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CML Negotiates the Concession of the Old Military Maintenance Centre to Give (Still) More Life to Beato
1 June 2018
The area of Beato and Marvila, in Lisbon’s eastern zone, is “rising from the ashes.” The Beato Creative Hub (HCB), a project that is under development in the former facilities of the south wing of Military Maintenance Centre – including about 20 buildings spread over 35,000 square meters (m2) – can now grow significantly. At stake is the dynamization and rehabilitation of the centre’s northern wing, which has nothing less than another 100,000 m2.
The municipality is “in talks with the Army and the Treasury” regarding the possibility of receiving the concession for the north wing of the former Military Maintenance, according to Mayor Fernando Medina, president of the Lisbon City Council (CML). In total, an area of 135,000 m2 will be available, promising to attract many young entrepreneurs and companies to a trendy new zone in Portugal’s capital.
The goal is to “take advantage of this space for municipal development and extend the project [the HCB] north to the railway line,” Mayor Medina said after a presentation by the microbrewery Browers Beato. The mayor said that CML believes that the process – the concession negotiations – can be concluded later this year, which would allow “the masterplan to be developed between 2018 and 2019.”
A theatre that could be renovated
“We want to locate new facilities, spaces and offerings in the northern wing that complement what we have here in this [southern] wing of the military maintenance centre,” the CML’s president stated, emphasising the new facility in the northern wing will not be a mere replica of the HCB, it would be something complementary.
“For example, in the northern wing, there is a theatre with capacity for about 800 people that can and should be renovated and be placed at the service of the city, there is a daycare centre, which can be expanded and extended to include other family support services, and there is an estate, which can be used for leisure as a green space,” he said.
Mayor Medina took the opportunity to confirm that Daimler (Mercedes) will open an innovation centre in HCB. The German company will be joined by the, also German, Factory, which is expected to occupy an area of 11,000 m2. All this will be built in the former facilities of the southern wing of Military Maintenance centre.
He added that “there are ongoing negotiations” for the as yet unallocated areas in the HCB, and he said he expects to see the whole space functioning at a very accelerated pace starting in 2019: “By 2020 we will already be dealing with the final development of the project’s last units in the southern wing. ”
Original Story: Idealista
Translation: Richard Turner