The City Council purchases the whole building at Via Laietana 8-10
The Full Council has agreed to purchase from the state the entire noucentista building at Via Laietana for 22.35 million euros. The building will be turned into a large administrative headquarters for more than 700 administrative staff. This will free up other municipal premises for nearly 80 homes and for the new primary healthcare centre in the Gòtic neighbourhood. At the same time in should generate an annual saving of 1.66 million euros in rent on other municipal buildings.
The acquisition will see the City Council purchase the 48.3% of the building that is still not under municipal ownership, equivalent to nearly 10,000 square metres. The City Council will thus be consolidating its move to create a major administrative headquarters in the heart of the city, which will house over 700 municipal council staff when it is fully operational.
The acquisition has other benefits for the city as a whole. It should improve the efficiency of public resources as the transfer of different municipal offices will save the City Council 1.66 million euros a year in rent. At the same time, the spaces located in the Gòtic neighbourhood will allow nearly 80 publicly owned homes to be generated, along with the CAP Gòtic in the building in C/ Pi i Sunyer, plus the revitalisation of Via Laietana and the recovery of an iconic building with a grade C heritage listing.
Once the rest of the renovation of the building is completed, with eleven floors including two basement levels, and the subsequent transfer of the municipal services currently housed in numbers 7, 15 and 32 in C/ Avinyó, number 3 in C/ Ciutat and number 14 in C/ Paradís, the City Council will be able to create up to 80 public owned homes in a neighbourhood where there is significant housing pressure.
The building is currently in its first renovation stage, with work having started on the spaces already under municipal ownership in December 2023. Once the work is completed, around October 2026, the services currently operating in the municipal building in Pl. Pi y Sunyer should move there, freeing up this building for the new CAP Gòtic to be constructed.
The complete renovation and the definitive transfer will be ready in 2032. The saving of 1.66 million euros will be generated as the large new headquarters will be able to house other services currently operating in rented premises, such as those at number 1, C/ Escar.
The building is home to the National Statistic Institute (INE), which will be able to remain there for a maximum of five years, guaranteeing an orderly transition and planning so that the state services operating there are not disrupted.
