The Jerez City Council has collaborated and facilitated the preparation of the scheduled visit, within the framework of commitment and loyalty between institutions that has made it possible to promote this project.
The deadline for submitting offers is next September 4 at 2:00 p.m., with the tender budget being 5,784,196.88 euros (VAT not included)
Technicians from the Cádiz Free Trade Zone Consortium and a group of 55 technicians from a total of 37 companies have made, this morning, Friday, August 9 at 11:00 a.m., a visit to the convent of San Agustín de Jerez, to check “in situ” the current state of the property, in order to facilitate the preparation of tender offers for the rehabilitation works of said building as a Business Center. The visit has been framed in the context of the public tender opened by the Cádiz Free Trade Zone last week and which includes September 4 at 2:00 p.m. as the deadline to present said offers.
The preparation of the visit, scheduled and announced in the Contractor's Profile on the Consortium's website to facilitate the maximum possible publicity and attendance, has had the indispensable collaboration of the technicians of the Jerez City Council, who have facilitated its execution, proceeding to clearing the area and carrying out a security inspection to guarantee the safety of the visitors. Likewise, the City Council has provided a room in which the Consortium technicians will be able to give pertinent explanations of the project to those interested.
It is worth remembering that Zona Franca announced last Friday, August 2, in the Official State Gazette (BOE) the contracting of the works necessary for the execution of the project called "Rehabilitation of the old convent of San Agustín for a business center and business services and redevelopment of Puerto Street, in Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz."
These works, financed by ERDF funds in the 2007-2013 framework, have a base bidding budget of 5,784,196.88 euros (VAT not included) and a deadline for submitting offers until next September 4, at 2:00 p.m.
Once the offers are received, the qualification process will proceed, following the requirements demanded in the specifications. The opening of the technical offers is scheduled for September 16, at 12:00 p.m., the information of which will be reported in a timely manner through the Contractor Profile on the website www.zonafrancacadiz.com.
In order to reach this point where the works have been put out to tender, the Consortium has been working for a year to expedite all the necessary procedures so that this initiative, which will enhance an important asset of the city of Jerez, sees the light of day in the shortest period of time possible. Thus, last Friday, July 26, the Cádiz Institution proceeded to formally request the Jerez City Council for the corresponding construction license for the rehabilitation of the convent.
The starting signal for the launch of the initiative to recover the old convent of San Agustín as a business center was the signing of a collaboration agreement signed at the end of September 2012 by the Undersecretary of the Treasury, Pilar Platero; the mayor of the city, María José García Pelayo; and the Special Delegate of the State in the Cádiz Free Zone Consortium, Jorge Ramos Aznar.
Likewise, and with the aim of speeding up the deadlines, the Consortium, once the technical report had been drafted, presented in April to the Culture Delegation of the Junta de Andalucía the project to begin the necessary archaeological work prior to the start of the action, as well as the authorization for the deposit of materials, as it is a listed building and, therefore, seeking, through its rehabilitation, its recovery as an emblematic building of the city.
Finally, on May 10, the Consortium awarded, through a public bidding process, to Pujol y Cruz Arquitectos S.L.P. the contract for drafting the execution project, for an amount of 80,000 euros (VAT not included) and a delivery period of 30 days (contract financed by European Funds, within the framework of the ERDF Operational Program of Andalusia 2007-2013).
Architectural restoration and tool for entrepreneurs
The rehabilitation project of the San Agustín convent settles the debt that the Consortium had with Jerez for years, and has a double value because, on the one hand, it entails the architectural recovery of the property, a hallmark of the city, and on the other hand, it will be an instrument for entrepreneurs to undertake business projects that serve to create employment and wealth in Jerez and its surroundings.
The initiative contemplates the recovery of the main cloister of the property and the annex building to put it at the service of the city, creating a Business Center available to entrepreneurs and small self-employed people, who will have their own space to generate employment and wealth in Jerez.
The new Business Center will be a state-of-the-art, modern and functional building, with an area of 4,500 square meters, distributed over three floors high that will have 49 offices with surfaces between 15 and 60 square meters. The property will also have multiple-use and shared meeting rooms with spaces intended to support entrepreneurs and companies that set up shop. The rehabilitation of the old convent, currently in disuse, will symbolize the union between historical Jerez and the Jerez of the future through two elements, stone and glass.