With over 30 years of experience in the real estate market, you’ve witnessed significant shifts in investment trends in Portugal. Could you share some insights into how the market has evolved over the years?
I have been professionally in the real estate market for over 30 years and have witnessed significant changes in how investments are made in Portugal. Until the end of the last century, investment was mainly carried out by individual entrepreneurs, poorly organized in business terms and very connected to large construction companies.
Today, the market has become international and is dominated by funds and investment offices, professional and highly organized.
The market has been segmented into increasingly specialized products: student accommodation, co-living, co-working, service apartments, senior living, and other forms of market presence are current realities. These are examples of alternative living solutions now prevalent in the market. It is not by chance that English terminology has become dominant in defining different products.
You have been involved in a diverse range of projects throughout your career. Can you tell us more about some of the significant projects you have worked on?
My focus has always been real estate development, but I have also built significant projects, such as Nova Eborae, a multi-use development in Évora, in 2008. Middle-class housing on the south bank of the Tejo, in 1998/99. I designed and coordinated the construction of the Xior student residence in Asprela (Porto), in 2020/21.
Multi-use projects, middle-class housing, tourist resorts, and more recently student residences are market segments I have been involved in, integrated into different companies, always as a partner and administrator.
At Frontino-Turismo SA, I invested in the largest real estate project in Évora, resulting in Nova Eborae, with over a hundred apartments and commercial and service spaces.
At the time, Nova Eborae was the largest real estate investment in Évora. This multi-use development, completed in 2008, includes over a hundred apartments, commercial areas, and service spaces. The project was challenging, involving the requalification of a significant area of the city, and integrating the EDP substation that supplies electricity to Évora. Nova Eborae not only provided new housing options but also created a dynamic and multifunctional space, attracting new businesses and offering high-quality residential options for Évora, right next to the city walls.
Still at Frontino-Turismo SA, I led the design and licensing of the Évora Resort, a tourist development with golf, hotels, apartments, and tourist villas, with 280 thousand square meters of construction. The subprime crisis made it impossible to implement the project, which was ready to build from a licensing point of view, with a positive environmental impact statement.
Recently, at Lusocastelo, of which I am managing partner, acquired a 40% stake in the Vila Franca de Xira shopping center, and we are creating the conditions to move forward with the requalification of this space, with over 30 thousand square meters, which has been closed for over twenty years.
At the same time, at Lusocastelo, a student residence project is underway, with nearly 300 rooms.It is a demanding project in terms of licensing, as the plot was originally designated for a medical clinic, and it was necessary to change it to economic activities, which has already been achieved. It is an investment to be realized in 2025, bringing a new activity to Odivelas.
Can you discuss some of the other recent developments you’ve been involved in?
I was the founder of the UHUB-Student Residences group, which built around 1500 rooms in a few years, in Lisbon and Porto. The UHUB Group built three large residences and licensed a fourth, two in Porto and two in Lisbon.
To build the Asprela residence, with 456 rooms, I led the acquisition, design, and approval in the City Hall of a plot of land with numerous problems, including the need to resolve the situation of several residents. All within about three years.
Also in Porto, I led the purchase of land and the approval of a subdivision in the city center, with over 25 thousand square meters of construction, for a senior residence and another for students. I also coordinated the project and licensing of the student residence, which will have over 500 units, including suites and studios.
These two investments in Porto, totaling over a thousand rooms, were led by me from the land acquisition to urban design and subsequent project licensing in the City Hall.
It required a lot of initiative, persistence, technical knowledge, and dealing with interlocutors to be able to sign an urbanization contract involving the Ministry of Finance and the Porto City Hall, which opened the possibility for subdivision and subsequently the approval of the two large projects, for students and seniors.
What excites you about the collaboration with Alea Capital Partners?
I joined ALEA as an Advisor to help develop the fantastic pipeline they have in student residences and other ways to invest in the alternative living solutions market.
I have confidence in this team, which is already becoming a truly relevant player in specialized projects in various market segments. It is with the ALEA team that I will continue to develop quality and innovative projects in the market of alternative living solutions.