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Carlos Guisasola Madrid
Madrid
Updated Monday, April 8, 2024-00:38
El Viso Works prepares for the first phase of its 'lifting': underground cables and 9,000 square meters regenerated
A row of lanky palm trees contemplate the daily routine on the Ermita del Santo promenade. They have been doing it for a good handful of years, oblivious to the constant whispers around the environment in which they live. Indifferent to the fate of the shopping center inaugurated in the dawn of the 90s, with that art deco aesthetic and a certain aroma of Miami, so groundbreaking at the time and so dying for too long, as the silence of its bowels reveals. Unaware of this sequence that started back in 2008, when
Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón
was mayor , with the approval of a Special Plan for the area, he continued with the approval of the reclassification by
Ana Botella
(2015), taking a turn in the opposite direction. with
Manuela Carmena
and now, with
José Luis Martínez-Almeida
, he will embark on a definitive route. Unmoved by the protests of some belligerent neighbors against the urban plan for fear of gentrification of the place. Clinging to banners, which appear in windows and balconies, with the word "ball" as a common denominator. There are also residents in favor who remain cautiously silent. The palm trees, capable of withstanding a hurricane, have their days numbered in this corner of the Latina district with privileged views of Madrid Río. Soon, they will have to pack their bags.
GRAN MADRID has had exclusive access to the outlines of the almost definitive project for the surroundings of the Ermita del Santo which, modified after considering some of the neighborhood demands, will be approved on April 30, the date of the next Plenary Session of the City Council. It will go ahead with the
29 votes of the PP
and, it remains to be seen, whether with the support or abstention of some other force. From Cibeles it will go to the
Community of Madrid
, which is the body that has the final say on the matter.
There the urban planning process would conclude and the management of its development by the owners of the land would begin. And La Ermita Shopping Center belongs to an investment fund with Venezuelan capital, hence it is a private initiative plan that has been considered of general interest for Madrid, since it will allow the city to obtain almost 70% of an area of 44,349 square meters of a private nature.
This last proposal, prepared by the Urban Planning, Environment and Mobility Area headed by
Borja Carabante
, introduces several nuances based on the neighbors' complaints. Thus, the buildable area of the area will be reduced by 6,200 square meters, going from 73,200 to 67,000 m². The maximum height of the two towers, one of the hot spots, will also be reduced, going from the
28 floors
that appeared in the previous document to the
23 heights
that appear in the current one. The project also now includes a housing model that was not planned before: protected housing at a basic price, for people with fewer resources. This format will be the majority among those that will have protection and will have 9,780 m² of buildable area, compared to 6,100 for the limited price apartments. In addition, it will include 2,000 m² more for equipment (6,380), which was 4,265 m² in the plan of the previous legislature, with councilor
Mariano Fuentes
(Ciudadanos) at the helm, who was tripped in the Plenary Session of October 2022, after receiving in his day more than a thousand allegations when submitted to public information.
In this spatial area of the Ermita del Santo, in the
Los Cármenes
neighborhood , it will be housing, the capital's biggest headache, that will play a leading role. 548 apartments will be built, which aim to attract new residents and, especially, young families who will boost the environment. At least that is the idea that floats in the planning lines. Among the lines of the latest proposal that this newspaper has seen, there is special attention to the lowest incomes, since 29% of the residences will have some type of protection, despite the fact that the legal requirement is 10%. The area for protected housing will amount to 15,880 m²: 40% will go to basic-price apartments and the rest to those with a limited amount.
Vegetative roofs and bioclimatic architecture
An issue that also generated quite a bit of controversy was the location of one of the towers on Paseo de la Ermita, due to the shadow it would cast on the adjacent buildings. Now, the two large blocks will be located very close to Sepúlveda Street, closer to the green areas and away from the current housing centers. A relocation of the puzzle, which can be seen in the infographic that accompanies this information, and which complements the aforementioned reduction from 28 to 23 heights in the area for urbanization.
Panoramic of the Ermita del Santo walk. SERGIO GONZÁLEZ VALERO
The new plan, the document details, has been designed according to the bioclimatic criteria that are included in the Madrid 360 Environmental Sustainability Strategy. Hence, the high-rise buildings will be located in
north-south positions
to guarantee optimal solar gain in the homes. during the coldest months of the year. This will entail the implementation, according to the text, of a bioclimatic architecture to configure an efficient and sustainable neighborhood. One of the epigraphs of this commitment is the future installation of green roofs on the roofs of each of the buildings.
On top of that wrinkled commercial and sports complex, which survives depressed after almost two decades of decay, a local urban center is planned to solve some of the area's deficits. However, many of those who have lived there for years, who suffered (and now enjoy) the burial of the M-30, are wary of the gentrification and traffic problems that such a metamorphosis can generate. That is why so many nuances have been taken into account in the latest proposal. "There will be a surface
parking lot
that is a closed area, and we are going to open it so that residents can transit and generate connection with that green area that is behind," the Urban Planning delegate advanced a little over a month ago.
A 60 meter wide corridor
In that space, according to the project known to EL MUNDO, new public networks of green areas will be created in 16,814 square meters, in addition to the aforementioned more than 6,000 m² of new equipment that, according to the design, will have a preferential position . In this way, continuity will be given to the sports complex on Los Caprichos Avenue, to allow its expansion into a sports area attached to the already existing municipal facility. The construction of a public indoor pool is planned next to the gym and
fitness
rooms .
The creation of a kind of main square, a neighborhood square, and pedestrian streets that will connect the green areas, the Ermita del Santo promenade and Madrid Río is planned. The
Goya Theater
will also be relocated and will be housed next to the aforementioned plaza, around which pedestrian mobility and social interaction will be encouraged, with commercial, restaurant, leisure and recreation enclaves around it.
Panoramic of the area near the shopping center. SERGIO GONZÁLEZ VALERO
Finally, the latest version of the urban planning plan contemplates the construction of a small green corridor that will be about 60 meters wide and will be responsible for connecting the La Ermita del Santo park and the
Caramuel park
, where there will be a reserve of 16,814 square meters of Parkland. Parks that will link with Madrid Río through pedestrian paths. Until now, the planned date for the completion of the works was 2030, but the reality is that, in April 2024, it is still a paper.
This is probably the last chapter in the journey of one of the projects that has generated the most noise. The effort to revitalize one of the areas with the most potential in the capital that some interpret as a "big shot." Meanwhile, La Ermita continues to await its final metamorphosis.