Iconic Embaixada to become luxury hotel

Lisbon’s iconic Embaixada building in Príncipe Real, currently housing artisanal shops, an indoor and garden restaurant, and a gin bar, is to be converted by developers EastBanc into a 50-room hotel.

Once the Palácio Ribeiro da Cunha, EastBanc will invest €20 million to cover the cost of the works on the Lisbon mansion, according to Tiago Eiró, managing director of EastBanc in Portugal.
According to ECO online, the hotel brand that will be responsible for managing the new unit is still unknown. The front part of the building will serve as the main entrance of the hotel that will extend back to incorporate the additional buildings and the old stables, which will be converted into rooms and other public areas.
The mansion, built on Praça do Príncipe Real between 1877 and 1879 by the rich businessman José Ribeiro da Cunha as his town house, was designed by the architect Henrique Carlos Afonso who drew inspiration from the Moors and the Algerian/Moroccan/Tunisian styles popular in that decade of the 19th century.
Over time, the building saw various owners and uses, having been altered several times. For example, in the 1980s the top floor housed the rectory of Lisbon’s Nova University which remained there until 2005. Since 2013 it has been used as a shopping, bar and restaurant space.
It is just one of eight projects that the US developer EastBanc currently has underway with a total investment of €70 million.
This year, EastBanc will start work on refurbishing two buildings, also in Príncipe Real: a project on Alegria 76 with 31 apartments with homes built-to-rent, and Anjos Urban Palace, which will have offices and retail spaces. The latter will be presented to the market in March with works expected to be completed in 2025.
EastBanc specialises in the acquisition, redevelopment and management of commercial real estate assets, in particular in the area of urban revitalisation.
In addition to its core assets in Washington DC, and rehabilitation projects in Georgetown, US, apart from Portugal and the US, it has pursued opportunities in other parts of Europe, North and South America, and the Arabian Gulf.
The company was founded by Anthony Lanier, President and CEO and is managed together with his son, Philippe Lanier.