The delegate of Works and Equipment, Paloma García Romero, accompanied by the councilor of Arganzuela, Lola Navarro, visited this morning the rehabilitation works of the old Fruit and Vegetable Market of Legazpi that will give rise to a building complex where the City Council will unify municipal offices currently scattered in other buildings in the city. The new facilities will be able to accommodate around 2,500 municipal administrative jobs, which will allow a saving of 14.7 million euros per year in rentals that the City Council currently pays.
The project, which is being carried out by the Works and Equipment Area, has a budget of 77.8 million euros, an amount that can be amortized in about five years thanks to the savings in rentals.
The new complex will consist of a triangular building above ground that will be articulated around a large central square under which there will be two basements. The total constructed area of the building and basements will exceed 46,100 m2, to which the more than 8,400 m2 of the square must be added.
The building above ground will have two floors and a mezzanine where heights allow and will house open offices, offices, meeting rooms, and toilets. Additionally, a space for future municipal facilities will be reserved for a later phase of this project, where only the exterior enclosure will be executed for now.
On the other hand, in the first level below the central square, there will be training rooms, archive area, and a multipurpose room, while the second level will be dedicated to parking. As for the square, it will serve as a distribution area to the various entrances to the building.
Transfer of municipal employees
The municipal staff that will be transferred to the new complex are currently distributed in rented buildings at Antracita Street, 3 (Tax Agency), Molino Promenade, 7 (Lost and Found Office), APOT building at Ribera del Sena Street, 21 (Urbanism, Environment, and Mobility Area) and Bustamante Street, 16 (various government areas).
Although it is estimated that the completion of the project will take place at the beginning of the next term, the City Council foresees a partial reception in the second half of 2026, allowing the first officials, those from the APOT building and the Tax Agency, to be already installed in the new building in the spring of 2027.
Previous works to consolidate the building
Since 2019, when the City Council stopped the works started in the previous term due to the risk of collapse, the Works and Equipment Area has carried out the necessary pathology correction works to consolidate the building. In total, these actions prior to the current project have involved an investment of 24.5 million euros.
The old Fruit and Vegetable Market of Legazpi, with a surface area of 35,000 m2, was built between 1926 and 1935 by the architects and engineers Luis Bellido, Francisco Javier Ferrero, and Alfonso Peña and remained unused in 1983 after the creation of Mercamadrid, where the city’s wholesale markets were centralized.
The project will respect the concrete structure of the building, as it is a protected element, while the rest of the finishes will be carried out following the opinions of the Heritage Commission and with the aesthetics of the building and its surroundings.
Through this initiative, a large municipal property container will be recovered for the city and the people of Madrid, completing the Madrid Río project in its southeast end after closing the park passing through the old Vicente Calderón, and completing the north-south axis of the city as the culmination of Castellana, Prado, and Delicias. Likewise, the project will reactivate the entire area, introduce higher levels of security, promote local commerce, increase services to citizens, and ultimately consolidate a pole of centrality for the new Metals neighborhood. /
