Sonae puts 49 Douro hectares up for sale

Sonae Capital has abandoned plans for a €60 million mega hotel project in Gondomar near Porto.

Now the company is looking for buyers for Douro Riverhill which comprises the Varziela and Azenha estates. There were plans to build two hotels and 298 villas.
The Douro Riverhill project which overlooks the river had been in the planning phase since 2008, but Sonae Capital put the project on ice as the financial crisis loomed.
The parcels of land have been on the market since the beginning of the year with a price ticket of €6 million and has several potential buyers.
According to a marketing teaser which the online news source ECO got hold of, the land up for sale is “just 30 minutes from Porto airport, on the banks of the River Douro, and covers 490,000m2. It comprises the Quinta da Azenha and Quinta da Varizela and stretches from the park Campidouro to Melres in an area known as ‘Alto Conselho’” (The High District).
“It is perfect refuge destination for holidaymakers and people on business trips”, but it is also “an exclusive destination for the residential market”.
The project already has planning permission for the development of 58,594m2 for two hotels with 1,913 beds and two residential/tourism hotels and 298 villas as well as the possibility of developing commercial and services areas, including a small supermarket and a quayside on the River Douro.