de Turismo’ or Fitur) was being held. The work that needs to be undertaken on the asset, which is located on Paseo de la Castellana, could take until 2019 when the management firm hopes to be able to restart activity at the venue.

Moreover, Ifema has already confirmed that the space will be occupied by the World Tourism Organisation (‘Organización Mundial del Turismo’ or OMT), as reported by Eje Prime. Ifema’s interest in the space goes way back, given that last summer it was holding negotiations to obtain the concession for its management with Turespaña, the public body responsible for the ‘Palacio de Congresos’.

In recent months, Ifema came up against a competitor in the bid that it had previously been set to win. Not in vain, although the French group GL Events, which manages the Barcelona Convention Centre, amongst others, offered €40 million for the conference space in Madrid, but Ifema, as a public consortium, was not required to participate in an open adjudication process to secure the concession.

Now, with the ‘Palacio de Congresos’ in its portfolio, Ifema now has a monopoly over the conference spaces in Madrid, since it already controls the ‘Palacio Municipal’ and the exhibition venue in the Spanish capital.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

A French Group Competes with Ifema to Resurrect Madrid’s Palacio de Congresos

2 January 2018 – El Confidencial

The French group GL Events (which manages more than 40 centres around the world specialising in business events, fairs and conferences) and Feria de Madrid (Ifema) are bidding hard to resurrect the abandoned ‘Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos’ in Madrid, located at number 99 Paseo de la Castellana, right opposite the Santiago Bernabeú stadium. In July, the French group notified Turespaña (which forms part of the Ministry of Energy, Tourism and the Digital Agenda) that it was willing to invest €40 million in a first phase to restore the property and make it viable in exchange for a 30-year concession.

GL Events has already met with experts from the Secretary of State for Tourism’s team and its Chairman is expected to travel from France to Madrid over the next few weeks to meet with the Secretary of State herself, Matilde Pastora Asían González. Nevertheless, sources close to El Confidencial have reported that Ifema (a consortium between the Town Hall of Madrid, the Community of Madrid, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Fundación Obra Social y Monte Piedad de Madrid) have taken the lead in this race and have already signed a pre-agreement with the Ministry of Tourism to invest more than the French firm has offered in exchange for managing the property for 50 years.

Madrid Foro Empresarial, which has been asking the public administrations to bring the complex back to life for some time now, given that the capital “needs more spaces to promote new fairs and conferences”, is now asking Turespaña “to convene an international public tender to allow the property to be managed by the best conference operator possible (…)”.

If Ifema does end up taking over the management of the property on Paseo de la Castellana, then it would have a monopoly on the Community of Madrid’s event, fair and conference spaces. Besides the exhibition halls that it already manages in Campo de las Naciones, Ifema has also signed another agreement with the capital’s Town Hall to operate the Palacio Municipal de Congresos, located right next to Ifema’s facilities, for 25 years (…).

In this way, Ifema would control all of the larges spaces in the capital: the exhibition halls, the municipal hall (‘el Palacio Municipal’) and the conference hall (‘el Palacio de Congresos’) on the Castellana. But as Marc Rodríguez, Director General of GL Events in Spain, (…) explained, his firm is still planning to present its proposal to operate the Madrilenian hall if a public tender is organised in the end. “We are a solvent financial operator with experience in the sector. Our construction project would last for 18 months and our initial investment would be €40 million”. The French group recorded revenues of €953 million in 2016 and employs almost 4,000 people. It also manages the Centro de Convencions Internacional de Barcelona (CCIB), whose concession period ends in November 2021 (…).

Original story: El Confidencial (by David Fernández)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Azca: Madrid’s Financial District Gets A Makeover

26 August 2016 – Expansión

Three buildings in the area are currently being completely renovated, along with all of the public spaces in the financial district. Zara will move in soon and the neighbouring Bernabéu stadium will be renovated in 2018.

