El Corte Inglés is considering a hotel for the Castellana land
El Corte Inglés is considering the construction of a hotel on the land it bought from Adif, located opposite its main commercial asset, the department stores of Castellana, and in the heart of the financial district of Azca in Madrid capital. The distribution company took over the land after presenting in 2014 the best offer in the auction organized by the railway manager and with the initial proposal to build a shopping center in them. After years of study and processing of licenses, El Corte Inglés is now considering the possibility of building a hotel in said plot, informed Efe sources familiar with the project, who have pointed out that, in any case, the decision has not yet been made.
Between the alternatives possible for the construction of the establishment is the promote and exploit it through FTS Hotels, the urban hotel company that shares 50% with the Matutes family and operated under the Ayre and Only You brands. Another possibility that is on the table is to build it and then lease it to another hotel chain.
The establishment would be in a privileged enclave for a hotel, since it would be located in the financial district and on the Cercanías and metro station of Nuevos Ministerios, with direct connections to the AVE stations of Chamartín and Atocha and to the airport, respectively. This change of strategy would force to modify the procedure of permits before the City council of Madrid, whose plenary session gave green light the past 20 of December to the construction of a new commercial center in the zone. This establishment has been designed with five storey and restoration floors (one semi-basement and four above ground) and two underground parking facilities. That same day, Adif extended the term established in the contract of sale of the plot, now occupied by a surface parking, in order to complete its urban development and culminate other contractual obligations.
The aforementioned terrain, which has a lucrative building of 10,176 square meters above ground with a tertiary use (commercial, offices, etc.), was subject to disposal for 136 million euros by public auction in 2014 and the purchase agreement was signed on January 27, 2015. The delay in the urban planning of the land, for reasons unrelated to Adif and El Corte Inglés, prevented the completion of all the contractual obligations arising from that sale, so the term was extended until December 31, 2019, as reported by the railway manager.
