Galeries Lafayette denies Madrid store opening
The announcement sparked interest in the Spanish press on Tuesday, March 7. Trinitario Casanova, who acquired the Edifico Espana via his company Baraka, announced he was in negotiation talks with Galeries Lafayette.
According to the businessman, who bought the 26-storey building located in the centre of Madrid from China's Wand group in mid-2016, the French department store has plans to occupy 15,000 square metres of retail space, across the first three floors of the building.
But, when contacted by FashionNetwork, Galeries Lafayette management formally denied any interest or projects in the Spanish capital, pointing out that the group's eyes were firmly fixed on the Middle East and Asia.
Trinitario Casanova, who purchased Edificio Espana from Wanda for 272 million euros, presented his reconversion plans for the building in front of city representatives in Madrid this week. Casanova also said an agreement had been made with the Riu group, whose 700-room hotel is expected to take up the majority of space in the building.
The entrepreneur has so far disbursed 20 million euros for the acquisition and is expected to pay the remaining 252 million by the end of the month to Wanda. In addition, the Spanish press has stressed the renovation of the building would require an investment of 150 million euros. The building is expected to be operational in 2019.
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