Grupo Orenes is the only company that has bid on the ten-year concession to run the new food market that the Torrevieja City Council wants to put on the ground floor and mezzanine of the La Plasa Market building, which is now being completely renovated. The company, which is based in Murcia and specialises in gaming arcades, bingo halls, making gaming machines, online gaming, and sports betting, is the fifth largest in the Region of Murcia by revenue. It is expected to make over one billion euros in 2024, according to its corporate information. It has also included in its bid the option to manage the two upper floors owned by the municipality.
The company has suggested a yearly price of €61,000 to run the facility, which is €5,000 higher than what the tender says is the minimum. This comes to a total of €610,000. It has been confirmed that the technical staff of the contracting committee rated the only proposal submitted to the public tender as very good. They did this based on the offered fee, the quality of the investment, operation, and management project, and the firm’s proven experience managing markets or similar facilities.
Diversification
The company, which is based in Murcia and owns several gaming halls in the city, has expanded its main business of running bingo and gaming halls into other areas that aren’t related to its main business, like hotels and restaurants. One of these is this gastromarket, which aims to combine the tradition of the local product and its preparation.
The Torrevieja City Council wants to bring this area back to life, where more than 45 businesses used to be located in the 1990s. When it closed for renovations, only 9 people were left because the building was in bad shape and the upper levels had been unoccupied and unused for 20 years. The municipality spent more than €4 million to get back the surface rights it gave to a firm in 1995. It is now spending another €8.3 million on the rehabilitation work, which is going well and has been given to the company Cobra.
Terms
The market will be on the ground floor and the mezzanine, which together have an area of 2,080.13 square metres. The bottom floor has 1,326.11 square metres, and the mezzanine has 754.02 square metres, which can hold up to 30 stalls. Skylights illuminate the design, which includes open areas, communal tables, and spaces for social interaction. This reinforces the sense that the market is a place for community and shared experiences.
The project needs at least 733,582.07 euros, including VAT, to get the facilities ready. On top of that, it will cost about 90,750 euros to start up the business units.
At the end of the operation time, all facilities created by the concessionaire will go back to the City Council. The concession lasts for ten years, with the option for two one-year extensions. The company will pay the municipality a minimum annual fee of €61,000, which will be adjusted based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The PP governing team says this will “ensure” both the project’s economic viability and a steady return for the municipal coffers.
The city government called this concession for the future La Plasa Market “strategic.” They think it will turn the “historic” food market into a modern space where the traditional market and a thriving gastronomic market can coexist, bringing together “tradition, innovation, and tourist appeal.”
Full management
The winning bidder will be in charge of running the market, taking care of it, and keeping it up to high standards of quality, sustainability, safety, accessibility, and respect for the homes around. The bidder will decide how many stalls there will be in their investment and operation plan. This number may be less than the maximum number that was first anticipated. They will also decide how the stalls will be distributed and how they will operate.
The City Council has not been able to revive the management of a food market in the last 25 years, so they decided to privatise it. As part of this process, they held a public tender that allowed bidders to include a usage model for the second and third floors of the building as an improvement that could be valued in the award phase. Grupo Orenes did this, but Mayor Eduardo Dolón made it clear when he presented the tender a few weeks ago that without this option, the bidders would automatically
Other Articles
