The former headquarters of the Institute of North American Studies, located at number 123 Vía Augusta, has just been reborn as a flexible workspace center under the Spaces brand, owned by the British group International Workplace Group (IWG). It is a six-story building of nearly 4,000 square meters designed by architect José María Bosch Aymerich and has been completely renovated by Renta Corporación, which has invested more than 9 million euros in the project.
Renta acquired the property in early 2021 to transform it into a Spaces center and, at the end of that same year, sold it for 25.8 million euros to the fund AVW European Real Estate Fund, advised and managed by Catella Asset Management. Once the works were completed, Renta and Catella AM handed over the keys to the building to its new tenant, IWG, which this January inaugurated the Spaces Plaza Molina center to advance its ambitious growth plan in Barcelona, which foresees doubling and even tripling the surface area of coworking spaces and flexible offices in Barcelona.
"With this opening, in Barcelona we now have 14 centers with 35,000 square meters; our goal is to more than double our presence, reaching 25 or 30 centers and an area of between 70,000 and 100,000 square meters," says Philippe Jiménez, general director of IWG in Spain and sales manager for the multinational in Southern Europe.
According to Jiménez, the prospects for the flexible office rental market are extraordinarily positive, especially considering the current global context, marked by uncertainty. "Demand in Barcelona is high, there is a lot of potential market. The Catalan capital is one of the most attractive cities due to its fabric of startups and technology companies, which need a lot of flexibility," he explains.
According to the executive, currently, of all the surface area dedicated to offices in Barcelona, about 5% (similar to Madrid) corresponds to flexible workspaces and coworkings, a percentage that is expected to grow to 30% by 2030. IWG, also owner of the Regus and HQ brands, has set out to lead this growth, not only in Spain, but globally, with the opening of three new centers a day worldwide. "In 2023 we plan to inaugurate 1,100 new centers in the 123 countries where we operate, we already have a presence in 1,250 cities," says Jiménez.
The executive of the world leader in coworking announces that, in the case of Spain, this year IWG plans to invest 35 million euros in the opening of 14 new centers. "In addition to Spaces Plaza Molina, there will be new openings in Barcelona, and we are also negotiating an opening in Sant Cugat," he points out. According to Jiménez, 2023 will also be important for IWG's growth in the Catalan capital because the first office space in the city under the Signature brand, its highest-end brand, is expected to open.
"We already have a Signature center in Madrid, in Velázquez with Goya, and in the fourth quarter we plan to open the first Signature in Barcelona, in a very prime area," says the executive, who cannot reveal the location because negotiations with the owner of the property that will house the center and that it will fully occupy have not yet concluded. In Madrid, the British listed group also has an important project underway that it plans to announce shortly: the opening of an 8,500 square meter center, the largest in the country.
In Barcelona, the brand's largest complexes are located in 22@, with 4,800 m², for example, in Spaces Mas de Roda. Of the 14 spaces it manages in the city, two are under the HQ brand ---in Mas Blau and in Sants---, seven bear the Regus brand and 5 are Spaces centers. In addition to 22@, the group is present in emblematic buildings such as Torre Mapfre, the WTC and the Alta Diagonal building, and also in the center, in buildings in Plaça Catalunya and Gran Via Universitat.
Plan to expand to other Catalan capitals
According to Jiménez, their growth plan involves increasing their presence in other cities in the Barcelona area, such as Sant Cugat ---they already operate in El Prat and Cornellà--- and also expanding to cities such as Girona, Lleida, Tarragona and Reus. "The global trend is to delocalize offices and locate them close to where employees live. At IWG, we are firmly committed to being present wherever talent is found, so that people can stay in their neighborhoods or towns and not have to travel to city centers. We are committed to the fifteen-minute city and to significantly reducing car travel, contributing to sustainability and the protection of the planet," he emphasizes.
Philippe Jiménez: "From IWG we have a firm commitment to be present wherever talent is found, so that people can stay in their neighborhoods or towns and not have to travel to the city center. We are committed to the fifteen-minute city"In this regard,IWGhas launched an ambitious plan to reach all major Spanish capitals and cities, with the challenge ofto be present in 80 or 100 cities in 2030, compared to the current 20 cities. In total, the multinational now has 60 centers in the Spanish market, with 140,000 m², half of them located in Madrid. As in Barcelona, the group's objectives in the Spanish capital are ambitious, as it plans to increase from the current 25 centers to 60 in the next eight years.
Although it has only been open for a month, the new Spaces Plaza Molina has already reached 40% occupancy. IWG has signed a 10-year lease agreement with Catella Asset Management and the AVW fund to operate the property, which has a gross leasable area of 3,901 square meters, and capacity to accommodate more than 500 hybrid workers, those who distribute their working day between days in the office, from home, or from a flexible work center.
The facility is equipped with five meeting rooms and two terraces, one of them 500 m² inside the block and another on the building's rooftop, with privileged views of the entire city reaching the sea. In addition, it has a 400 m² coworking space equipped with a cafeteria and different types of work tables and soundproofed cubicles for phone calls. The renovation, which has respected the uniqueness of the facade designed by Bosch Aymerich, has incorporated solar panels to the rear of the building, in addition to adopting water consumption reduction and energy efficiency systems, obtaining LEED Silver certification.
To use the coworking area, a fee of €99 per month must be paid, with the advantage that the user can access all similar centers that the multinational has worldwide. If the client prefers an exclusive-use office, IWG brands offer from a minimum of two m² to areas that can reach 2,000 m², with prices ranging between €200 and €400 per month per person. "There is a pre-established minimum stay period; the longer the rental, the cheaper it is, but our essence is to be able to offer that total flexibility and reduce or expand spaces according to the clients' needs," explains Philippe Jiménez.
In his opinion, the reasons advising the contracting of flexible office spaces are increasingly broad because the "uncertainty variant" has gained decisive weight in the business world. "85% of CEOs want to work flexibly to better retain talent and avoid turnover, which generates significant savings," he assures. "This type of office has come to stay, because it brings workspaces closer to talent and optimizes resources and saves costs, since you only pay for the use you really need. It is a beneficial system for companies, for employees and for the sustainability of the planet," he concludes.