A luxury restaurant, a gastronomic centre, a swimming pool for sporting use and car parks. All these elements form part of the project presented by ... the company Mountbird Inversiones 2014, SA, on two municipal plots situated next to the Torre del Ancón, a 16th-century Site of Cultural Interest (BIC), located by the beach in the heart of Marbella’s Golden Mile. The company is the same one currently building Uno Beach Residences, a luxury residential development situated next to this public land.
Area
16,833.9
square metres
This is the combined area of the two municipal plots situated next to the Torre del Ancón, on Marbella’s Golden Mile.
The town council has already initiated the procedure for the transfer of the two municipal plots, which cover a total area of 16,833.9 square metres. The chosen arrangement is an administrative title permitting the occupation and use of certain public assets (a public-domain concession), and the period during which the company may use this land will be 50 years. The project involves an estimated investment of 4.38 million euros, according to the documentation provided by the company to the council.
The project aims to offer ‘a first-class culinary experience’, featuring a ‘fine dining’ restaurant and a swimming pool for sporting use with catering facilities. This sports facility will have a water surface area of 166.32 square metres and will feature three open-air terraces, each measuring between 290 and 300 square metres. The restaurant, which will have two open-air terraces, will have a maximum capacity of 305 people and will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, while the swimming pool restaurant will seat 194 people and will only serve lunch. Both facilities will remain open all year round and the developer has estimated an average occupancy rate of 30 per cent, including all services throughout the day and across the different seasons of the year (high, low or mid-season), with an average spend per person of 60 euros in the restaurant and 80 euros at the poolside restaurant.
The project includes a gastronomic centre which will host activities such as exhibitions, seminars, workshops, conferences and tastings
The project includes a gastronomic centre where the developers intend to organise cultural and social activities related to the world of gastronomy, including exhibitions, seminars, workshops, conferences and tastings. This facility is planned to have two storeys (ground floor and first floor). The ground floor will house a tasting room and a cookery classroom (as well as a cold store and a larder) and will include a car park, while the first floor will feature a teaching room and an administrative area. The gastronomic centre will be open all year round, and the developers assure us that they will not derive any financial income from this activity.
Controversy and fees
As regards the characteristics of the development, in the case of the restaurant and the swimming pool, the developer has proposed constructing basements and building no higher than the ground floor, reaching a maximum height of 8.75 metres. The restaurant will have a gross floor area of 707.38 square metres. A greater height (12 metres) will be reached in the 1,258.03-square-metre landscaped area, which is proposed to be developed for use as a car park. The height of 12.80 metres - with a maximum of 14 metres - will be reached on the plot where the gastronomic centre is to be located. The two floors slope downwards in a north-south direction and offer predominantly southerly views.
Based on these figures and the revenue estimates for the restaurant and the swimming pool (an average occupancy rate of 30 per cent with an average spend of 60 and 80 euros respectively), the company estimates a gross operating profit (GOP) of 546,377 euros, taking into account all other expenses, including staff costs. It therefore proposes that the town council receive a licence fee for the operation of both plots of 65,565 euros per annum, equivalent to 12 per cent of the EBITDA.
The project faces opposition from the PSOE, which has already announced that it will formally lodge objections against ‘the privatisation’ of this public land and has stated that it will exhaust all legal avenues in the courts ‘if the council does not back down’. The IU, a political group not represented on Marbella town council, has also expressed its opposition, announcing that it would appeal to the Regional Office for Culture against the launch of this administrative procedure, which marks the start of the process. Ecologistas Malaka has also voiced its opposition, criticising the “lack of sufficient justification in the public interest” and calling for “transparency, environmental studies and less intrusive alternatives”, as well as the protection of this green space.