Tag: skyscraper

Rents In Azca’s Towers Exceed Those In The Cuatro Torres

12 September 2017 – El Economista

The Cuatro Torres skyscrapers, to the north of Madrid, are no longer casting a shadow over Azca, which is establishing itself as the iconic business district in the city. With views overlooking the Paseo de la Castellana and just a stone’s throw from the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium and the Nuevos Ministerios transport hub, this business centre has managed to renew itself, to avoid being left behind compared with other areas of Madrid. So much so, that the rents for its recently renovated skyscrapers are 16.6% higher per square metre than the most expensive space in the Cuatro Torres, to the north of the city.

Castellana 81, the historical headquarters of BBVA, leads the ranking in terms of rental prices in Madrid, given that its empty space is being marketed for between €27 and €35 per square metre per month. This tower, designed by the prestigious architect Sáenz de Oiza, has been subjected to a comprehensive renovation by its owner, the Socimi GMP, which spent €30 million renovating one of its most iconic properties in Azca and on Madrid’s skyline.

The asset, which became a multi-tenant property when it first came onto the market, has already managed to conquer new companies following the departure of the banking entity, which moved to its own financial city, in Las Tablas, to the north of Madrid. Thus, in the last few months, rental contracts have been signed with Teka and Hays.

At the forefront of design

Castellana 77, which is also owned by the Montoro family’s real estate company and the Singapore sovereign fund, GIC, has been the subject of another of the major renovation projects that has been carried out in Azca and which has positioned the business district at the forefront of design. Its façade is covered with slats that protect it from direct sunlight and which are lit up at night in a diverse range of colours.

The tenant that decides to lease the office space in this building, which spans 16,200 m2 over 18 floors, will be able to choose the colour of the tower, which has more than 200 parking spaces as well as charging points for electric cars. With these features, this property has the second highest rents in Azca, which range between €28 and €33 per square metre per month.

And it is followed closely by Torre Europa, which housed the headquarters of the professional services firm KPMG for many years. Following the move of that consultancy firm to the Cuatro Torres, the tower has been renovated to turn it into the first intelligent and connected office building in Spain. Infinorsa, the majority owner of this skyscraper, which overlooks the Santiago Bernabéu, has invested €20 million on a facelift of the façade, which had not been changed for 30 years, and above all, on the renovation of the interior, which has given a radical about-turn to the essence of this 121m-tall tower (…).

Rents in this tower now range between €27 and €32 per square metre per month. Its renovation has already captivated one of the large international law firms, Freshfields (…). The US firm AOL has also decided to move its Spanish corporate headquarters to Torre Europa, as well as a pharmaceutical company (…).

Torre Picasso, the tallest skyscraper in Azca, at 156m, has not undergone such a comprehensive renovation as its neighbours, but following the departure of the consultancy firm EY to Torre Titania, 15,000 m2 of space there was left vacant. Some of that space in the tower owned by Pontegadea – the investment arm of Amancio Ortega – will be leased to Deloitte, which will thereby become its largest tenant. After several improvements to the property, the highest floors are now being marketed for €31/m2/month (…).

Rents in the Cuatro Torres barely reach €30/m2/month

Nevertheless, in the new financial district located in the north of Madrid and known as Las Cuatro Torres, only one of the towers manages to charge a rent of €30/m2/month, even though the buildings are much younger, given that they were inaugurated between the years 2008 and 2009.

Office space in Torre Espacio ranges between €29 and €30 per square metre per month. The Philippine group Emperador, which owns this skyscraper (…) renewed the image of the tower at the end of last year and launched a new marketing plan with the aim of finding tenants for the 8,800 m2 that were vacant in the building at that time.

Next in the ranking is Torre Cepsa, for which Amancio Ortega (…) paid €490 million last year. It is occupied almost in its entirety by the oil and gas company whose name it bears; the cost of the 15,000 m2 of space that is available ranges between €23 and €28 per square metre per month.

Meanwhile, Torre de Cristal, the tallest skyscraper in Spain, at 210m, is the most affordable of its neighbours, since its available space is being marketed for between €25 and €27 per square metre per month. Last year, KPMG left the Azca area and moved to this property, where it leases around 23,000 m2 (…).

Next door is Torre PwC, leased to the consultancy firm whose name it bears and the five-star hotel Eurostars. Its owner is the Socimi Merlin Properties (…) and PwC reportedly pays €19/m2/month.

