The Residences Vale do Lobo mark the “first new branded residences at Vale do Lobo in the past two decades”
Algarve resort Vale do Lobo is investing €200 million in over 200 new luxury homes over the next six years. Delivered in four phases, the 227 homes will be located in a “prime, verdant area” of Vale do Lobo called Vale Real (“Royal Valley”).
The first phase of 44 homes known as The Residences Vale do Lobo will mark the “first new branded residences at Vale do Lobo in the past two decades,” according to Alda Filipe, Vale do Lobo Board Member and Partner at Kronos Homes.
The official launch of The Residences Vale do Lobo will take place in the first quarter of the year when construction of the first properties will begin, Alda Filipe told the Resident this Friday.
Sales are open exclusively to property owners in Vale do Lobo, while other interested investors are being placed on a waiting list until the official launch date which is expected in March.
“We have great respect for these owners, who are the ones with access to the most detailed information,” the board member said, adding that “these are people who have been with us for years and continue to invest in the resort.
“They are very important to us, of course, but we also want to attract new buyers,” Alda Filipe added.
In-depth look at The Residences Vale do Lobo
The first phase of The Residences Vale do Lobo will feature 25 apartments with communal gardens, pool and parking, ranging in size from 125sqm to 235sqm. Prices will start from €1.4 million for a two-bedroom apartment, from €1.7 million for a three-bedroom apartment and from €2.6 million for an apartment with four bedrooms.
The Residences Vale do Lobo will also include nine semi-detached houses, also featuring communal gardens and swimming pool, allocated parking and ample storage. The homes will range in size from 148sqm to 193sqm, with prices starting from €1.7 million for a two-bedroom home. Three-bedroom and four-bedroom houses will be priced from €1.77 million and €2.65 million, respectively.
A further 10 properties will make up the remainder of the first phase of the new Vale Real development. These townhouses will occupy plots ranging in size from 534sqm to 787sqm, with internal areas of between 212sqm and 298sqm. Each home will have a private garden, private pool, parking and storage areas.
The Residences Vale do Lobo have been designed by Broadway Malyan – the global architecture firm behind Battersea Reach and Miami Cruise Terminal – and are being built in line with the BREEAM accreditation, “ensuring sustainability is at the heart of their design and construction,” the resort says.
The homes will be available to purchase off-plan, with payment terms that Alda Filipe describes as “unparalleled in the current market”. Buyers will pay 20% of the purchase price during construction, with the final 80% due on completion.
New dawn for Vale do Lobo
Iberian developer Kronos Homes took over the ownership and management of Vale do Lobo in 2023, as part of a vast acquisition of real estate and tourism businesses acquired by the US-based Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP. As part of the deal, Kronos was tasked with repositioning and modernising the luxury resort.
“Vale do Lobo was the largest real estate portfolio ever sold in the Algarve, comprising a series of assets,” Alda Filipe, with 25 years’ experience in the luxury real estate market, told the Resident. “We are the operational partner for the entire real estate component and have the responsibility for Vale do Lobo in terms of repositioning and investment. It’s a bit different from management and investment funds,” she explained.
A huge amount of activity has taken place since then, with “significant enhancements” made to Vale do Lobo’s Tennis Academy, including the addition of new padel courts, a new gym and a new restaurant, Smash. All of this is now under the direct management of Vale do Lobo, as is the resort’s golf shop and new Tinto and Doce restaurants.
On the real estate front, Vale do Lobo has seen “an extraordinary number of sales” in the past two years, according to Alda Filipe. The resort has seen enormous demand for land plots, where buyers can construct their own bespoke properties, resulting in some €100 million of sales. Many buyers already own property at Vale do Lobo – some 30% of sales are from clients who have already invested in the resort.
Kronos Homes’ arrival at Vale do Lobo was warmly welcomed by the market, Alda Filipe said, which realised that the resort was on its way to “reaching the level of excellence that it deserves.”
“The market realised that there is a new shareholder structure that is bringing a new dimension and investing in the resort,” she said.
“We have been injecting money, but above all, strategically repositioning what is Portugal’s largest resort, which deserved and needed this. It’s a mix of power, financial capability, and vision,” she explained. “The market has clearly responded to and understood the work we were doing. Now, we are very proud to say that we are launching the first real estate development project in 20 years for the resort”.
“I can guarantee that selling €100 million-worth of plots in less than two years is absolutely extraordinary. This is the most difficult product to sell because we need to find buyers who can afford a €2 million plot and then invest another €4 million or €5 million to build a villa. So, this is a niche within a niche, for a very small base of clients with this financial capacity,” the Kronos Homes partner said. “This year, we have just sold two plots for €5 million each. Our residences start at €1.4 million, and we will deliver a finished product.”
In the past two years, clients have been primarily British, Irish and Portuguese. “Vale do Lobo has always been a resort where 60% of the owners are British and Irish. That’s our base,” said Alda Filipe, adding that the resort has always had a wide range of nationalities. However, there has been a “significant increase in demand from Portuguese buyers acquiring plots for construction” in the last two years.
Meanwhile, another “very, very special project” is in the pipeline at Vale do Lobo: a development near the Tennis Academy, in the Vale de Santo António area, with around 100 houses.
By BRUNO FILIPE PIRES
