British investor snaps up famous Porto tart store

A British investor has bought the space occupied by Porto’s iconic custard cream tart store Castro for €1.7 million.

In a deal supported by Athena Advisers and JLL, it is not clear if the site currently occupied by the confectioners which makes the famous Portuguese custard cream tarts in the city’s historic downtown has been bought as a going concern or will be subject to a change of use.
The 207m2 store is within a recently refurbished building on the city’s Rua Mouzinho da Silveira and Largo de São Luís. The space has currently been rented out to the Plateform group since 2019 and is home to the first Castro – Atelier de Pastéis de Nata (the artisan confectioners bakery and cake shop in which tourists can see the famous tarts being made).
In the deal, Athena Advisers represented the buyer in what was its first acquisition in Portugal. JLL acted on behalf of the shop owner, a private Portuguese entity.
David Moura-George, director of Athena Advisers in Portugal, said, “This is a particularly interesting transaction, not just because we are seeing a private entity investing in commercial sector products but also because it is retail, a sector which has been among one of the sectors that most suffered from the pandemic.
“This shows that confidence in the real estate sector as an investment asset has not been shaken and that even in times of crisis it continues to show attractive returns and a market behaviour that is less risky than other investment categories.”
Fernando Ferreira, Head of Capital Markets at JLL said, “Well located high street assets that are rented out to solid retailers will continue to attract investors, even in the current economic climate in which sales and footfall have been compromised by the pandemic.
“In this case the business “is an excellent property in a prime location with first class tenant in the F&B area and at an investment price tag that is admirably suited to the private investor profile which normally spends between €1 and €10 million.”