The Cuatro Torres complex is now getting ready to receive a fifth tower, Torre Caleido. That property, which is currently being constructed (…), will be leased to IE Business School and Grupo Quirón-Salud (…), who will reportedly pay between €15 and €18 per square metre per month (…).

Original story: El Economista (by Alba Brualla)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sareb Is Awarded The Kronos Building In Benidorm

26 April 2017 – Valencia Plaza

Sareb, also known as the “bad bank”, has taken ownership of one of the tallest skyscrapers in Benidorm (the fifth tallest to be precise), as well as in all of Spain. As such, Sareb currently has 136 homes up for sale of varying types and sizes in the Kronos building: from the 1st floor to the 38th. It is a 41-storey tower, which was conceived as a luxury residential property, where the building does not even occupy 20% of the plot. The remainder comprises common and recreation areas, including two swimming pools, one for adults and one for children, a gym, football pitch, padel and tennis court, as well as extensive green areas.

The building was constructed by the Valencian property developer Grupo García Ojeda, which dodged several bankruptcy proceedings as well as it could during the first few years of the crisis. Sareb rescued nine savings banks, including properties and loans to property developers. The second was the operation through which the “bad bank” was awarded the asset, according to Alicante Plaza, whose debt belonged to one of the companies in the Grupo García Ojeda. (…).

Construction of the property began in 2005 and although the keys were handed over three years later, most of the homes remained unsold a decade later. The asking prices are not the cheapest, according to real estate sources consulted. The apartments have 1, 2 and 3-bedrooms and the smallest properties are going for at least €97,176, according to Grupo Ferrer Albors Real State and Activium. The latter has also put up a sign on the side of the building to advertise the price of the 1-bedroom homes. Even so, the figures are well below those achieved before the crisis, despite the fact that these homes are new and have never actually been lived in.

Sareb’s interest in tall buildings in Benidorm is not unique to Kronos. It is also looking to take over In Tempo, the unfinished skyscraper, which, unless the judges make a ruling to the contrary, will be awarded to the bad bank, presumably, for its subsequent sale.

Original story: Valencia Plaza

Translation: Carmel Drake

Riu Rules Out Buying 25% Of Edificio España

3 April 2017 – ABC

Edificio España’s foundations are starting to wobble again. The project backed by the Murcian group Baraka, which announced its plan to buy the skyscraper in July last year, has been hit by two serious setbacks in the last few days.

The first, a problem with Wanda’s documentation, put the brakes on the completion of the sale of the building to the company chaired by Trinitario Casanova. Initially, the two parties had agreed to meet at a notary’s office in Madrid to close the operation, after months of comings and goings, but the Chinese group went to the meeting without the deeds or the annual accounts for the financial year 2016, and so the SPA could not be signed.

According to Baraka, that setback will lead to a delay of three months – at least – in the start of the construction work (which is how long it will take the Chinese group to prepare all the necessary paperwork). Nevertheless, the Murcian company has now suffered an even more important setback. According to sources in the financial and real estate sectors, the hotel chain Riu has decided against investing in the project. The Mallorca-based company was going to acquire a 25% stake in the skyscraper, for which Baraka has agreed to pay Wanda €272 million in total.

700-room hotel

In return, Riu was going to manage the five-star hotel, which would occupy the vast majority of the property. The building was going to have 700 rooms, two swimming pools (one outdoor pool on the roof and another indoor pool on the 16th floor), independent conference rooms and themed restaurants. The rest of the building – four floors – was going to be allocated to retail space and according to Casanova, firms such as El Corte Inglés, the French companies Galerías Lafayette and Printemps, amongst other international brands, had already expressed interest in occupying the space.

However, the whole project is now up in the air following the Riu chain’s decision to not contribute the €68 million that it had committed. The decision will force Baraka to look for a new partner if it is to go ahead with its plans. (…).

Sources in the real estate sector do not rule out the possibility that the “failure to sign” last week was a manoeuvre by the Chinese group to try to thwart Baraka’s purchase of Edificio España and win more time to continuing benefitting from the appreciation in value of the skyscraper. (…).

Meanwhile, the questions surrounding the operation and the project itself are the main reasons that led Riu to decide against acquiring 25% of the complex. However, the Mallorca-based company, which does not have any financing problems, has not ruled out continuing as the tenant of the building and paying a rent in exchange for managing the hotel. (…).

