Located in the heart of the most traditional part of Madrid, just a stone’s throw from Puerta del Sol, the Canalejas complex opened its doors on Friday with the aim of becoming an icon of the city. It has revitalised an area that had been abandoned for years and is also providing financial oxygen to its developer, the OHL group.
In 2013, the Villar Mir group surprised the market by buying seven historic buildings located between Calle Alcalá, Calle Seville and Plaza de Canalejas from Banco Santander. After years housing the headquarters of various Spanish banks, all of the properties were in disuse at that time. The owner of OHL paid 215 million euros for the assets, with the aim of investing up to 500 million euros (in the end it has invested 600 million euros) to transform these buildings, which date from the early 19th and 20th centuries, into a multipurpose real estate complex. The first milestone was achieved when it reached an agreement with the exclusive North American hotel chain Four Seasons, which is opening its first establishment in Spain in the complex. The hotel was going to include around 30 homes under the firm’s Branded Residences brand (in the end, there are 22 homes, after the Administration forced modifications to the initial plans), as well as a luxury shopping arcade, set apart from the existing supply in the area, with the aim of attracting the best boutiques from the Golden Mile.
Read the full article in Spanish.
