At 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, September 4, the deadline for submitting offers for the contracting of works for the rehabilitation of the San Agustín Convent in Jerez closed. In total, 24 offers have been submitted to carry out a project that was put out to tender on August 2 with a budget of 5,784,196.88 € VAT not included and an execution period of one year.
The opening of technical offer envelopes will take place on September 16, once the administrative documentation has been reviewed.
The Free Trade Zone published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on August 2 the corresponding announcement of 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 FEDER funds in the 2007-2013 framework, have a base tender budget of 5,784,196.88 euros (VAT not included).
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.
It is worth remembering that 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). This initiative already had a basic project from the Jerez City Council itself, which served as a starting point for the drafting of the final execution project.
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.