First time ever, Barcelona surpasses Madrid in investment in offices in first quarter of 2017

• The Catalan capital attracted €450 million in investment, compared to Madrid’s €400 million.
• Real estate developers will hand over 100,000 m² of new office space in 22@ through 2019.

According to data published by real estate consultancy Savills, Barcelona surpassed Madrid for the first time ever in office investment in the first quarter of this year. While the Spanish capital saw total investment of €400 million, the Catalan capital attracted €450 million. In Spain as a whole, the total volume of transactions was valued at nearly €900 million.

The total volume of investment in offices in Barcelona in the first quarter of the year is noteworthy taking into account that the total was €40 million for the same period in 2016. In this regard, two large operations over €100 million boosted this noteworthy growth in investment, making up 30% of all investment in offices in Barcelona throughout 2016.

On one hand, in mid-January Merlin Properties announced its purchase of the Glòries Tower (previously known as the Agbar Tower) for €142 million. This was one of the largest operations carried out in Barcelona in recent years, surpassed only by the €145 million German fund Deka paid for the former Caja Madrid headquarters on Avinguda Diagonal. On the other, the BBVA Boston portfolio was sold to the Oaktree and Freo funds. The Boston portfolio includes 14 buildings, 8 located in Barcelona.

Savills consultants highlights that 20 of the 35 office real estate transactions were located in Barcelona, and this puts it at 52% of the national total for the first quarter, surpassing Madrid for the first time in history.

Real estate developers to hand over 100,000 m² of new offices in 22@ through 2019
Real estate consultancy Cushman&Wakefield published its Offices Marketshot 22@ Barcelona report, which highlights that developers will hand over approximately 100,000 m² of new offices -70,000 newly built and 30,000 refurbished- in the technology district through 2019. At the end of 2016, availability of office space was at just 8%. These new offices will address high demand in 22@, mostly due to companies’ desire to offer good working conditions for their staff and building design and construction play a key role in this.

. [05/22/2017]