Original story: ABC (by Miguel Oliver and Marta R. Domingo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Villar Mir Sells 49% Of Fifth Tower To Andrew Tan

27 March 2017 – Inmodiario

Making money to reduce OHL’s mounting debt is still imperative for Grupo Villar Mir. And it was in this context that the latest operation was signed between the holding company controlled by the 80-year old civil engineer and the real estate company Megaworld, owned by the Philippine businessman Andrew Tan. The businessman has become the new partner in the project to develop Caleido, the fifth tower in the Castellana complex. In 2015, the construction group sold Torre Espacio to Tan for €550 million.

The agreement will turn the Philippine businessman into one of Villar Mir’s partners, as owner of 49% of the company that is running the project, which includes the construction of a skyscraper measuring more than 180 m tall and an underground shopping area with a surface area of around 12,000 m2. Tan will spend around €150 million on the purchase. PwC has acted as legal advisors to Espacio during the operation and the law firm Pérez-Lorca has represented Megaworld.

In January, the Chairman of the Villar Mir group, Juan Miguel Villar Mir Fuentes, unveiled so-called project Caleido, together with the Mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena. This complex, in which around €300 million is expected to be invested, includes a high-rise building, which will house a university campus to be operated by Instituto de Empresa and a medical research centre to be managed by Grupo Quirón.

In addition, the plans include an underground shopping area, covering around 12,000 m2, a park measuring 33,000 m2 where concerts and other cultural activities will be held, and 2,000 parking spaces.

Villar Mir was awarded this plot of land in 2014 under a 75-year concession, after he agreed to pay the Town Hall of Madrid an annual fee of €4 million (after an initial four-year grace period). Initially, a conference centre was going to be constructed on the site. (…).

The future architectural complex, designed by the architectural studio Fenwick & Iribarren, in conjunction with the Serrano Suñer Arquitectos studio, will comprise two separate spaces: a 160 m tall building with 36 floors, and a four-storey base building measuring 20 m tall (…).

Original story: Inmodiario

Translation: Carmel Drake

Deloitte: Spain’s Office Sector Gets A Makeover

3 March 2017 – Expansión

The office markets in Madrid and Barcelona are getting ready to unveil their new image. They are preparing themselves to attract tenants that want not only good locations, but also new, high-quality products that meet the demands of today’s professionals.

At the end of 2016, the stock of offices in Madrid had a combined surface area of 12.9 million m2, whilst in Barcelona, the stock amounted to 5.9 million m2. Although still below the peaks seen before the crisis, the volume of new supply registered in Madrid and Barcelona grew by 56% during 2016 and the market is expected to recover over the next few years.

In this way, the office market will see more than 420,000 m2 of new office space opening up in these two cities between now and 2018, in addition to the 155,000 m2 of space that was added in 2016, thanks to new builds and renovations, according to a report compiled by Deloitte.

Projects underway

Specifically, this year, 180,000 m2 of new office space is expected to become available in Madrid, almost twice as much as last year. For example, Infinorsa, the main owner of Torre Europa, launched a complete overhaul of the building last year, following KPMG’s departure, which, until it moved to Torre de Cristal in March 2016, was the property’s main tenant.

The building – constructed in 1985 – is joining the league of smart skyscrapers, which are tailored to suit the needs of clients in the 21st century.

And just few metres away, on Paseo de la Castellana 77, the real estate group GMP is working on the complete renovation of Torre Ederra, with the renewal of its facilities and the transformation of all 18 of its floors.

What’s more, Madrid is not only renewing its existing supply, it is also welcoming new developments. One of the projects under construction is the property located on c/Estébanez Calderon, which is owned by Colonial. The building, which will have a surface area of just over 10,000 m2, is due be completed in the second half of 2017.

Colonial has also launched another construction project in the business district of Madrid, Specifically, the property located on Príncipe de Vergara will have a surface area of 11,300 m2 and 109 parking spaces.

Also in the capital, the family office Mazabi is restoring a building. The property located on Calle Velázquez 123 has a surface area of 2,346 m2 and benefits from a prime location in the heart of the Salamanca neighbourhood. Meanwhile, Mapfre is renovating a property on Plaza de la Independencia. The building, acquired in July 2015 from the Mutualidad Notarial for €82 million, has a total surface area of 12,000 m2, of which 4,000 m2 corresponds to three underground parking floors with more than 100 parking spaces.

In the same way, Barcelona is also reactivating its new office supply in response to the lack of available space.

According to Deloitte’s report, in addition to the six construction and renovation projects that were launched in 2016, the Catalan Capital expects to see two new projects in 2017, covering a surface area of 37,000 m2 and eight new projects in 2018, covering a surface area of 93,000 m2.

