InmoCaixa acquires Barcelona’s Estel Building for €385M — a 52,000 m², LEED/WELL Platinum office, 93% leased and anchored by AstraZeneca.
InmoCaixa, the real estate arm of CriteriaCaixa, has acquired the Estel Building in central Barcelona from Bain Capital and Freo Group for €385 million. The transaction — the largest single-property office deal in Barcelona to date by value — marks the successful completion of a major repositioning of one of the city’s most prominent office assets.
The Estel Building sits at the junction of Avenida Roma and Calle Mallorca and offers a gross leasable area of about 52,000 square metres. More than 93% of the space is currently leased to a mix of international, technology- and innovation-focused tenants, with pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca among the main occupants.
Since buying the asset in 2021, Bain Capital and Freo carried out an extensive refurbishment that transformed the building into flexible, large-format office floors (exceeding 5,000 m²), added commercial units and upgraded tenant amenities. Notable features of the renovation include a 300+ seat auditorium, a gym, two canteens, a landscaped courtyard and a rooftop offering 360-degree views of Barcelona. The property also holds LEED and WELL Platinum certifications and top WiredScore and SmartScore Platinum ratings, reflecting a strong sustainability and connectivity profile.
CBRE served as exclusive adviser to InmoCaixa on the acquisition. Bain Capital and Freo relied on architecture and project management from BCA, commercial advice from Savills and legal and tax counsel from Cuatrecasas.
The deal comes amid robust investment activity in Catalonia. According to CBRE data, 2025 closed with €3,472 million invested in the region — up 41% year-on-year and the third-best annual total on record. The office segment accounted for roughly €770 million (22% of the regional total), a 73% increase from the previous year, underscoring renewed investor appetite for prime office assets in strategic Barcelona locations.
This sale underscores a broader European real estate strategy pursued by Bain Capital and FREO, which focuses on redeveloping and repositioning high-quality assets in markets with constrained supply. For InmoCaixa, the acquisition strengthens its portfolio with a flagship, sustainably certified office asset in the heart of Barcelona’s business landscape.
