Praedium to Build the First 100% Co-Working Office in Barcelona’s 22@ District

12 December 2018 – Eje Prime

The 22@ district is going to have its first 100% co-working property. The Praedium Group, led by Alfonso Cirera, is going to invest €40 million in the construction of an office building in the technological hub in Barcelona, which is going to be occupied in its entirety by companies that back shared office spaces, according to a statement issued by the company.

The ten-storey property will have a surface area of 30,000 m2, and will be constructed on the corner of Calle Selva de Mar and Calle Marroc. Specifically, on the site that used to house the old warehouses of the company Transporte Mateu&Mateu, which was acquired by Praedium in 2008 for €24.3 million.

The building work is expected to begin at the end of next year with the aim of inaugurating the property in the middle of 2021. The building will have capacity to house 2,000 workspaces and another 1,000 in corporate offices and services in the commercial premises.

In the common areas, Praedium has designed a terrace spanning 1,150 m2 with views of the beach, as well as a basketball court. The property will also have a gym, a swimming pool and a parking lot, which will be located in the basement, with a surface area of 2,500 m2.

Almost 30,000 m2 of space leased to September 

The co-working model is proving unstoppable in Spain and the 22@ district is its current epicentre. According to data from Cushman & Wakefield, 29,100 m2 of shared office space was leased in Barcelona during the first nine months of this year.

Between the Catalan capital and Madrid, the co-working segment grew by 71% during the nine months to September, with 55,000 m2 of space leased.

That growth is due to the commitment of the large corporations to co-working. As the report explains, “at the beginning of the 2000s, small spaces predominated, occupied by self-employed people and freelancers; nowadays, these spaces still exist, but the potential of the co-working phenomenon has caused companies such as Banco Santander (Openbank), Accenture and Everis, amongst others, to also use flexible spaces for some of their activity.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Bankia Granted €16,600M In Loans In 2015, Up By 12.5%

22 January 2016 – Expansión

Last year, Bankia granted €16,600 million in new loans, in particular to companies and SMEs.

Bankia has reported today that the volume of new loans it granted last year increased by 12.5% compared with 2014, to reach €16,600 million in total.

The entity, which will present is annual results on 1 February, did not disclose any information about the evolution of its loan balance, although experts think that it will have decreased, in line with what happened in the third quarter, due to (the trend in) mortgages and the sale of portfolios.

By contrast, they expect that the balance of loans to companies will have closed the year up, after recording several quarterly rises. Specifically, this balance had increased by 5.1% as at September.

Bankia pointed out that almost 84% (€14,000 million) of all the new loans granted were taken out by companies. And, within that segment, the group that experienced the greatest increase (in percentage terms) were self-employed people, to whom new financing increased by almost 73% to reach €216 million.

Meanwhile, the bank granted more than €3,200 million in loans to SMEs, compared with €2,250 million during the same period in 2014, which represents an increase of 43%. Larger companies were granted loans amounting to €10,500 million.

Original story: Expansión (by M. R.)

Translation: Carmel Drake