Amongst the new developments underway, the Castellví Group has initiated the construction of a new business complex on the corner of Calles Tánger and Badajoz in the 22@ district. (…).

Also in Barcelona, Colonial has launched a project next to Plaza de las Glòries and adjacent to Avenida Diagonal. (…).

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Bankia Buys 10,000m2 Office Building In Madrid From Activum

3 March 2017 – El Confidencial

Bankia outgrew its Torre Kio offices in Madrid several years ago. In fact, it was more than a decade ago when the entity (still operating under the guise of Caja Madrid) began to consider moving offices. To that end, it acquired the imposing skyscraper from Repsol that Norman Foster had designed on the site of Real Madrid’s former Ciudad Deportiva.

But that operation ended up being disastrous for the bank, which paid €800 million to acquire the property and ended up selling it for half that sum. Nevertheless, Bankia’s expanding space requirements are a reality once again, and under the mandate of José Ignacio Goirigolzarri, the entity is embarking on a cautious but gradual policy of acquiring assets for corporate use.

In this vein, the entity acquired an office building from Activum in December. The property is located in the Julián Camarillo district of Madrid, a secondary area that is currently enjoying a revival, thanks to the boost being given by property companies such as Torre Rioja.

The building in question is located at number 32 on Calle Santa Leonor, it has a surface area of 10,134 m2, spread over two basement floors, with more than a hundred parking spaces, one ground floor, four upper floors and one top floor. Bankia has acquired this building to house all of the workers from its Multi-channel Department, which until last year occupied a rental property, specifically, the Torre Foster, which Amancio Ortega has just purchased. The entity has confirmed the acquisition of this building, but declined to reveal the amount paid, which according to market sources must have amounted to between €2,000/m2 and €2,500/m2, taking the final figure for the transaction to around €20 million.

This is the second major purchase of an office building that Bankia has signed in recent months, after it closed the acquisition of the property that houses its IT services in Las Rozas, for €130 million, from the Swedish group SEKin December 2015. Five years earlier, SEK had bought the building from Caja Madrid for €108 million, with the commitment from the entity to remain as the tenant (‘sale & leaseback’).

With these two operations, the entity has managed to balance out some of its past mistakes, given that, on the one hand, it has exchanged an expensive rent in one of the most iconic buildings in Madrid for a purchase that it has managed to make at a reasonable price and, on the other hand, it is readjusting the numbers for a sale that it completed during one of the toughest periods of the financial crisis.

Through this sale, Activum has completed its second divestment in Spain, following the sale of an office building on Calle Manuel de Falla to the Socimi Axiare. (…).

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation: Carmel Drake

InTempo Case: Judge Ratifies Sareb As Privileged Creditor

16 February 2017 – Diario Información

The ruling dismisses claims made by companies and individuals in the bankruptcy of Olga Urbana, by stating that the bad bank was not responsible for administering the company.

“The engagement of Suasor was justified by the circumstances of the construction work” and “there is no evidence” that that company, Abanca or Sareb acted as de facto administrators. The judge of Commercial Court number 1 in Alicante has dismissed three claims, made by companies and professionals that participated in the construction of the InTempo building in Benidorm, and has rejected the possibility of revoking Sareb’s status as a privileged creditor. This decision, which according to sources close to proceedings could still be appealed, opens the way for the so-called bad bank to end up being awarded ownership of the tallest skyscraper in the tourist city. Construction of the skyscraper is currently suspended, pending resolution of the liquidation process in which its developer, the company, Olga Urbana, is immersed.

The ruling, to which this newspaper had access yesterday, is uncompromising given that it does not reflect the claims of the minority creditors. By contrast, it attributes the exhaustive control exerted by the financial entities involved, Abanca – formerly Caixa Galicia – and Sareb – which inherited the loan due to a legal mandate to free Abanca from its toxic assets – through Suasor, to the situation in which the construction of this concrete giant found itself, which meant that engaging an external company to control and verify how the project was being managed was completely “justified”. (…).

Background

The incidental claims that the judge has now dismissed were filed by Kono Estructuras, a company that participated in the construction work and which is represented in the creditors’ bankruptcy to claim the payment of just over €1 million; the architect Robert Pérez Guerras, who also demanded the payment of a debt amounting to €133,019 for fees that he failed to receive when he left the Project Management team; and Isidro Bononat. All of them challenged the list of creditors prepared by the bankruptcy administrator, on the basis that Sareb, which is claiming the payment of just over €108 million, should not be accorded the status of privileged credit, but rather should rank as a subordinated creditor, given that it served as a de facto administrator of Olga Urbana and therefore, should assume some of the responsibility for its bankruptcy. (…).

