Page 203 - 360.revista de Alta Velocidad - Nº 6

Processes, urban impact and evaluation of the high-speed rail in the city of Zaragoza, Spain.

20. Digital Mile and Barrio del AVE, since 2009. Work in progress.

The ZAV credit debt of 400 million Euros blocked the possibility to finish the pending works: the
urbanization of El Portillo, the parks next to La Almozara, the road tunnel and the urbanization
of the Delicias western part. In the public competition launched in September 2007 to sell four
parcels only two of the four were sold, with no bid in the other two. Another public tender was
held in the year 2010 for those two parcels, again without bidders. ZAV decided then to wait until
a better economic situation. in the meantime, they presented some planning modifications to
improve the volume distribution and uses towards some more sustainable and marketable plots.
In El Portillo, G-19-1 area, a Master Plan modification was drafted by the City Planning Department
to include a new cultural landmark, Caixa Forum. The building was promoted by the Catalonian bank
after a competition won by the architect Carme Pinós. The modification was approved the same
year, the construction began in 2013 and the building was inaugurated in June 2014. In 2013 ZAV
proposed another Master Plan modification to interchange the uses of the residential and tertiary
parcels and to divide the area in two phases to selling the residential uses. The modification was
approved in 2015 by the City Council but ADIF, the new National Manager of Rail Infrastructure
sued the resolution because of the regime of the buried land and transfer rail dependences cost.
Recently it was an agreement between the two administrations, but the area is still not developing.
In Delicias area, G-44-2, ZAV proposed in March 2014 another modification of the Master Plan to
change the uses and the volumes of the parcels in urbanized areas to improve the bioclimatic
conditions and to make them more attractive to real estate investors. After this there were two
different tenders in 2015 and 2016 of the two plots in front of the intermodal station, considered
the best parcels in the area, but both bids were unsuccessful. Now there is planned a new bid
reducing prices and improving the payment terms.
The former tower in Avenida de Navarra has still not been built today, but a local real estate
developer has bought it recently quite cheaper, is now selling the dwellings and they expect
starting the building in a few months. Maybe this operation could open up the real estate market
for the area creating a beacon effect.

Fig 31. The HSR and Expo areas in 2017. Source: Google Earth.

International Congress on High-speed Rail: Technologies and Long Term Impacts - Ciudad Real (Spain) - 25th anniversary Madrid-Sevilla corridor 201