About 1,900 homes in the Sant Andreu Barracks and in the Marina del Prat Vermell, and three recovered factory buildings to house new start-up companies in 22@. These are the result of a triple agreement between the City Council and the Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona (CZFB). The triad is completed by the acquisition by the council of the buildings that house Mediatic and Creatic, also in 22@, currently owned by the consortium and leased to the City Council.
Specifically, 1,878 affordable homes will be built on nearly 15,000 square meters on eight plots in the area around the old Sant Andreu barracks, and on more than 33,000 square meters on another 15 plots in Marina del Prat Vermell. All the land is owned by the consortium, which cedes it to the City Council for 90 years. This is the maximum period allowed by law, which also provides for a fee to be charged for the use of the plots, which in this case will be a "symbolic" amount, according to the special delegate of the State in the CZFB, Pere Navarro. With the details yet to be determined, the forecast is that the housing promotion will be mainly public and for affordable rent, as specified by the mayor of the Catalan capital, Jaume Collboni.
With these nearly 2,000 planned homes, Barcelona adds more than 8,700 flats under promotion, with more than 3,700 mobilized in recent months to make affordable housing available to Barcelona residents. The deadlines, however, are long. Of the new homes planned as a result of the pact with the CZFB, the first flats to be ready will be those in Sant Andreu, and it will not be before, at least, four years from now: "We will be in a position to start the works between 2026 and 2027, and construction will last at least two years," as Collboni pointed out. "These are slow processes, but in terms of housing, the crucial thing is that the wheel does not stop."
The City Council will buy Mediatic and Creatic for 40 million, while the consortium will invest 15 million in rehabilitating three warehouses in the La Escocesa complexLocating these plots of land where Barcelona can potentially gain housing for its citizens "breaks with the idea that the city is finished", according to the mayor, who highlighted that the construction of these homes will be accompanied by spaces for necessary services for future residents. In a situation of "maximum housing emergency", the buildings will be erected on plots where flats were already planned to be built, but which could have housed housing at a market price often unaffordable for Barcelona residents.
The 22@, in focus
The agreement between the City Council and the consortium, validated by the CZFB plenary as a protocol of intentions, will also generate changes in the 22@, with the double action in the industrial complex of La Escocesa and in the Mediatic and Creatic buildings. In this case, the City Council will buy both properties from the CZFB for 40 million euros, focused on the digitalization and training of companies and professionals. The council will do so with the forecast of amortizing the investment in 20 years, as it currently rents both spaces to the consortium for three million annually.
The third leg of the agreement is also located in 22@, about ten blocks from Mediatic in the direction of Besòs. The industrial complex of La Escocesa, an artistic residence within the municipal network of Creation Factories of the Institut de Cultura de Barcelona (Icub), will gain three warehouses that the consortium will rehabilitate for 15 million euros, which are added to spaces that are already being renovated. The objective is for the complex to house, in addition to the artists' residence, a foodtech project laboratory and spaces to accommodate other entrepreneurial initiatives, especially linked to creative industries.
The La Escocesa project, which foresees the artistic residence moving to one of the renovated warehouses, is part of the transformation of the area known as 22@ Nord, which aspires to generate a balanced ecosystem that hosts companies but also housing and services. With its investment in the old factory, the consortium contributes to developing this area, and will rent the rehabilitated spaces.
The three agreements have been addressed in a CZFB plenary session that has approved the audited annual accounts for the 2023 financial year, with a profit from ordinary operations of 16.3 million euros, above the 14.8 million of the previous year. The approved accounts also reflect that the consortium obtained a turnover of 65 million euros last year. In addition, they place the entity's net worth at 626 million euros, which is financed with its own funds and aims to promote innovation and boost the economy, with initiatives such as its DFactory.