The refurbishment of some of its classic office buildings, the complete renovation of the public squares, the arrival of a fashion giant and some changes in the faces of some of the most illustrious neighbours. That is the urban landscape facing Azca at the moment and it means that the financial district will have a completely new image in a matter of months.

In the schedule of programmed works, we have the complete refurbishment of Torre Europa, one of the flagship buildings in the area, which has not had any space available for three decades. Following the departure of its veteran tenant – KPMG -, Grupo Infinorsa has decided to invest €20 million in the complete modernisation of the 32-storey skyscraper, including the renewal of the façade, which will be completed at the beginning of 2017. (…).

JLL has been commissioned to market the empty office space, equivalent to 70% of its 42,000 sqm surface area, and has already signed its first contract with the US multinational AOL.

Also for the first time since it opened in 1981, almost all of the Torre Negra is available for rent; until last year, it housed the corporate headquarters of BBVA, which continues to occupy the upper floors of the 28-storey skyscraper. A construction canvas currently covers the façade of the building, renamed Castellana 81, where GMP is undertaking work to improve the 38,000 sqm space.

The triangle of planned renovation work is completed by the former headquarters of the Saint Gobain group in Madrid, which is currently unoccupied. With a leasable surface area of more than 16,000 sqm, spread over 18 floors, the building’s façade is going to change with the inclusion of some unique wavy slats on the outside, although the internal refurbishment will be carried out from the ground floor to the roof terrace.

Whilst three of its most spacious office buildings are being updated, Azca is also participating in the renewal of its public spaces. (…).

For the time being, the first phase of the rehabilitation of Plaza Pablo Ruiz Picasso has been completed and the second, and final, phase is scheduled to begin before the end of the year. (…).

But the most high profile issue in Azca over the next few months will be the arrival of Zara to the financial centre of Nuevos Ministerios. The company owned by Amancio Ortega plans to open its largest store in Spain in the 5,000 sqm building currently occupied by FNAC, next door to El Corte Inglés.

The renovation of the area could be completed in the medium term with urban projects in the vicinity. One project that is already in an advanced phase is the renovation of the Bernabéu stadium, which will not involve the extension of the constructed surface area, but will allow the construction of a roof, which is what the club wants. Most of this construction work will be carried out in 2018.

Another project, which is in an embryonic phase, will be the transformation of the Palacio de Congresos on La Castellana into a 23-storey property, which will include, amongst other facilities, a five-star hotel. (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Marta Belver)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Refurb Of ‘Palacio de Congresos’ Will Cost €90M

13 October 2015 – Cinco Días

Turespaña, which forms part of the Ministry of Industry, has now prepared a feasibility study for the renovation of the Palacio de Congresos de la Castellana. It calculates that the project will cost €90 million and it lowers the height of the adjoining luxury hotel.

The Ministry of Industry calculates that the building work to renovate the Palacio de Congresos de la Castellana in Madrid, and to construct a new hotel with more than 200 rooms, will cost around €90 million and will take approximately three years to complete, whereby generating subsequent employment (directly and indirectly) for more than 600 people.

Those are the findings of the feasibility study that Spain’s Institute of Tourism (el ‘Instituto de Turismo de España’ or Turespaña) has made available for public consultation over the next two months (until 7 December). Its intention is to convince potential investors, which will have to cover the construction costs of the project, in exchange for a concession to operate the complex, about the benefits of the project.

The venue first opened its doors in 1971 and closed them for the last time at the end of 2012, after shortcomings were detected in terms of fire safety and general security, which forced it to undertake a comprehensive renovation of the building. Nevertheless, Turespaña acknowledged that it did not have sufficient funds to undertake this investment and that it must turn to the private sector.

The project will be awarded as a 40-year concession agreement, with an annual fee of approximately €1.25 million. According to the document, the work to construct the new five-star hotel will cost almost €22 million. The Ministry of Industry expects that a new 17-storey tower will house the luxury hotel (six floors less than initially envisaged by the public body). The project must retain the building’s main façade, as well as the façade that looks onto the Paseo de la Castellana, which has displayed a Joan Miró mural since 1980 – the mural is expected to be restored at a cost of €450,000.