The ruling from Commercial Court number 1 is clear. It states that the engagement of an external supervisor is “normal” in high-profile developments, such as the case of InTempo and that, in this case, Suasor limited its scope to controlling the progress of the construction work, and did not interfere the internal operations of the construction company.

Progress towards liquidation

This ruling represents another step forward in the InTempo liquidation process and, moreover, opens an important avenue in Sareb’s favour. The open auction to sell the building received just two bids: one for €47 million and the other for €52 million, which was ruled out because it arrived 20 days late. Both bids fell well below the appraisal value of the property, €90 million, and so Sareb, as a privileged creditor, submitted its own offer of €58.5 million, to be awarded the building. The claims paralysed that process but now that they have been resolved, all indications are that it may be reactivated.

Original story: Diario Information (by R. Pagés)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Operación Chamartín Negotiations: First Agreements Reached

26 January 2017 – Expansión

The Town Hall of Madrid and the Ministry of Development have reached their first agreements regarding the re-development of the north of the city, which will be divided into three different areas. There will be a dedicated financial district and the residential buildings will be six-storeys tall on average.

The first advances have been made in the negotiations between the new Minister for Development, Íñigo de la Serna, the mayoress of Madrid, Manuela Carmena and her councillor for Sustainable Urban Planning, José Manuel Calvo. (…). The points agreed include the division of the area into three sections: south of Calle 30, north of Calle 30 and Chamartín station, which the Town Hall insists must be renovated.

Each one of the developments will “be approached and managed independently”, according to the agreements reached. In the southern section, most of the space will be allocated to economic activities involving tertiary services, in other words, the new financial district, which will be called the Central Business District. It will be located in the Chamartín area and its construction will have to take into account the renovation of the train station.

In the northern section, most of the space will be used for residential purposes, with the presence of “mixed economic activity” as well. The general idea is that the buildings in this area will be six-storeys tall on average (…) although there may be exceptions. (…).

What has not been agreed yet is whether the new Operación Chamartín will include the construction of the tallest skyscraper in the European Union, with 70 floors and another five towers of a similar height to those already at the top of the Castellana, per the plans presented by BBVA and the real estate company San José. (…).

A priori, it seems that the criteria put forward by the Town Hall of Madrid will prevail in terms of the reduction in the number of homes compared the number initially planned. In the version prepared by Manuela Carmena’s government, the figure decreased from 17,700 homes to 4,600. The fact that according to the agreement reached, the residential blocks will be six storeys tall on average, appears to be in line with the height of five and six-storeys proposed by the Sustainable Urban Planning Department for this area. (…)

The parties will hold their next meeting on Friday, when they plan to address “the definition of the basic criteria” for the development of the new financial district, such as the distribution of urban charges and the connection with Calle Agustín de Foxá and Avenida de San Luis. (…).

The aim of the Sustainable Urban Planning Department is to have “a project that has been agreed between all the players” ready by between March and June. Then, the planning instruments will be processed to allow construction to begin”.

Original plan

17,700 homes, of which 1,700 would be subsidised (VPO).

Five office skyscrapers, including the tallest tower in the European Union, with 70 floors.

80% of the land would be dedicated to public spaces. The remaining 20% would be reserved for residential developments, the financial district and businesses.

Carmena’s proposal

4,600 homes. The alternative proposed by Carmena’s Government proposed 1,000 VPO homes and another 3,600 private properties.

Two unique buildings. They would be located in the business district, would be 40-storeys tall and would be accompanied by another two 20-storey towers.

274,000 m2 of green space and plans to increase the surface area dedicated to public services to 254,000 m2.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Bécares and M. Belver)

Translation: Carmel Drake

In Tempo: Bankruptcy Administrator Rules In Favour Of Sareb

17 January 2017 – El Mundo

The bankruptcy administrator of Olga Urbana, the property developer of the In Tempo skyscraper in Benidorm, whose future is being decided by the courts, is clear in its findings: neither Abanca (previously Caixa Galicia) nor Sareb (the bad bank) were administrators of the bankrupt company and therefore, neither of them were responsible for the management that led the company to suspend its payments after it accumulated debt amounting to €137 million.

