Grupo Catalana Occidente S A : GCO purchases a new 20,275 m2 building from Colonial to house its employees in Madrid

"The property, which is expected to accommodate all the Group's employees in the capital, boasts LEED Platinum energy certification, which guarantees compliance with the most demanding sustainability standards.nnThe building is adjacent to Colonial's Madnum office, retail and housing campus and together, they comprise a new project for the success of urban transformation and the generation of real estate value for the city of Madrid."

GCO has closed the purchase agreement for a new building in Madrid with Colonial, which is to house the Group's offices in the Spanish capital. Colonial has constructed a building for GCO, where it applies all its experience in the development of prime offices. It incorporates the highest standards in areas such as environmental, innovation and services of maximum quality for improving the working experience, in line with GCO's sustainability commitments. Located on Calle Méndez Álvaro 31, the building has received the prestigious LEED Platinum certification, the highest level of recognition granted by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) to buildings that meet the most demanding standards of sustainability and energy efficiency.

The new GCO offices are made up of two architectural elements that total 18 floors, 20,275 m2 of floor space, and have a maximum capacity for around 1,100 people. The first section is made up of a ground floor and the first three floors, where the services that will be provided to both the employees and the users of the building will be located. This area will house a customer service office and the commercial teams; as well as a café, restaurant, wellness area and a gym for the exclusive use of GCO employees.

The second section, made up of the next 15 floors, has been exclusively designed to locate the Group's offices, and will have different spaces for employees to use according to their needs. In this regard, one of these floors will house three rooms of varying sizes for meetings, including a space designed for training and innovation, and a conference room with capacity for up to 196 people.

Finally, the building will contain four storeys at basement level, where more than 200 parking spaces for vehicles will be located and, on the outside, covered spaces for bicycles and scooters.

LEED Platinum Energy Certificate

The new GCO offices in Madrid, developed by Colonial with the firm of architects Estudio Lamela, stand out for their commitment to sustainability and environmental care, which have made them worthy of the international LEED Platinum certification, which assesses the design, construction and operation of sustainable buildings. Colonial has incorporated all its know-how into the development of premium offices which incorporate the latest technological innovations in energy and home automation, photovoltaic panels for self-consumption with a power of 32Kwp and a domestic hot water (DHW) production system through solar collectors that supply the entire building.

GCO also aims to promote sustainable mobility among its employees and customers with the inclusion of 20 parking spaces for charging electric vehicles, as well as spaces for those who travel by bicycle or electric scooters.

Méndez Álvaro, a rapidly expanding area

The new GCO building will accommodate its traditional business teams (Occident) and credit business (Atradius Crédito y Caución) in the capital, currently distributed in different locations in Madrid. As a result, when the building is ready and after the progressive transfer of its staff, GCO will free up three buildings in the centre of Madrid, which will allow GCO to increase the profitability of its real estate investments.

In the words of Hugo Serra, CEO of GCO, "unifying all the Group's employees in Madrid in a single building will allow us to implement a new flexible and efficient working environment". In this regard, he also wanted to highlight the role of the building in terms of sustainability, stating that "at GCO we are fully committed to sustainability, which is also transferred to our real estate assets".

The new GCO building is located in the Mendez Álvaro area, an area of great growth and dynamism in Madrid, combining the residential area with that of offices. It is also close to Atocha Station and is well-communicated with Madrid's public transport network, with several train, bus and fast access lines from the M-30. Over the last few years, the area has become a new hub of great economic growth in the capital, where large multinationals have already become established, and which are now being joined by GCO.

Another great project by Colonial in Méndez Álvaro

Colonial currently leads the development of sustainable office buildings in Europe with more than 95% of its portfolio of offices environmentally certified.

The sustainable mobility is also reinforced by the location of the building, located in the new CBD area of southern Madrid. The new GCO offices are attached to the Colonial Madnum project, the first office and housing campus in Madrid. Together, they form a new contribution from the Spanish listed company to the generation of urban fabric. A model that prioritises the development of offices in the urban centre connected to the public transport network to contribute to the sustainable mobility of citizens and employees, as well as to invigorate and enrich the life and services in the area.

"With the delivery and sale of the new GCO building in Madrid, we are completing a macro-project, which also integrates the Campus Madnum, which is very successful for Colonial," explains the CEO of Colonial, Pere Viñolas. "Both complexes comprise the largest project with mixed uses to generate real estate value to the city of Madrid in recent years," said Viñolas.

Colonial purchased the Méndez Álvaro land in 2018. The plot acquired, the largest developable land within the M-30, became a two-fold project. On the one hand, Colonial concluded an agreement with GCO to build a turnkey office complex that has now been sold, and on the other, it proposed and developed Madnum, a pioneering project in the Spanish market that under the concept of Urban Campus, brings together offices and homes to rent.

Madnum, made up of 56,000 m2 of offices, 30,000 m2 of residential property and 5,000 m2 of retail and hospitality premises, in addition to integrating 6,400 m2 of green spaces, open to the city of Madrid, is integrated into the environment and promotes urban planning that is focused on renewed spaces for citizens to live and work. The 374 homes that make up the residential area of the complex have recently been sold to Palatino Residencial.