21 February 2007: Cornerstone Ceremony Celebrates the Expansion of Mercamadrid

On February 21, Mercamadrid opened a new space for opportunity and the occasion was celebrated by laying the Cornerstone of the Technological Mercamadrid building complex, a development that will expand the facilities in almost 45 additional hectares, a surface needed to accommodate the expanding facilities of Mercamadrid, a concern that has been steadily growing after 25 years of conducting commercial operations.

Business excellence and technological innovation are the key characteristics of these new 453,000 square meters that are now being added to the market facilities, and that the Mayor has qualified as a strategic service for the whole of the Spanish economy. “According to prudent estimations- he stated- this development will allow the creation of 200 new businesses, that will in turn generate 1,400 direct jobs and an induced investment of 312 million euros”. For the distributors, this development will entail an increase in their business volume and customer base, both nationally and internationally.

The expansion is also going to make possible the creation of new markets in sectors yet to be developed, such as poultry, dairy, oil or flowers. New complementary activities will also be incorporated, such as product preparation, delivery logistics, refrigeration services or industrial catering.

The Mayor of Madrid, Alberto Ruir-Gallardón has made a special mention to the effect that the added value that Mercamadrid is going to contribute by expanding its grounds will be felt beyond the Madrid city limits, the limits of the Community of Madrid, and even throughout the entire territory of Spain, due to its remarkable potential to create new enterprises, jobs and investments by creating new markets, strengthening complementary activities such as logistics, cold storage techniques, picking, industrial catering, etc.

“Today, we are taking an essential stride forward in the path of technological development for our city that will place it at the forefront of commerce in Europe, in a common Project that is participated by both the civil society and the public administration. This Project falls within the general ongoing modernization of Madrid,

that includes also the update of the M-30 ring road, the improvements done to the oldest structures of the Metro network, the expansion of the IFEMA trade fair grounds, the opening of Terminal 4 at the Barajas international airport, the remodeling of the old slaughterhouse buildings for new cultural purposes and the modernization of the Municipal Markets.”

Miguel Ángel Villanueva, Deputy Councilor of Economy and Citizen Participation made a special mention during his intervention of the commitment Mercamadrid has towards the technological development of Madrid, an effort that is consolidating the city as a reference of international marketing, since Mercamadrid is an essential pillar around which a large part of the trade of the City of Madrid, of the Autonomous Community of Madrid and the nation at large revolves.

Also –stated the Councilor- this Project of expansion of the Mercamadrid facilities contributes in a large manner to further the objective of the municipal government to make Madrid into the largest logistic center in the south of Europe, and together with IFEMA and the Barajas Airport articulate the driving engine of the logistics and economy of Madrid. On the other hand, the improvements and remodeling of the Municipal Markets foster the neighborhood trade that vertebrates the different neighborhoods of Madrid, also serve to drive the overall objective for the technological development of the city.

Luis Blázquez, President of Mercamadrid stated the main objectives of the Expansion Plan of Mercamadrid, are facilitating the growth of the small and medium enterprises and the furthering of social cohesion, without focusing solely in the large tonnage of traded product, turnover and the predominant position of Mercamadrid in the European market.

“This new space for opportunity, that though large, participates in the spirit of SMEs in that it is fuelled by the entrepreneurship of the young at heart, by ingenuity and innovation, promotes the development of professional competences, the creation of employment, quality, food safety, the possibilities of SMEs to participate in distribution, as well as promoting commerce, tourism and gastronomy, always from the perspective of advancing in the areas of technology and social cohesion” – stated Luis Blázquez.

He also commented on how the offices of City Hall have extended the possibility of contracting spaces and warehouses until the year 2055 in this Project in which public and private investment have merged to build a new driving engine for the economy of South Madrid.

More information regarding the Expansion Plan of Mercamadrid

On the 26^th of June of 2005, the AOE 00 05 Plan was definitively approved during the Plenary Session of the Madrid Municipal Corporation as part of the current Space Planning Strategy of the City of Madrid. Said Plan sets the terms, from the perspective of a public planning initiative, for developing an area of 453,000 m2 next to the current grounds of Mercamadrid.

Two areas intended for different uses, but unified by a common denominator of business excellence and technological innovation have been designed to be constructed in the buildable area assigned by the Plan.

BUILDABLE AREA

            1- Freight area: divided in two other differentiated areas.

The first area, having a surface area of 33,200 m2 in which 61,420 m2 can be constructed, will be dedicated to Special Public Services. These services will be distributed in four different buildings having 15,360 square meters each, for activities compatible with those of the Central Markets and Food Wholesale, such as storage handling, refrigeration, product preparation facilities and similar, combined with activities that do not focus on food directly but are complementary such as packaging and distribution.

The second area will be occupied by tertiary and administrative services and office buildings, where commercial, leisure and public service uses will be compatible.

This second area has a surface of 24,682 m2. Six buildings will be constructed in it totalling 57,219 m2 of development.

            2. The logistic center will be built inside an area which surface will exceed 50,000 m2. This center will comprise four buildings that together will total 32.175 m2 of development intended to house packaging and  non-food storage companies, gas stations,  duty free warehouse, etc., which activity is related to transportation and logistics.

MERCAMADRID BUILDS CITY

The development of this Plan liberates more than 260,000 m2 of land that will directly benefit the denizens of Madrid. Of this total area, 48.000 m2 will serve as road reserve for the M40 ring road, also 18,900 m2 of an ancient cattle way, the “Colada de Santiago” have been recovered and restored, after having disappeared in an area as economically depressed as this, and will be connected with the Green Bycicle Ring Path of Madrid as part of the 194,000 m2 urban park that will be created and has a high strategic importance, since it will link the Manzanares Green Corridor with the Forest mass of Entrevías.

EVOLUTION OF THE PROJECT

During all last year Mercamadrid has been working to prepare the ground for this plan and make possible that works could begin in the last quarter of 2006. The first step was to prepare and enter all required paperwork into the record, an essential precondition to acquire the land to be developed. The administration has applied the figure of eminent domain in an emergency bases.  Also during the last quarter of 2006, and once the schedule of terms and conditions was approved by the Board of Directors of the Company, the public call for tenders for the Project and the Construction Works Award, Safety and Health, Project Direction, and Quality Control were issued.

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION

To be awarded the tender must contain a series of measures for protection of the urban environment, and to that effect all said measures that will be necessary to incorporate into the project to improve the standards already implemented by the current legislation on acoustic pollution, soil pollution, water supply and treatment, of protection of the nocturnal environment and of energy efficiency and savings.

Also, the Project for the Development of Technological Mercamadrid must contain a sereies of technical solutions that enable the implementation of the most innovative technologies available regarding cogeneration of electric power and water and gas supply.

It must also allow for the most innovative solutions in waste management and disposal, access controls, safety, mobility and telecommunications, all of it sized qualitative and quantitatively for an industrial park of these characteristics.

To comply with all of the above, we have created technological protocols that, while placing the obligation on Mercamadrid to comply in all aspects under its competence, will also demand a similar level of compliance and commitment to any company that will set up their premises in the new Technological Mercamadrid.

Technological Mercamadrid: The Project

The City Hall of Madrid has granted this new “space for opportunity” the possibility to contract land and building until the year 2055.

The more than 300 million euros contributed by public and private investment will give the Project ample room for development.