Plot near Portimão marina has been sold by Novobanco
Portuguese bank Novobanco has sold a prime plot of riverside land near Portimão marina for just under €30 million, reports Eco online newspaper.
The newspaper says that the plot was sold to Lintinvest, a developer in the Caldas da Rainha area, late last year.
“The transaction was closed for an amount slightly under €30 million, below the €32 million asked by the bank,” Eco says.
The plot in Portimão, named ‘Arade’, was part of the bank’s Eleanor portfolio alongside four others. Spanning a 116,000 square metre area, the plot has already been licenced for the construction of a 153-room hotel, 613 tourist apartments and 652 residential apartments, with further plans to build a retail outlet and a public garden, the online newspaper explains.
One other plot of the Eleanor portfolio, located near the TagusPark in Oeiras, has also been sold, in this case to RE Capital, a pan-European investment, development, and asset management company, for a sum between €35 million and €40 million.
The three other plots have yet to be sold due to “licensing and architectural issues,” Volkert Schmidt, CEO of the Novobanco Real Estate Group, told Eco.
Benagil plot next in line
However, the next plot from the Eleanor portfolio that could be sold is located in Benagil, in the municipality of Lagoa, and is on the market for €52 million.
Eco reports that there are “at least three parties interested in buying” the Benagil plot: the company that owns the Sana group, a Mexican group, and another Ukrainian group.
As the newspaper explains, the planned project for a luxury hotel on the Benagil cliffs was rejected in 2018 by the Environmental Impact Assessment Commission of the Portuguese Environment Agency (APA).
Behind the decision were concerns about “increased human pressure on small beaches,” an increase of five times the current road traffic volume in the area, and the “artificialisation” of a protected stretch of coastline.
However, the project rejected by the APA has been modified, and according to Eco, the bank is expecting to obtain a licence and sell it by the end of this year. However, the sale process is currently suspended, it adds.
The plot is located on the cliffs near the entrance to the famous Benagil caves, near which the idea is to build a luxury hotel with 150 rooms, 288 apartments, in addition to 242 terraced houses and five luxury villas. The property has a total area of 59,000 square meters.
Eco explains that that the Benagil plot came into the hands of the bank formed from the ashes of BES after Inland, one of the companies owned by former Benfica president Luís Filipe Vieira, handed over the plot to the bank due to debts from a €48 million loan.
The two remaining Eleanor plots are located in Lisbon and are unlikely to be sold soon due to licensing delays, the paper says. One property is located in the Amoreiras area, on Rua Artilharia 1, in front of the Dom Pedro hotel, while the other plot is situated in the Olivais Sul area, in front of the Xerox facilities.
michael.bruxo@portugalresident.com
