Two years after the purchase of El Corte Inglés de Portal de l'Àngel by Redevco Iberian Ventures, the time has come. The department store definitively closes this Saturday to be converted into offices and new stores. The old Can Jorba will thus have a new life of mixed and commercial use, with a project by the joint venture between Redevco and the Ares group that represents an estimated total investment of close to 200 million euros, taking into account the purchase and renovation of the property.
With the project, the 18,000 square meters of the emblematic building will be transformed into a "privileged mixed-use and highly sustainable location," according to the developers, who also own assets in European capitals, including the Mercado de San Miguel in Madrid. The nine floors of the property will leave behind articles focused mainly on sports fashion, and will begin their renovation to position themselves as a first-class office building. The basement, ground floor, and first floor will house commercial proposals, and the offices will be concentrated on the upper levels.
In their project to convert the building into a class A commercial and office property, the developers are committed to sustainable practices and will prioritize natural materials made by local suppliers. The building's terraces will incorporate local plants, and the roof will also feature vegetation and green areas, as well as solar panels. In addition, the building aims to achieve zero water consumption, with gray water recycling systems for irrigation, rainwater harvesting, and restoration of natural water systems.
The transformation of the El Corte Inglés building into offices and more space for retail comes after the recent inauguration of another of its former stores: that of Francesc Macià, which closed in 2021 after being sold in 2019 for 151 million euros. The property reopened in March as Edificio Aura, with more than 14,000 square meters of high-quality offices. Despite its sale, El Corte Inglés has resisted abandoning this location in one of the most prime areas of the Catalan capital, and has opened a supermarket of 2,400 square meters at street level.
The commercial offering available until now in the large department store on Portal de l'Àngel will be moved to the one in Plaza Catalunya. The building, 200 meters away, is undergoing a renovation that will reorder its commercial offering. In 2013, the company also divested itself of the building it had at the other end of Plaza Catalunya, the former location of the Banco Central now occupied by a large Primark, the brand's flagship store in the Catalan capital.
Developers plan to include green areas and solar panels on the roofThe closing of the department store's doors, which will involve the relocation of more than a hundred employees, will end a more than two-decade period as Corte Inglés, andwill represent its farewell to Portal de l'Àngel, positioned as the second most expensive street in the Catalan capital, behind Paseo de Gràcia, and the third at the state level, with Madrid's Serrano in second position.
But not only that: it will be the first time that the building will cease to be entirely a department store in almost a century of history. From Can Jorba, inaugurated in 1926, it became part of Galerías Preciados in the 60s, before coming into the hands of its then main competitor, El Corte Inglés, in the mid-90s. Now, the building will welcome its last customers and record its last sales as a department store, closing a 26-year chapter and opening up to a new one.