The Club Natació Barcelona (CNB) resumes the global remodeling project of its infrastructures on Paseo de Joan de Borbó, which includes the renovation of the historic Escullera pool, a wide range of dining options open to the public, and the construction of new outdoor pools, with an investment of 12 million euros.
After five years of project paralysis to adjust it to regulatory requirements and obtain all corresponding permits, the sports entity has renegotiated and closed a definitive agreement with the British group Green Track. This investor will directly assume 50% of the cost and the adaptation of the Ponent building, where the Escullera pool is located, to allocate it to two new restaurants, which it expects to have operational in 2022. There will be two differentiated establishments, one with a large terrace that will reach the beach and where there will be an outdoor summer pool, and another on the top floors of the building, with an upper terrace and views of the city. A wellness space will be installed on the intermediate floors.
The Ponent building represents a sixth of the club's extension, which enjoys, under a concession from the Port de Barcelona, 24,000 square meters. These include 300 linear meters of coastline, on Sant Sebastià beach, in the Barceloneta neighborhood.
The Green Track company, with which the British-origin real estate investment group Evertaas operates in Spain, will manage the new space under a rental agreement until at least 2036, with an annual fee that would be around 650,000 euros and a percentage of 3% on the profit obtained from the operation. The partner and general director of Green Track, Yerco Sánchez, explains that they are looking for the most suitable restaurant groups to offer, on the one hand, a gastronomic proposal of Mediterranean cuisine and, on the other, a concept that provides an innovative offer for the city of Barcelona: "It will be so ambitious that perhaps the investment will have to be increased to ten million euros," he advanced. Green Track manages two leisure complexes in the Balearic Islands, located in Mallorca and Ibiza.
Green Track partner, Yerco Sánchez, explains that they are looking for the most suitable restaurant groups to offer a gastronomic proposal of Mediterranean cuisine and an innovative concept for the cityFor its part, Club Natació Barcelona will face the investment of the other six million euros through leverage or financing that the investor Green Track will also offer to proceed with a broader remodeling of the sports infrastructure and guarantee its continuity. The president of the CNB, Bernat Antràs, explained thatthe agreement with Green Track will allow it to continue being a benchmark in promoting sports in the city and to continue with the activities it offers to club members. In this regard, Antràs also recalled that the Port de Barcelona, at the end of 2019, approved the project but, in addition, extended the concession for the use of the facilities, which expired in May 2027 and has been extended until December 31, 2036.
Once the entire project is completed, the Club Natació Barcelona hopes to recover the membership level prior to the 2010 crisis, that is, to have 8,400 members. Currently, and after the cancellations registered during the months of the pandemic, the entity has 5,400 members and expects to reach 7,000 by the end of 2022.
The goal is to recover financial balance by the end of 2023, after having accumulated losses of two million euros between 2000 and the first quarter of 2021 due to the impact of the decrease in members. Another challenge is to refinance a debt of almost six million euros with the bank until 2036.
Outdoor pools will also be built
The remodeling plan includes the construction of two outdoor pools, a heated pool 33 meters long by 25 meters wide, and the renovation of the current saltwater pool. Both, like the rest of the facilities of the new club, will benefit from the installation of solar panels for self-consumption throughout the complex, which will represent up to 30% energy savings. The changing rooms and the infirmary area will also be renovated, which will be transformed into CNB Family, a space for children's activities; the saunas and the physiotherapy area will be updated, and the interior spaces will be improved with a workspace for members' use and the adaptation of a library with audiovisual material of outstanding historical sports interest. As for the outdoor spaces, there will be the outdoor, which will include the nautical school and a direct access gate to the beach exclusive for boats.
The club has a more recreational and leisure aspect open to its members, but it is also a leading institution in the world of sport, with the national and international practice and competition of six disciplines: water polo, swimming, sailing, ball in various modalities, karate, triathlon, petanque, and springboard diving. For this last discipline, the existence and now upcoming remodeling of the Escullera pool is very significant. Even more so considering that in 1924 it was the first indoor pool in Spain and the first in the world to heat seawater, and that it will now become the only indoor diving pool in Barcelona and a multi-purpose facility for the practice of this sport.
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