Lleida City Council and developer Grup Rubau unveiled plans today for the first housing project in the Torre Salses sector, an area between La Bordeta and Els Mangraners. The development will feature 88 affordable rental homes on Francesc Bordalba i Montardit street.
The developer expects to secure all necessary permits by the end of the year, with construction projected to take two years. This means the building should be ready for occupation between late 2028 and early 2029.
The project site, measuring 5,916 square metres, belongs to the Municipal Urban Agenda Company (EMAU). EMAU has granted Grup Rubau and its social developer, Llogueralia, surface rights for 75 years.
Project Details and Features
A representative from the construction company explained that the building will have three floors. It will include 76 two-bedroom flats, ranging from 55 to 72 square metres, and 12 three-bedroom flats, each 80 square metres. Ground-floor flats will have private gardens.
The development will also feature communal garden areas and an underground car park with space for 50 vehicles. Solar panels will be installed on the rooftop to create an energy community for the building, which is designed to house between 200 and 300 people.
The rental price per square metre will adhere to the legal limits for affordable housing in Lleida, which currently range from €6.68 to €6.80 per usable square metre. Joaquim Bordoy, executive director of Rubau, described the collaboration as a "success story" and expressed the company's pleasure in working in Lleida.
Public-Private Collaboration for Housing
Lleida's mayor, Fèlix Larrosa, defended the public-private partnership model for building affordable housing. "We have the land, and we must make it easy for developers to build," Larrosa stated, emphasising that housing is a priority for the municipal government. He added that the council aims to "be the first to emerge from the real estate tension situation."
Larrosa noted that 1,000 homes are currently under construction across the city. He highlighted Torre Salses as one of Lleida's largest residential land reserves. The council has already allocated 12 municipal plots for single-family homes, with more developers showing interest in this "strategic sector."
The mayor also mentioned that the council has asked the Generalitat to manage land owned by the Society for the Management of Assets from Bank Restructuring (Sareb) in Lleida, which could accommodate up to 508 homes.
Begoña Iglesias, Deputy Mayor for City Management, urged all companies in the sector to "take advantage of this moment of good relations between the Paeria, the Generalitat, and the State to build housing in Lleida." She also recalled that the city council has already promoted new developments by ceding municipal land to social developers, primarily in the Historic Centre.
