The Basque Country Technology Park extends to Illunbe with the help of the Donostia / San Sebastian City Council, making possible strategic business projects such as the one led by Columbus Venture Partners

The president of Basque Country Technoly Park, Jaione Ganzarain, and the Mayor of Donostia / San Sebastián, Eneko Goia, have formalised this morning the purchase and sale of plot b.20.1 of Illunbe, thus culminating a process that began at the beginning of 2023

The operation will allow the incorporation of more than 28,500 m2 of buildable area to the Technology Park and provide an immediate response to strategic business projects such as that of Columbus, which has also advanced today its proposal to continue promoting Donostia as an international point of reference for research and development in the biomedical industry

The Basque Country Technology Park and the Donostia / San Sebastian City Council have signed this morning the agreement for the acquisition of plot b.20.1 in the Illunbe area, a decisive step for the expansion of Campus Donostia. This agreement puts an end to more than two years of talks, in which both institutions have worked to achieve the best scenario for the city from the point of view of urban fit, the creation of new infrastructures and services, and the dynamisation of the economic-business network.

The agreement was signed by the Mayor, Eneko Goia, and the President of the Basque Technology Park, Jaione Ganzarain, in a ceremony that was also attended by the Basque Government’s Minister of Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability, Mikel Jauregi, and the Deputy General of Gipuzkoa, Eider Mendoza. They all agreed on the ‘enormous importance’ of this agreement for Donostia, for Gipuzkoa and for the Basque Country as a whole, as ‘it will make it possible to attract new strategic projects that might otherwise have opted for other locations’.

The plot acquired by the Basque Country Technology Park is adjacent to the current Miramon facilities, thus contributing to the natural extension of the Campus. With a surface area of 11,413 m2, the new plot offers a buildable area of 28,587m2 for tertiary use and a further 36,332m2 below ground level.

Likewise, the implementation of this extension of the Donostia Campus to Illunbe will be key to relieve the pressure on the current facilities (currently with a level of occupation of plots and buildings close to 100%) and to meet the growth needs of the companies already installed and those that have shown interest in coming.

As highlighted by the councillor Mikel Jauregi, ‘the expansion of the Technology Park to Illunbe represents the culmination of a project that we have been working on since 2023, where the work between different institutions has been key. We are talking about a comprehensive urban development project designed for people and it is also a commitment to the industry of the future. Today we are taking an important step towards consolidating Donostia as an international benchmark in the field of biosciences and biomedicine. In this sense, I would like to highlight a public-private collaboration model that has proven to be successful in attracting business investment to Gipuzkoa, such as that of Columbus’.

For his part, the mayor of Donostia / San Sebastián, Eneko Goia, pointed out that the sale of the old commercial complex to the Euskadi Technology Park ‘is a step that has been in the pipeline for some time’ and that it will ‘de facto mean the expansion of the Technology Park and the implementation of activities with high added value that will generate stable, quality employment’. ‘The Illunbe complex is an issue that the City Council has been trying to resolve for years, and the opportunity that is now opening up offers many advantages at the same time: it incorporates many square metres to the Technology Park, which responds to the high existing demand, redevelops and regenerates a very deteriorated area, and also fits in with the multi-purpose pavilion project that we want to promote’, the mayor pointed out. All of this, according to Goia, ‘is going to generate an area of great interest for the city, which will be better integrated into its urban fabric and its daily life, which opens a window of opportunity and hope’.

In the current global context, in which it is necessary to go deeper into the effort to ‘defend industry and promote competitiveness by promoting new projects that incorporate a high component of innovation and technology’, the extension of the Technology Park to Illunbe is ‘magnificent news’ for the territory as a whole, according to the deputy general of Gipuzkoa, Eider Mendoza. In order for our economy to be competitive, it is necessary to have spaces located in areas with a high level of innovation and technology’.

Today’s agreement will mark a milestone of the first level in this shared task, as it will also make it possible to attract new projects in sectors such as biosciences, biotechnology and quantum technology, areas promoted by the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa that will generate quality employment, welfare and new opportunities. It will be a very important milestone in the consolidation of Gipuzkoa as a centre for the development of advanced therapies’, added Mendoza, who thanked Columbus for its commitment to Gipuzkoa and the Basque Country.

Columbus Venture Partners project

In this sense, the operation forged over the last two years has resulted in the possibility of giving an almost immediate response to the innovative proposal of Columbus Venture Partners, which contributes to the continued commitment of Donostia to increase its importance in areas such as biotechnology, biosciences and new technologies.

The founder and president of Columbus Venture Partners and president of Viralgen, Javier García Cogorro, was present today at the signing ceremony of the agreement and gave a preview of the general lines of his innovative project, destined to mark a milestone with its implementation in the new space of Campus Donostia in Illunbe.

The project represents an investment of close to EUR 80 million, which will enable the establishment and growth of companies in the life sciences and quantum technologies area, in an ideal environment for business development and collaboration. The project will be carried out as a joint venture with Quercus Investments, a management company specialising in real estate investment and management, and has private investors with knowledge of the environment in Gipuzkoa and the bioscience sector. The first phase of the project, where 40% of the space will be available, will be available at the end of 2026, and the end of the project is estimated for the end of 2027.

Basque Country Technology Park in Gipuzkoa

The agreement for the acquisition of the Illunbe plot is part of the overall strategy of the Basque Country Technology Park to expand, strengthen and consolidate its presence in Gipuzkoa, where there is a constant growth in the demand for space by companies and innovative projects.

In this sense, just a fortnight ago, the foundation stone was laid for the central building of the Basque Country Technology Park on the Hernani Campus, in the Galarreta area. This new building, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, will have a surface area of 10,000 m2 available to technology companies, also helping to respond to the high occupancy and demand in the Technology Park in Gipuzkoa.