Stories over the weekend in UK tabloids focused on the agony of TV stars Ant and Dec who both “face losing £2.5million each” as a result of the €278 million collapse of The Keys development, at Quinta do Lago.
But sources within the real estate industry stress the news is “really quite old”, and that the much newer story is the interest, behind the scenes, in creating this exclusive development that remains for all the heartache “a substantial asset in one of the premium zones for real estate in Southern Europe”.
Said an industry expert this week: “Given that the market conditions are very strong, I have no doubt indeed that the prospect of buying the debt and creating a development here is being looked at. We just don’t know at this point by whom…”
Our source stressed it was inconceivable that The Keys would not move forwards in one form or other. “Something will happen”, he said. “We just don’t know when”.
The Brexit referendum result and furore it created played a major part in the collapse of the original developer, Birchview Imobiliária SA, whose president is listed as having been Briton Mark William Lenherr.
Birchview put in for special PER funding in a desperate bid to keep going, but lenders Caixa Geral de Depósitos (Portugal’s State-funded bank actively exiting loss-making loans) said a firm ‘no’ last year (click here).
How the situation will turn out for Ant and Dec is obviously a very different matter. The much-loved duo is apparently ‘gutted’ and the stories describing Ant McPartlin’s possible move to live in Portugal earlier this year were all just speculation (click here).
The Algarve Removals van photographed outside the star’s house was in fact delivering the contents of his Portuguese villa back to the UK, said the Daily Mail, stressing that the star’s misery is one shared by many other rich VIPs and media personalities who paid vast sums to reserve a dream property in the resort which now sits praying for better days.
natasha.donn@algarveresident.com
