Madrid, 7 October 2021 – Sandra Marino has just joined our TA Europe team in Madrid. With more than 15 years of experience in project management and real estate transactions, she has what it takes to fuel TA Europe’s business in Spain and grow our team on the ground. In our interview, she explains what motivates her, which goals she would like to achieve, and where she sees the highest potential in the Spanish real estate market.
At a glance
Name: Sandra Marino Romero
Function at TA Europe: Senior Consultant
Originally from: Madrid
1. What made you join TA Europe?
First of all, what attracted me was that it is a mid-sized company with a high potential for growth. Not a start-up anymore, and not yet like a corporate where everyone has a very defined and restricted role – I was looking for the freedom to create and grow both a business and a team, and this is what TA Europe was offering me.
Secondly, TA Europe supports clients very similar to the ones I have worked with before. There are even intersections, so I think I will be able to understand our clients quickly to support them really well. This does not mean I assume there won’t be challenges. Yet I have previously gained experience with quite complex projects, such as the development of an aparthotel complex in Lisbon, which was an old convent protected by the authorities. The conversion of such a building into a modern aparthotel cannot be underestimated. But that is what a good consultant is for, right? To help the client navigate through the bureaucratic jungle and handle these complexities.
And last but not least, my impression is that TA Europe is one of the rare firms truly caring for their team members. The whole interview process was very much about me as a person, which I found quite impressive.
2. Which goals have you set for yourself and what would you like to achieve?
My primary goal is to develop our business in Spain, Portugal and South America further. We as a firm would like to see regular income streams from these markets, and this means we have to strengthen our relationship with existing clients and attract new clients. One will help with the other, which means the more successful projects we can look back in the Spanish market, the better our references will be for future acquisitions.
Also, I want to let our clients know that we cover the full lifecycle of advice in real estate – from the construction phase to the final sale of the building. Whether our clients need project or development monitoring, cost management or ESG expertise, technical due diligence or portfolio due diligence – we can support during all the stages of a real estate project.
What is more, I want to further develop and build our team in Spain. This means finding and recruiting the right colleagues with the same spirit to grow our business until we as TA Europe ultimately become “el número uno” en España.
3. Which changes are you looking to drive forward?
I want to see more women in roles with responsibility! This real estate domain has been a very male-dominated one. Yet I was lucky to have strong women who supported and mentored me during my career, who encouraged me to hang on when things got tough and to give my very best.
The change is already coming, as I can see more and more women working as architects or engineers in the role of consultants in real estate. I would like to strongly encourage them to do so and to further drive this transformation towards more equality in the real estate business.
4. Where do you see the biggest opportunities in the Spanish market?
These are interesting times as projects which had temporarily been put on hold during Covid-times are being reactivated. The e-commerce and logistics sectors are growing substantially, and there is also a strong need for new hybrid office models, as people are more and more combining working from home and working from the office.
What we also see is that newly developed office spaces are getting commercialized really well, especially in large towns like Madrid. The hotel sector is still being attractive in Spain, despite Covid, and international students are coming back to extend their studies in Spain, therefore there are also opportunities for the hotel and students residence sectors – or something similar. In sum, the economy is picking up again, and it is a good time to be in Spain to support this growth.
