The British giant Intu wants to build in Madrid what would be the largest shopping center in Spain and Europe. A leisure complex that would take the lead from Puerto Venecia, located in Zaragoza, and which has been part of the portfolio of the English firm since it was acquired at the end of 2014 for 451 million euros.
Specifically, the new center, which is projected in Alcobendas, in the Escobares I sector, would double the size of the Aragonese asset, which has a surface area of 206,000 square metres.
As sources from the sector have explained to this newspaper, Intu has been in negotiations for months with the owners of the land, including Sareb, and also with the developer Levitt-Bosch Aymerich, which has the development rights for these lands.
The Escobares I sector has 500,000 square meters of industrial land, but Intu also wants to acquire the adjoining land, some of which is classified as rustic, up to two million square meters.
The project of the British firm, which on the other hand finalizes the purchase of the Madrid center Xanadú, is ambitious, but for the moment the talks with the owners of the land are not giving results. Thus, the same sources assure that, “after the first meetings, they have not yet agreed on the form or the price of the sale.” As they explain, Intu wants to close agreements with the owners so that they transfer ownership of the land, but the payment of the same would not be carried out until the center was already under construction, conditions “that do not convince those affected” .
Added to the lack of understanding between the parties is the project that Levitt has already designed in its role as holder of the rights to those lands. The promoter did not want to comment on this news, but sources indicate that it is also planning a smaller shopping center in the area, in addition to several residential developments. For the time being, these plans are awaiting final approval of the Partial Plan, which requires the pertinent reports from the Community of Madrid and the approval of the City Council. But Intu’s problems to build its macro commercial complex in Madrid do not end there. The affected land is already arousing the interest of other investors, who are gradually approaching the owners to make offers, so competition in the area is high.
Community Design
The development that the British group wants to carry out would have outdoor sports leisure areas, similar to those of Puerto Venecia, which has an artificial navigable lake of one hectare that can be converted into an ice rink in winter and a climbing wall. It also has activities such as the static surf wave and the free fall jump.
Intu is one of the largest shopping center development and management groups in Europe. In the United Kingdom it is the leader, with 17 assets that add up to 400 million customers a year, and little by little it is developing a broad portfolio in Spain that fully competes with the other giant in the sector in the country, the Franco-Dutch group, Unibail Rodamco. .
In addition to Puerto Venecia, he is the owner of Intu Asturias in Oviedo and projects, together with Eurofunds, another four centers, which would be located in Torremolinos (Málaga), Vigo, Paterna (Valencia) and Palma de Mallorca. Between the four they add an investment of more than 2,700 million euros.
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