José María Álvarez: “The offices in the center of Madrid could become 20,000 apartments”

The conversion of offices, offices and consultations into apartments, especially in Madrid, is one of the issues that concerns and concerns the Spanish Office Association (AEO), which this year celebrates its 20th anniversary. “We have calculated an average of 250,000 square meters in the central districts that could be transformed into about 20,000 apartments,” says José María Álvarez (1950, Madrid), president since 2013. He emphasizes the degree of efficiency and sustainability of these properties and the dynamic role they play in the economy of Spain, a country that has 25 million square meters of privately owned offices, 80% concentrated in Madrid and Barcelona. Even so, he admits that mistakes have been made in the design of spaces with the sole purpose of saving costs.Question. The sector suffered a hard blow with the pandemic. Has demand recovered? Answer. There was a drop, as there was also in tourism, air transport or GDP. It was a tremendous crisis, even more so than the Great Recession of 2008 in some respects. Today, the market is approaching 2019 figures. Hiring, the availability rate and the volume of investment are recovering, and the return to the offices exceeds 70% of employees in in-person or hybrid mode. Q. What figures do you use? A. Office hiring in Madrid is estimated at 600,000 square meters in 2025, which represents an increase of 5% compared to 2024. It is still below the 630,000 square meters in 2019, a historical record since 2007. In Barcelona, the estimate reaches 310,000 square meters, compared to 399,000 in 2019. Q. At that time, He said the offices were going to disappear. Did you believe it? A. I never thought about it. Offices were going to die in 2020 and have been resurrected. In 1919, during the so-called “Spanish plague”, the end of the cities was also announced and it was said that people would go to the countryside. Neither then nor now has it occurred. The human being is social; Cities have always been the engine of economic, social and cultural development. Offices remain essential spaces for communication, cooperation and creativity. The fact that there is a hybrid model today shows that the prophecy was a lie.P. He is not a big fan of teleworking…R. It is one thing for technology to help and complement us and another to believe that a company can be built based on digital nomads. The most important thing about companies is always their human capital. Q. Do you think the office has been demonized? A. Yes. Some influencers try to characterize the office as a space from the past, but this does not correspond to reality. The average office in Spain incorporates very important elements of design and facilities, air quality and ergonomics. There are truly spectacular offices, where you want to go to work, with restaurant services, gyms and pleasant spaces.P. Do you think that going to the office improves productivity? A. Coexistence tends to improve productivity because communication costs are more agile and let us not forget that Spain has a very notable productivity problem. Q. Don’t you think there has been an abuse of the open office concept? A. Yes, there have been serious errors. It is true that two concepts have been abused: densification and open space. There has been an idea based only on costs, on putting more people in fewer square meters. And occupancy costs are very unimportant in relative terms with respect to salary and financial costs. I think there has been a lot of fundamentalism. Furthermore, one of the lessons of the pandemic is that hyperproximity is not the most advisable, but not for the virus, but for a cold. It is a mistake to reduce space because you cannot resize the office for 80% of employees; If one day there is a peak, people don’t have a place. José María Álvarez, president of the Spanish Office Association. JUAN BARBOSAP. What role does the office play in the economy? A. I believe that offices are an economic driver and their economic impact, which we are now studying, is evidence. There are true icons, like the Flatiron, in New York, The Gherkin, in the City, or Torre Picasso here.P. Did Spain miss an opportunity in Brexit? A. At that moment there were more ideas than plans. Spain has competitive advantages, such as quality of life, for companies to set up here, for example, many pharmaceutical companies are considering it. In addition, rents are between 35% and 40% cheaper than in cities like Paris or London. Madrid still has very attractive prices.P. How can Spain attract companies? Have they conveyed any proposals to the Government? A. We have proposals that we are going to present to the Government. Compensations must be analyzed in terms of buildability or taxes, as Ireland does, that there be recognition for those who invest in constructing and renovating buildings that are more efficient. It is reasonable to ask for it; To date this effort is being made by the private sector alone and if you compare homes with offices they have nothing to do with energy efficiency and construction and technological quality.P. The housing access crisis is bloody. Are you in favor of converting offices that are in residential buildings into apartments? A. It is not an easy or trivial topic. In Madrid, the average for the central districts, such as Retiro, Salamanca or Chamberí, is around 250,000 square meters of offices that are installed in residential buildings and which could be converted into around 20,000 apartments. In Barcelona, ​​the problem is much less. We are talking about attracting companies and that means attracting qualified professionals and their families. These gentlemen are going to demand housing in quality locations in the center. It is not about discriminating Carabanchel or the developments in the Southeast, but a professional prefers to live near Retiro. We believe that this must be rationalized. We are in favor of the combination of uses, but with fair competition, in such a way that we compete with the same rules of the game, that is, quality, evacuation… We have to collaborate with public administrations so that what are today apartments continue to be apartments, because there is nothing to transform.P. And what do we do with the notary or the dentist? A. It is true that a product will have to be developed in accordance with the average level of these offices, which are not usually very large (notaries, agencies, psychologists…). The three Administrations have multiple buildings scattered around and I believe that the rationalization and consolidation of these portfolios would be good for citizens. They could sell buildings.