Shopping areas located in great cities gain the interest of investors who are ready to pay high prices for premises there. It is a fact that important Spanish real estate deals are focused on commercial areas in large cities. These areas, also known as `high street´, have become a great opportunity to develop a business and that is why the premises attract so much attention. It is estimated that in 2017, around 700 million euros were invested in commercial area properties located in the main Spanish cities. These facts and figures show that 40% of the total amount of Spanish real estate deals were related to commercial area properties. We can highlight Bilbao, Valencia, Vitoria, Seville and San Sebastian as good examples of cities with great demand in shopping area premises. In Spain, the most sought-after premises are in Madrid and Barcelona.

PREMISES THAT ARE WORTH A FORTUNE

Investors are highly interested in the most commercial streets in Madrid and Barcelona. Sometimes, good premises can fetch astronomic sums of money. We refer to streets in Madrid like Preciados, Jorge Juan, Fuencarral, Gran Via or Serrano. As for Barcelona the most in demand are Paseo de Gracia, La Rambla, Plaza de Cataluña and Portal del Angel. Large firms are always on the hunt for premises in these areas and are also willing to pay tens of millions for them. We must point out that there are two circumstances which give rise to the fact that these premises fetch huge sums of money: on the one hand, there is a very high demand because good premises in these streets are regarded as positive asset values. On the other hand, there are scarce and limited numbers of premises available for sale or for rent. In most cases,the buyers are gigantic multinational companies because they can afford to pay huge sums of money for these expensive premises. It strikes us that some of these buyers very often come from electronic commerce as they are makes that have grown exponentially on the Internet and hence seek luxurious premises in order to cause a sensation. So, they look for premises in the most demanded areas of the main Spanish cities. Which could be the best letter of introduction for any make but to open a store in the most attractive commercial area of a great city? This is what these companies think and therefore do not hesitate to look for premises in the very best areas of great cities.

A CHANGE IN TREND?

Up to now, the large companies have set up their business premises far away from the centre of Madrid or Barcelona. This is due to the fact that it is difficult to find large premises in the city centre and therefore this has led to having to set up the business on the outskirts and sometimes even in other towns around Madrid such as Alcorcón, Móstoles, Alcobendas or San Sebastián de los Reyes. Very often, the large shopping malls located on the suburbs encourage great firms to set up their business there. However in recent years, some gigantic companies have opened stores in the centre of Madrid, such as Ikea and Decathlon. Can we regard this as a change in commercial strategy? As time passes, we will see if this new tendency prevails.

Picture 01: Felipe Gabaldón