Five-star hotel

The aim is to have a five-star hotel with 180 double rooms and 36 junior suites, as well as an executive lounge, gymnasium, swimming pool complex and spa.

The document also includes a forecast for investors about the future operating profits of the complex – it predicts an EBITDA of €7.88 million in the fifth year – the first four years relate to the development phase – and an EBITDA of up to €16.78 million in the final year of the concession. (…).

The next step to be taken by whoever wins the public concession will be to request a building permit from the Town Hall.

Madrid has great potential

The Executive encourages potential investors to participate in the project thanks to Madrid’s “significant growth potential” in the area of business tourism. It also presents other arguments in favour of the project, such as the proximity of the site to the Santiago Bernabéu stadium and the lack of other five-star hotels in the capital, where the Four Seasons hotel chain is hoping to open a hotel in the Canalejas Complex that OHL is currently building.

The Government’s hypothesis is that 65% of the revenues will be generated from conventions, meetings and exhibitions, compared with 20% from the business segment, 8.5% from social events and a further 6.5% from overnight weekend visitors or extended stays following congresses or conferences.

Original story: Cinco Días

Translation: Carmel Drake

Madrid To Build A Conference Centre & Luxury Hotel Opposite The Bernabeu

19 February 2015 – Expansión

The Town Hall will approve the operation of a conference centre and the construction of a five star hotel in exchange from the renovation of the complex, which will also include a retail area.

It is one of the most iconic buildings in Madrid’s financial district, in particular due to the mural on its facade, designed by the artist Joan Miró.

Built in the 1960s and located on the Paseo de la Castellana, opposite the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, Madrid’s Conference Centre (Palacio de Congresos) has been closed for two years due to the poor state of its facilities, which violate basic safety standards.

But today, the Town Hall expects to approve a plan for the comprehensive remodelling of the site and in addition, to construct a luxury hotel that could have up to 23 floors.

According to sources close to the transaction, the Town Hall will invite tenders for the renovation of the Palacio and the construction of a hotel that do not result in any cost to the taxpayer: the successful bidder will complete the building work, estimated to amount to €86 million, in exchange for a licence to operate the entire complex.

In other words, the management of the Palacio and hotel will be in private hands, but ownership of the space will continue to remain with the public. “The role of the State should be to promote different types of tourism, but given the quantity of highly prestigious tour operators in our country, the best option is for them to take care of the management to ensure we provide state-of-the-art facilities”, explained an internal document about the operation.

Both the Town Hall and the Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism, have been very involved in the process. They want the new Palacio to be an engine for attracting “sophisticated, profitable” tourists with “higher added value and greater spending power”, which is why one of the requirements of the tender is that the hotel be a five star facility, “capable of meeting the highly specialised demand for conferences and meetings”, said the document.

In theory, the Government will oversee the aesthetics and architectural modelling of the project, which will not affect the Miró mural under any circumstances. The halls in the new building, designed especially to host professional conferences and large events, must have the latest technology and the best audiovisual facilities and scenography. Similarly, the new complex will have to provide a catering service for at least 1,800 diners.

The current surface area of the Palacio is 40,000 square metres, although since the partial remodelling plan approved in 2001, it has been allowed to increase that to 47,000 sqm; additional space that could be used to build the hotel. Moreover, the space available to construct “compatible” businesses (shops, high-end boutiques, travel agencies, etc.) will increase from 25% of the current total surface area up to 35%. The only business that the tender excludes from being housed in this space are large superstores, reflecting its goal of ensuring that the Palacio does not become a kind of shopping centre. “Other compatible uses will be permitted, but the main use will continue to be as a conference centre”, says the report.

Original story: Expansión (by Yago González)

Translation: Carmel Drake