The Alba Synchrotron will have a residence for workers

The new Alba Synchrotron is defining its pieces. Immersed in an expansion that will allow it to conduct more experiments, the scientific infrastructure will be accompanied in the coming years by a residence for its workers, teachers, and researchers. It is expected to be ready in the third quarter of 2027, a few years before the transformation of all the equipment is completed.

The Institut Català del Sòl (Incasòl) has sold a plot of almost 4,800 square meters to build the Alba Synchrotron residence for 5.05 million euros. The property will be promoted by the American real estate manager LaSalle Investment Management, linked to the consultancy JLL, and the Madrid developer Urbania. The new owners plan to initially invest 35 million euros to develop the new building, which will have 255 apartments, and expect to hire 20 employees for its operation.

The land is next to another plot that Urbania bought almost two years ago for 7.67 million euros. On it, the company will locate a student residence, with 610 individual rooms, built on an area of 7,200 square meters. In this case, the focus is on the neighboring Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB). With an investment of 45 million euros, works have already begun and are expected to be completed in September 2025.

As the Alba synchrotron is transforming, so is its surroundings, the Parc de l'Alba, in the municipality of Cerdanyola del Vallès. The district is immersed in a new phase of development, with the forecast of filling 60 hectares with economic and residential activity. Very close to the scientific infrastructure, the Government and the Generalitat announced plans to locate a chip design and prototyping factory, with an investment of 365 million euros.

Beyond scientific equipment, the latest operations that have gone ahead in Parc de l'Alba have been the data centers of the American developer Panattoni with an investment of 300 million euros and the German manager AQ Compute with an investment of 600 million euros. There is also the arrival of the Italian company Came Parkare, specialized in the manufacture and commercialization of parking systems. In its case, the company will locate a development center in Cerdanyola that will have more than 140 workers and will concentrate all its activity of designing new equipment and software, as well as customer service and commercialization services associated with new products.

Likewise, new housing developments are seeing the light. Incasòl has sold a plot for 11.2 million euros to the French developer Premier, from the Bassac group, to build 271 subsidized housing units, very close to the Cerdanyola-Universitat train station. With an area of 8,100 square meters, Premier will invest 60 million euros in the construction of the building. On the other hand, Incasòl has sold an 8,500 square meter plot, also very close to the Cerdanyola-Universitat train station, to the housing cooperatives Fem Ciutat and Llar Unió Catalonia, for 12.36 million euros, with the aim of building 283 subsidized housing units.