BCP sells 111 ha of development land

The Portuguese bank BCP has put 111 hectares of prime development land near Lisbon up for sale for the construction of middle class housing.

Located in Amadora, between Lisbon and Sintra, the bank is already working with the local council to make part of the land available for affordable housing.
The huge parcel of land is near to Amadora, a dormitory town for commuters who have traditionally not enjoyed the income to live in the nearby Portuguese capital.
The town is noted for its rich ethic diversity with significant first, second and third generation communities from Portugal’s former African colonies Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde and Guinea Bissau. It is also popular among Brazilians. It is also near the lovely Baroque palace of Queluz and the Sintra park heritage site with its cluster of palaces.
The 111 hectare VillaFundo plots of land are owned by bank BCP and are being marketed and sold by Cushman & Wakefield, but the value of the land or its ticket price has not been revealed.
From the total, 38 hectares of land are considered free for urban development, meaning new build housing.
The projects will also feature commercial and services areas, as well as green and leisure spaces.
In accordance with the current local Land Use Master Plan (PDM), around 250,000m2 of above-ground construction may be developed. The bank is currently working with Amadora Municipal Council in defining subunits with distinct characteristics to develop mostly high-density residential projects for the middle classes.
“It will become the largest and most significant housing estate project in Greater Lisbon in the coming years,” according to a communiqué sent by Cushman & Wakefield on 20 April.
The property will be developed in the parish of Mina, from the train line as far as the Moinhos da Funcheira neighbourhood and will have good rail and road access to Lisbon and all other points of Greater Lisbon.
“These plots of land have all the best conditions to develop the much talked about 15-minutes city concept which aims to improve the quality of life of citizens by turning developments into places where everything is within 15 minutes reach by foot, bike and public transport,” states C&W.
Ana Gomes, partner and director of C&Ws Development and Living Department calls the project a “rare opportunity of future large-scale development in an exceptional urban location at an extremely competitive price and in an area which is increasingly more strategic, especially when taking into consideration the growing need for modern and flexible housing for the middle class.”
VillaFundo was in the hands of a number of private entities in the second half of the last century until the land was acquired by a company owned by, among others, José Guilherme, the builder of Amadora and who became know to the Portuguese for having gifted Ricardo Salgado, the then president of bank BES with €14 million who classified the “present” from the entrepreneur as a “donation”.
Shortly after, in 2006 the company, Moinho de Vila Chã sold the huge plot of land to VillaFundo, managed by BCP.