• Urbanism A project to regenerate 2.5 million meters south of Madrid, bury the M-30 and build 3,000 flats

Nine cranes protrude from the interior of a 90,000 square meter block surrounded by a metal fence. In the background, next to an old ship in disuse for decades, two others and several more can be seen in the vicinity. The picture might not be atypical if it were framed in one of the new developments in Madrid, but it is surprising due to its location

within the perimeter of the M-30

.

The surroundings of the bus, Metro and Cercanías de

Méndez Álvar stations

or concentrates the last major urban project inside the ring road together with the

Mahou-Calderón operation

, also located southwest of the capital and in the same district,

Arganzuela

. Its past as an industrial estate and railway facilities began to fade in the late 1980s and the metamorphosis can be completed in three years.

The real estate auction in this area considered by residents as a neighborhood - although for administrative purposes it depends on Legazpi - will take place after the auction last April of two plots owned by Adif. The winners of the bid were

Acciona

and

Libra Gestión

, which now plan to build 455 and 70 homes, respectively, with an expected completion date of

between 2023 and 2024

.

To this is added that in the aforementioned plot of the nine cranes in which

Colonial

is building a voluminous office complex that "incorporates the latest trends in the field of energy efficiency and space distribution", 15% of the surface also it is for residential use.

Although at the moment no specific information has been provided about this latest development, the sum will mean the arrival on the market of more than 500 apartments both for sale and for rent.

Colonial.EM project infographic

"In the last two years the Méndez Álvaro area has become a hot spot in terms of real estate investment, especially by giving way to the last land owned by public administrations that have been auctioned and that put the end of construction in housing matters ", explains

Mariano Fuentes

, delegate for Urban Development of the Madrid City Council, who considers that it is" the beginning "of a different phase.

According to statements made to EL MUNDO, "there are still new business centers to be implemented in some plots that will give much more life to the area, new businesses and, in addition, in the coming months there will be important change of use operations of important buildings ", although for the moment he prefers not to go into more details.

Since its opening two years ago, Lucía has resided in the Méndez Álvaro street block located between the block where Colonial is literally laying the foundations of its mixed project of offices and homes and the open space still today with weeds in which Acciona and Libra Management will raise their apartment buildings. "The area is very well communicated, but basic things are still missing, such as a health center," explains this neighbor at the entrance of her portal, a 15-minute walk from Atocha station.

In urbanization with swimming pool and room

fitnesss

, it

only remains to sell a duplex of three rooms with terrace and 158 square meters with garage and storage for 811,000 euros: that is, to

5,132 euros per square meter

, 335 euros more than the average of the Legazpi neighborhood and 1,422 than that of the municipality as a whole, according to data from the Idealista.com real estate portal.

"Looking at the land prices that are being paid, for the finished product to be profitable it will have to be above 5,500-6,000 euros per square meter", predicts

Paloma Relinque

, director of the Madrid office of the CBRE consultancy . "It is an area that lived with its back to the city, which had an excellent location next to the M-30 and very good public transport, but as it was a little south of the center, nobody really took it into account or It had that connotation that it was unsexy, "he adds.

What changed the situation in the opinion of this expert is the "bet" that companies such as

Repsol, CHL and Amazon made by

moving their offices to this area. To which he adds: "What has just put Méndez Álvaro on the map is the Colonial operation, buying the 90,000 meters, and that

Catalana Occidente

, which has traditionally been a tenant of Castellana, makes its headquarters there."

"All these factors, together with the fact that

the Mahou-Calderón land has

finally left,

have made every investor and occupant now want to be in Arganzuela," Relinque points out.

The Madrid City Council has even raised the possibility that it could become a kind of Madrid Nuevo Norte in the south when the Abroñigal land is developed, on the other side of the M-30.

Among the projects currently under development in the area, the comprehensive rehabilitation that

Acciona

is doing of

the old engine shed of the Industrial Gasification Society, built in 1905 and designed by Luis Landecho, author among other projects of the Hotel Ritz, stands out.

The works are scheduled to finish at the end of the first half of 2022.

Rehabilitation of the industrial warehouse on Calle Ombú.BD

"With the help of the

Foster + Partners

studio,

we have created the best project for sustainable and avant-garde offices that will also become a new great meeting point: it will have large garden areas, as well as elements that favor the new trend of flexible work", detailed in the company, which will rent the building on Ombú street once the renovation is completed.

The 455 homes in the development that Acciona is going to build with the

turnkey

formula

on the ground that it bought from Adif and which, in turn, it has sold to

Greystar,

will also be leased

. According to market sources consulted by this newspaper, the group specialized in student residence management would have paid 5,900 euros per square meter for a real estate asset that will be released at the end of 2024.

On the other hand, there will be individual owners in the urbanization that Libra Gestión plans with the commercial name of

Terrazas de Méndez Álvaro

, whose delivery is scheduled for within two years.

A company spokesperson confirms that 95% of the off-plan flats have already been sold - at the moment the only thing there is is a sign on the lot on which it will be built - and only three and four-bedroom properties remain available from 603,100 euros.

History

Until the

second half of the 19th century,

the landscape of Méndez Álvaro - which today bears the name of a doctor who was mayor of Madrid - was a succession of orchards, pastures and vacant lots. Its appearance began to change with the inauguration of the Atocha station in 1851, which led to the proliferation of numerous industrial facilities of which few examples survive.

The second transformation began between the late 1980s and early 1990s.

"At that time it was a deteriorated development, because there were even residents in shacks that we had to relocate in an area called Adelfas, but with a spectacular situation, which explains the economic pull it has today," says

Sigfrido Herráez

, dean of the College of Architects of Madrid and Councilor for Housing and Rehabilitation of the City Council of the capital from 1995 to 2005.

In the background, offices in Méndez Álvaro in 1997.CARLOS BARAJAS

In his opinion, the opening of

El Corte Inglés

was one of the "engines" of the resurgence of this enclave in the south of Madrid and its metamorphosis at the beginning basically as a business center with the construction of four office towers parallel to the highway. bypass. The arrival of the Metro and the Cercanías and the inauguration of the bus station would end up completing the communications framework that has also facilitated the arrival of neighbors.

"Méndez Álvaro is a strategic enclave, very central and an opportunity for Madrid to offer within the M-30 both homes with the highest quality standards, for sale and for rent, as well as offices," says

Daniel Cuervo

, general director of the Association of Real Estate Developers of Madrid (Asprima).

"It is going to be an area that is the object of desire on the part of the market," he predicts with a view to the future.

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