The Estel building is reborn after years of neglect and construction work.

BarcelonaThere's no trace left of the Telefónica antennas that once occupied its entire terrace. Nor of the telephone exchanges that connected home landlines to the network, located at the rear of the first floors, without windows "so that a bit of dust wouldn't get in," as former company employees recall. After an investment of €80 million, the Estel Building has been reborn as a modern office complex in the heart of Barcelona. "In other words, not so much designed for machines as for people," explains Gerard Beltri, director of the real estate investment firm Freo, which purchased it with the investment firm Bain Capital in 2021 for €120 million. "It was like a bunker," adds Freo CEO Daniel Mayans.

The renovation work has lasted more than two years and has been almost "like building a new building," Beltri notes. Estel opened its doors in the mid-1970s as the headquarters of Telefónica. Before leaving the building, 1,100 people worked there. Amidst the many machines, the employees remained until 2011, when the company opened its new offices in the Fòrum, next to Diagonal Mar. It was at that time that a period of uncertainty and neglect began, with incidents and people living in poverty inside, for this building on Avinguda de Roma. Proposals were received to convert it into luxury residences or hotels that never came to fruition. Years passed, and what had been one of the great projects designed in the city by architect Francesc Mitjans—also responsible for Camp Nou and the former Torre Sabadell—became a ghost building, with only a concrete structure and without its characteristic façade.

This phase now concludes with the opening of a completely renovated office complex of more than 50,000 square meters, awaiting completion of the pending renovation of Avinguda de Roma and closely monitoring the renovation of Sants station. Redesigned by BCA Arquitectura, a glass façade welcomes you into an open-plan interior dominated by light colors and wood. Featuring several underground parking levels, the first floor houses rooms that will be shared by employees of the various companies that will be located there. There is a gym, changing rooms, cafeterias, and an auditorium, on the same site as the Telefónica auditorium. A total of 13 floors are dedicated to offices, and the fourteenth, the former terrace filled with antennas, has now been converted into a large viewing platform with views of the entire city. An interior courtyard, completely isolated from street noise, completes the range of spaces where you can disconnect from work.

At the moment, 65% of the building is already occupied. The main tenant will be AstraZeneca, which leased half of the building, eight floors, from the sixth to the thirteenth. The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company will land there at the end of the year with its European R&D center, which it has set up in Barcelona, ​​where it will invest 1.3 billion euros until 2027. It will arrive with 2,000 employees, also coming from other divisions of the group such as Alexion, which specializes in rare diseases. Currently, the company has 1,300 employees in Barcelona, ​​​​spread between the headquarters in the Dau Building on Diagonal and nearby offices and in Plaça Catalunya.

Apart from the hub AstraZeneca, restaurants from brands such as Casa Carmen and Honest Greens will open on the ground floor of the Estrella, both located on the main façade facing Avenida de Roma, as well as a Planet Fitness gym, an American chain that will have 1,700 square meters spread over three floors. Another restaurant and a supermarket selling organic products and prepared meals are about to close. Only a 350-square-meter space remains to be rented, located on Viladomat and Avenida de Roma, and a small 30-square-meter space on the rear façade facing Mallorca.

With capacity for 4,000 employees, they expect to fill it completely by early 2026. The owners are currently negotiating with various companies interested in the first five floors of the building, which have the largest surface area, with more than 5,000 square meters. Consulting firms CBRE and Savills are handling the marketing of the offices, with spaces ranging from 1,000 to 15,000 square meters. Technology companies from sectors such as healthcare, artificial intelligence (AI), finance, and transportation are approaching, including multinationals looking to expand their presence in Barcelona.