2023 Spring Issue - 111

executives see adding a residential component
to the campus as an opportunity to
capitalize on Madrid's growing demand for
apartments while also diversifying the risks
of the project.
Madnum-Mad for Madrid, num for
" now " in Latin-is one of the biggest developments
in Atocha, a fading industrial
neighborhood on the south side of Madrid
where city urban planners have long seen
an opportunity for renewal.
The complex is located just across street
from the headquarters of Repsol, the Spanish
petrochemical giant, and 800 feet (250
m) from the Méndez Álvaro interchange,
a transit hub that offers good connections
by subway, bus (urban and regional), and
suburban train to the rest of the city and
its suburbs. It is also 1.2 miles (2 km) from
the Atocha Station, Madrid's answer to New
York City's Grand Central Station.
But those good transportation links
may matter less than expected: developers
believe the 7,000 office users and
1,600 residents of the project's 374 apartments
will keep the complex humming day
and night.
New Vision for a Neglected
Neighborhood
Following Colonial's acquisition of the two
plots of underused industrial land in 2018,
it hired Estudio Lamela Architects, a leading
Madrid architecture firm, to work with
the company to design a 970,000-squarefoot
(90,000 sq m) complex on a
246,000-square-foot (22,900 sq m) plot.
Estudio Lamela has designed a variety
of high-profile projects throughout Europe,
the Middle East, and Mexico. In Madrid,
the firm is known principally for its work
on the Colon Towers in the Plaza de Colón,
the 13 million-square-foot (1.2 million sq m)
Terminal T4 at the Madrid Barajas Airport
(in collaboration with the Richard Rogers
Partnership), and a 2.2 million-square-foot
(200,000 sq m) headquarters for Telefónica,
the Spanish telecommunications
powerhouse.
The joint team held more than 50 meetings
with various stakeholders and real
estate experts. Team members also visited
a variety of successful mixed-use projects in
London, Copenhagen, Rotterdam, Amsterdam,
and Malmö, including King's Cross
and Battersea Power Station in London,
Maersk Tower in Copenhagen, and Westerdok
Apartments in Amsterdam.
The study tour helped the team better
understand the benefits of combining different
uses within the same development.
One key lesson it took back to Madrid was
how a strong mixed-use project could help
revitalize an area-one of the goals of the
Madnum project for the semi-industrial
Atocha neighborhood, which despite its
good transportation links has had a reputation
as one of the city's neglected areas.
The executives also noted that office
complexes that incorporate non-office
uses can command higher rents than those
that do not, because office tenants see
advantages in renting space located within
an ecosystem of shops, restaurants, and
apartments.
The Long Road to Madnum
Despite some delays in securing all the
permits, the project moved forward in
2019. Basic architectural drawings were
completed that June, authorization for
excavation and construction was granted in
late 2019, and contractors began to dig in
February 2020, the first stage in what was
intended to be a 36-month construction
project.
Then, only a few days into excavation,
builders began to run into complications.
In mid-February, the COVID-19 pandemic
reached Spain, knocking out a number of
employees. Work continued, while the project
strictly adhered to official restrictions on
movement and nonessential work. Contractors
estimate that the virus set them six
months behind schedule.
In July 2020, workers dug up various
archaeological objects-mostly Paleolithic
arrowheads and rodent bones. Their discovery
meant Colonial had to bring in a team
of archaeologists to carry out a detailed
survey, which continued until January 2021.
Excavation and foundation work proceeded,
but the contractors had to work around the
scholars, further slowing progress.
Six months later, just as the archaeologists
were leaving and the pace of work
began to recover, a major snowstorm hit.
In January 2021, Storm Filomena buried the
site under nearly 23 inches (60 cm) of snow
in less than 48 hours. That might not sound
like a lot to residents of Buffalo, New York,
but the snowfall had a major impact in a
city that can go through the winter without
seeing a single flake. Snowdrifts made
access to the worksite impossible for a few
days, and because the substrate of the plot
is made up of slow-draining clay, enormous
drainage issues arose once the snow and
ice melted. Special access roads had to be
built and tons of salt poured before work
could resume.
Eventually, Colonial's contractors got
back on track, but now in an environment
of steadily increasing materials costs fueled
by rising energy prices, supply chain disturbances,
and interest rate hikes.
SPRING 2023
URBAN LAND
111

2023 Spring Issue

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of 2023 Spring Issue

2023 Spring Issue - Cover1
2023 Spring Issue - Cover2
2023 Spring Issue - 1
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2023 Spring Issue - 3
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2023 Spring Issue - Cover3
2023 Spring Issue - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/2024-fall-issue-of-urban-land
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/-2024-summer-issue-of-urban-land
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/2024-spring-issue-of-urban-land
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/2024-winter-issue-of-urban-land
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/2023-fall-issue-of-urban-land
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/2023-summer-issue-of-urban-land
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/2023-spring-issue
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/2022-winter-issue
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/2022FallIssue
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/2022-summer-issue
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/2022-spring-issue
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/ulm-winter-2022
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/summer-issue-2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/uli-spring-2021-issue
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/ULIWinter2021
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/URBANLANDFALL2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/URBANLANDSUMMER2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/urbanlandinstitute/UrbanLand/URBANLANDSPRING2020
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