Three years of a construction boom have left Barcelona's 22@ technological district with 160,000 m2 of empty offices and 157,000 m2 more that are already rented out on plan, although they are in buildings still under construction, which will be completed before 2025. high rate of unemployment has caused some neighborhood groups to point out that the 22@ is "a model of failure", a project they describe as "exhausted" and "obsolete" and they ask that it be reviewed because the land in the area intended to build housing.
"The 22@ is the economic engine of Barcelona. It's a project that Madrid, Málaga, Valencia and cities in other countries such as Dublin, Stockholm and Buenos Aires are introducing", says Enric Urreta, president of the 22@Network association, which brings together a good part of the companies established in the area, in addition to the nine universities and the two technological centers (Eurecat and Leitat) that have offices on the city's coastal front. "There is no dichotomy between offices and homes: in the area we have planned land to build 6,000 social homes, half of all that Barcelona currently has. We also believe that Barcelona needs more homes and we already have the land: what is needed is for them to be built", he adds.
"The 22@ is an international brand that no longer corresponds to the limits of the urban district", points out Javier Bernades, director of the office area of the Cushman consultancy
The offices available for rent, completed or still under construction, account for almost 40% in the urban district (which has only 700,000 m2 of offices, but where the last buildings have been built), and 21% in the 22@ ampli. According to Urreta, this unemployment rate "occupies us, but it does not worry us: we have been at similar levels at other times which, such as now, have coincided with a moment of economic weakness with many buildings going on the market".
This is what happened, according to the Savills consultancy, after the bursting of the dotcom bubble at the beginning of the century and again after the financial crisis of 2008. "There is a mismatch between supply and demand: from the time a developer decides to build a building until it is finished, three years pass, one of which is processing the licenses - laments Bernades. And sometimes when the building is finished the economic circumstances have changed. And that's how we are now."
According to Urreta, the 22@ has been held back by the weakness of the cyclical economy, but also by its own specialization as a technological district: the boom in telecommuting after the pandemic affects this sector more and also the rise of interest rates, which has forced many money-losing tech companies to lay off workers around the world. "Teleworking is being maintained more in the companies of the district: on average only 2.8 days are worked in person. And this has meant that many companies, even profitable ones, have reduced their office space. Now, however, the big American technologies are returning to presence, and in a few months we will also see it here", he adds.
Bernades points out that beyond the return to presence the key is the city's ability to attract new companies and points out that, according to a study by Moody's Analytics, the city will create 17,200 office jobs between 2023 and 2025, being the only city that is not a state capital that is among the top ten in Europe in this area.
Urreta explains that the association, together with the Generalitat and the City Council, are working to attract new companies. Despite this, "economic uncertainty slows down many business decisions, and all projects now take a long time to materialize", acknowledges Bernades.
All in all, in the last eighteen months in Barcelona more than 425,000 m2 of offices have been leased, according to data from the consultancy JLL, and some of the largest operations have been signed at 22@, such as the new TravelPerk offices (8,475 m2) or those of Porsche's digital division, one of the most recent, with 2,476 m2 rented. "We believe that in a few years we will have absorbed all the stock", says Bernades.