In this way, the position of the bankruptcy administrator, Antonia Magdaleno, who has presented her conclusions about the In Tempo case before the Mercantile Court of Alicante, which is instructing the process, represents a lifeline for the interests of Olga Urbana’s major creditors, above all for Sareb, which is hoping to repossess the property and subsequently sell it to recover some of its debt, which amounts to around €107 million.

Magdaleno considers…that Sareb’s debt should be ranked as special privilege, which would place it at the front of the queue when it comes to receiving proceeds once the building is sold. By contrast, the small creditors, who initiated this bankruptcy proceeding, maintain that Abanca and Sareb did act as administrators of In Tempo’s developer, and therefore that their loans should be considered as subordinated, which would force them to the back of the queue when it comes to receiving any proceeds, whereby allowing the other creditors to recover their loans first.

Magdaleno reminded the Court that construction of In Tempo, the tallest residential skyscraper in Spain, was suspended in 2010 by which point Olga Urbana had used up the entire loan – amounting to €90 million – granted to it by Abanca, something which the small creditors deny. This group of creditors (the construction company Kono, Isidro Bononat – a shareholder of Olga Urbana – and the architect Roberto Pérez Guerras) say that Magdaleno’s investigations have not been independent. (…).

Sareb, which took over the loan that Abanca had previously granted to Olga Urbana, maintains its claim against the Attorney General’s office in which it accuses Olga Urbana of “alleged diversion of funds and company links between owners and administrators of the company and some of their own contractors and suppliers”. The entity calculates that €23 million was diverted.

Similarly, the bankruptcy administrator argues that the fact that Sareb requested the necessary bankruptcy of Olga Urbana “does not represent another example of the bad bank’s involvement in the administration of the business, but rather represents a standard option open to all creditors when a Board of Directors is not fulfilling its duties”. Magdaleno is categorical in this respect. “There is no proof whatsoever that allows us to conclude that first Abanca and subsequently Sareb, carried out any functions akin to those of a real company administrator”. The judge will have the final word.

Original story: El Mundo (by F.D.G.)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Torre Caleido: Villar Mir Unveils Plans For 5th Tower

11 January 2017 – El País

Yesterday, the President of Inmobiliaria Espacio, Juan Villar Mir, presented the plans for the fifth tower on the Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid, which will house the first high rise campus in the city and which will have 36 floors. He did so at an ceremony attended by the mayoress of Madrid, Manuela Carmena (Ahora Madrid) and the delegate for Sustainable Urban Development, José Manuel Calvo. The new skyscraper, designed by the studio Fenwick Iribarren y Serrano-Suñer Arquitectura, will be constructed in Madrid next to the complex known as the Cuatro Torres and will house the new headquarters of the IE University business school.

Construction of the fifth tower, which has been named Caleido, will cost €84 million. The building, which will be constructed at Paseo de la Castellana 259, will house the Instituto de Empresa (IE)’s university campus, a Quirón group medical clinic specialising in preventative medicine and sport, a shopping area and green spaces. The project, presented yesterday on the 42nd floor on the adjoining building Torre Espacio, will create 1,559 jobs during the construction phase and another 3,992 jobs once it is fully operational, according to the developer. It will be the shortest tower in the complex, at just 181m tall.

(…). The IE will occupy a surface area of 50,000 m2, with capacity for up to 6,000 students. By virtue of the lease contract that it has signed, the business school will occupy the property from 2019 onwards for a period of twenty years, extendable for another 55 years.

The total investment, including building costs, urbanisation of the plot allocated to green space, taxes and fees, will exceed €300 million. (…). The project will allow pedestrian access between the Castellana and the Monforte de Lemos thoroughfare, Parque Norte and Parque de los Pinos.

Villar Mir acquired the right to construct this skyscraper in April 2015 as the result of a public tender promoted by the Town Hall of Madrid. According to the terms set out by the Town Hall, most of the property must be used for healthcare or educational purposes, given that the plot must have a social purpose. Operation of the plot, which is owned by the Town Hall, has been granted to the company Torre Vida S.A.U. for 75 years, in exchange for an annual fee of €4 million, the highest offer of the four companies that competed in the public tender.

The Town Hall will assess, in coordination with the EMT and the Regional Transport Consortium, the requirement to reinforce and improve the transport infrastructure that supports the area, given the forecast increase in activity in the area as a result of the new building. (…).

Original story: El País (by Pelayo Escandón)

Translation: Carmel Drake