Three New Tenants Move into Torre Espacio

25 September 2018 – Eje Prime

Torre Espacio is almost completely full. The Spanish group Villar Mir has added three new tenants to its property on Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid. The companies have leased 3,019 m2 in the property.

Thanks to this operation, the Spanish group led by Juan Miguel Villar Mir has leased 94% of the total surface area of Torre Espacio, the fourth tallest skyscraper in all of Spain. The supermarket cooperative Coviran, the application design firm Mobetia and the fibre optic operator Ufinet are the three companies that will now carry out their activity in the building.

The property is distributed over 57 floors and is currently owned by the Philippine group Emperador. Its tenants include several embassies, such as those of Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom, as well as the Spanish Banking Association (AEB) and firms such as Red Bull and Equifax.

The arrival of the new companies in Torre Espacio comes in the middle of the divestment plan in which Villar Mir is immersed. A few months ago, it sold 12.2% of its shareholding in OHL, reducing its stake to 38.2%. The main reason for that move was to decrease the group’s debt.

In August, Villar Mir sold the 32.5% stake that it held in the share capital of Project Canalejas to OHL, the construction firm owned by the holding company, for €50 million, according to a statement filed by the company with Spain’s National Securities and Market Commission (CNMV).

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Villar Mir: Canalejas Homes Will Cost c. €12,000/m2

15 October 2015 – Expansión

Juan Miguel Villar Mir says that “although the prices of the homes have not yet been determined”, “they are set to be the most expensive in Madrid” and amount to around €12,000/m2.

The luxury homes that the Villar Mir Group will construct as part of Project Canalejas, the commercial, hotel and residential complex that it is developing in some of the historical buildings in the centre of Madrid, will be the “most expensive” in the capital, since they will cost around €12,000/m2. At least, that is according to Juan Miguel Villar Mir, the President and owner of the business corporation that bears his name. (…).

“Currently, the most expensive apartments in the capital are being sold for more than €6,000/m2, but in Canalejas, we will be talking about figures close to double that amount”, said the businessman in comments made to the Cadena Cope radio station.

By virtue of Project Canalejas, Villar Mir is developing a large residential, commercial and hotel complex in a group of seven century-old buildings that it acquired from Santander, a stones throw away from Puerta del Sol in the capital. The project will involve an estimated investment of around €400 million. (…).

The plans for the project involve carrying out construction work inside the buildings and whereby preserving their designs and century-old structures. Features will include a luxury hotel, to be operated by the American chain Four Seasons, a shopping arcade and around twenty luxury apartments, occupants of which will have access to the hotel’s services.

These apartments will be the most expensive in the capital, according to Villar Mir. The price per square metre mentioned by the businessman would result in a final price of €1.2 million for a home with an average surface area of 100 m2.

Similar project in London

Villar Mir added that his company is currently carrying out a similar project in London, in a former Ministry of Defence building, and he said that the future homes in the British capital will be much more expensive.

He said that apartments located near to that project “are being sold for €100,000/m2”. “We are not going to reach those levels in Madrid, but Canalejas will be the most expensive development in the city”.

The businessman’s company is also working on another major project in the capital, namely, the construction of a fifth tower on the plot of land next to the four skyscrapers at the northern end of the Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid. Villar Mir currently owns one of those towers, but has now put it up for sale.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake