The huge Corte Inglés department store in Méndez Álvaro now has an official replacement, and its future lies in a large neighborhood park, a public facility yet to be defined, and a 27-story office tower. The City Council has approved the urban development agreement that launches the Nuevo Sur-Méndez Álvaro project and certifies the definitive change of a space that leaves behind the model of a large shopping center to become a key part of the new office area in southern Madrid.
The site of the former Corte Inglés occupies 11,811 square meters between the Méndez Álvaro station and the M-30, in the Arganzuela district. The center,which opened in 1992 and closed in 2024 following a court ruling that questioned its license, will be replaced by a mixed-use development in which 72% of the land will pass into municipal hands and only 28% will remain for private use.
A district park and facilities for Arganzuela
The public part of the area is divided into two plots: a newly created green area and a plot reserved for a facility yet to be specified (cultural, sports, educational, or social and health, depending on what is agreed upon by the City Council and the Municipal Board of Arganzuela). The new park is conceived as the central space of the project, with a “significant” amount of trees and native species that will improve the landscape in one of the most densely populated areas of the district.
Underneath the lowest underground floor, there will be a car park linked to this facility, which will absorb some of the traffic without taking up space in the new green area. The council’s stated objective is to increase public facilities in Arganzuela and better connect Méndez Álvaro with the neighboring residential neighborhoods, gaining pedestrian space where before there was only a large shopping center and parking lots.
The lucrative development will be concentrated on the second plot, which is privately owned, where an office tower of up to 27 floors and around 100 meters high will be built.
It will be one of the tallest skyscrapers in the area and will reinforce the tertiary hub already formed by other office buildings next to the Méndez Álvaro station, consolidating the area as a center of economic activity in the south of the capital.