Parc Empresarial property, growing despite lack of industry

Of the seven activity polygons Economic Development (PAE) of Sabadell, the newest of the Parc Empresarial (2012), today less than 30% of it remains awaiting development, most of which is privately owned. The turnover of the 20 companies grew by more than 18%, according to the latest data in the business structure report, despite being the fifth largest company in corporate history, with a weight of 0.7%.

Almost twenty years ago, coinciding with the real estate boom, in 2006, four years after purchasing the land, the developer Vantoureix named this space Sabadell Business Park, which was to become one of the most important commercial projects in Catalonia, with access to more than dozens of companies. With high added value, with the aim of regaining industrial leadership, as pledged by the then mayor of the city, Manuel Bustos, in 2007, after his victory in the elections, in an interview with Diary de Sabadell. The real estate and financial crisis interrupted the plans for the project that over the years would end up transforming, due to the urgent need to develop a space, with the arrival of the giant IKEA in 2012. “We lost 50% of the opportunities that were mainly intended for wholesale trade. Despite the prevailing context at that time, the chosen exit was not the most successful. We should not have stopped talking about industrial Sabadell and eventually moved into services.” . Regret Bear PuigChairman of the Urban Planning, Infrastructure and Transport Committee of the Sabadell Chamber of Commerce.

Today, among the five most important sectors in terms of turnover, four of them belong to the service sectors – transportation and warehousing (57.7%), hospitality (15.9%), sale and repair of motor vehicles (10%) and wholesale trade in ICT and machinery (4 %) – represents more than 92% of the total turnover, while on the industry side, marbres i granits Barcelona SL (3.8%), represents more than 50% of the total sector in this PAE of the city (6.8%).

At present, the business park area is 70.9% of the total building area, and according to city council data, only 120,000 square meters are left.² Waiting to do so. Most of these lands, which are privately owned, are located across from the C-58 and close to the Riu-sec wastewater treatment plant. Likewise, there are also municipally owned plots of land, such as the one between Paseo de Sant Pau de Riu-sec, 36, and Carrer de Can Diviu, 36-66, about 15,000 square metres.²of industrial lands and that the municipal government recently decided to expand the options for access to them, not only with the option of rent, sale and surface rights, with the aim of giving priority to the implementation of value-added economic activities in terms of job creation and related to innovation and new technologies.

Current owners include investment fund Cerberus Capital Management, Porcelanosa Grupo, Grupo Clavé and restaurant chain Taco Bell. “Despite the fact that most of the plots of land are not publicly owned, we must try together, as much as possible, to ensure that no new sofa shop opens, but that new businesses contribute to growth and competitiveness, with good jobs helping to achieve this.” Improving the well-being of families”“, points out Perry Puig Yesren.

The latest companies to reach PAE are Obramat and Toyota Material Handling, the new HolidayInn Express & Suites is scheduled to open from next year, and in 2026, Celestia Aerospace, the manufacturer and launcher of nanosatellites, which is part of Aviation axis.

And in the Via Sabadell shopping complex, which still has 7,600 square meters available, spread over three buildings, a new gym is expected to be operational soon. One of the demands is the implementation of recreational activities, a request that city council sources have already made clear, “Although this possibility has already been considered, the partial plan regulations do not allow recreational use in these places. There are technical and legal barriers that make it very difficult.”.