PIMCO Prime Real Estate to create NUGA Castellana – a prime, mixed-use destination in Madrid

Image: Copyright Proyecto Singular

PIMCO Prime Real Estate, a leading global real estate investor and manager of the Allianz Group’s EUR 84B+ real estate mandate, is to invest EUR 40M to create a prime, mixed-use destination by integrating the adjoined commercial, residential and office areas currently managed by the firm at this location in Madrid’s Nueva España neighborhood. This project will be branded ‘NUGA Castellana’ and is set to complete in the second quarter of 2025.

PIMCO Prime Real Estate has a long track record of redeveloping buildings in Europe into prime assets, as well as regenerating urban spaces, which attract tier one clients and create long-term value for investors, tenants, and local communities. Examples include the transformation of 7 Avenue George V in Paris, Santa Sofia in Milan and Droogbak in Amsterdam. 

Between 2019 and 2022, PIMCO Prime Real Estate assembled the assets that make up NUGA Castellana through different acquisitions on behalf of its clients. They will now oversee their transformation and the management of the NUGA Castellana complex.

NUGA Castellana’s 66,000 sqm will offer 21,000 sqm of prime office space and 271 homes for rent, integrated with 4,620 sqm of restaurants and 6,600 sqm of retail, leisure and wellness facilities. In addition, office tenants will have access to 1,600 sqm of green spaces and roof terraces.

Pan-European real estate investment and development group, Eurofund Group, has been contracted to lead the transformation of the retail and F&B area within the NUGA Castellana concept. The courtyard at the heart of the project will become a food hall area with outdoor terraces, wellness and shopping units. One major retailer, MediaMarkt, already present in the asset, has signed a long-term lease for NUGA Castellana. Corporate tenants include Sony, Spaces and CBRE, while the Michelin-starred restaurant Ugo Chan is set to be one of the fine dining options.

The assets managed by PIMCO Prime Real Estate which make up NUGA Castellana have already received the firm’s smart upgrade platform, which optimizes energy usage and tenant wellbeing. They now meet some of the highest technical and sustainability standards – including LEED Platinum and SmartScore Platinum certification at Castellana 200-208 – and the repositioning will use this existing infrastructure to maintain these benchmarks.

Miguel Torres, Head of Iberia at PIMCO Prime Real Estate, said: “These top, centrally located prime properties are already a landmark in the city and, with the creation of NUGA Castellana, we will establish a differentiated space in an area increasingly in demand. We have tapped into our deep in-house expertise and external network of specialist partners to create and manage a modern mixed-use destination for the center of Madrid, both for today and the long term. As such, it should also create additional, attractive value for our investors.”