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Revive: Another 12 Historic Properties to Be Auctioned

16 June 2018

The heritage property recovery program for the tourism industry has already attracted the interest of roughly one hundred international groups.

The Revive program, a governmental initiative for the recovery of abandoned public properties that are considered to have historical value, has gained traction. By the end of the year, 12 new public tenders will be launched, adding to the three already in progress, which means that more than half of the 33 buildings that are part of the project will be on the market. Now, the initiative is beginning to enter a new phase. The program has attracted the interest of national tourism groups as well as many foreign investors.

The Vila Galé is in the midst of rebuilding the São Paulo Convent, an 18th-century building in the historic centre of Elvas and the first to be granted through public tender. Jorge Rebelo de Almeida’s company will invest close to six million euros in the convent’s rehabilitation, developing an 80-room hotel. The executive has no intention of staying put either. Vila Galé has drawn up the tender specifications for the Coudelaria de Alter concession, launched in April, and is keeping an eye on the program in general. “I believe there will be another two or three buildings that may interest us and that we may analyse further,” Mr de Almeida stated.

“The Coudelaria (stud farm) has tremendous potential, and the region of Alter is beautiful, but it also has a number of associated risks,” he said, adding that he is not yet certain that he will apply. In his opinion, Alter do Chão may not yet be a very attractive place for tourists to visit and spend the night in the region. “It is still a site where people pass through, and a large hotel project may not be viable.” Although he is interested in the project, the executive argued for the need for “some public investment by the Lezírias Company ” to revitalise the stud farm and give some new life to the complex. Regardless, the company has already analysed the project and forecasts that the rehabilitation will cost around seven to eight million euros.

The Pestana Pousadas Group has already announced its interest in four or five buildings that are part of the program. “We are interested in becoming a candidate for just for or five of the properties that have been announced,” said Luis Castanheira Lopes, president of the group, adding that the properties are in the regions of Lisbon and the Algarve.

International investors have also looked at the program with interest. According to the Secretary of State for Tourism, “we have received at least one hundred expressions of interest in properties included in the Revive program.” However, the three properties awarded in public tenders so far all went to Portuguese groups. The Pavilions of the D. Carlos I Park, in Caldas da Rainha, went to the Visabeira group, which is now responsible for adapting the building into a hotel. The MRG group won the concession to the Hotel Turismo da Guarda, and the Convent of São Paulo was handed over to Vila Galé.

This year, the Colégio de São Fiel, a building in the municipality of Castelo Branco, which was affected by last summer’s wildfires, the Coudelaria de Alter and, more recently, the Convent of Santa Clara, in Vila do Conde, were all opened to public tender. The government is still accepting proposals for all three. Two proposals to rehabilitate the Quinta do Paço de Valverde, in Évora, adapting it to a hotel, are also under analysis.

Of the 12 properties to be launched by the end of the year, the first three will be the Casa de Marrocos in Idanha-a-Nova, the Santa Catarina Fort in Portimão and the Convent of Santo António dos Capuchos in Leiria, according to the Secretary of State for Tourism.

The Revive program is an initiative that was launched two years ago by the Ministries of Finance, Economy and Culture. The program focuses on the recovery of public property considered to have historical value, with a view to generating economic growth through tourism in the territories where they are located, many of which are in Portugal’s hinterland. The companies that are granted concessions to the properties are obliged to carry out the proposed project while paying rent, calculated considering the investment necessary for the recovery of the properties, to the State.

According to the Secretary of State for Tourism, there are other criteria required for the regional strategy, such as components including training, which was included in the Hotel Turismo da Guarda concession. Each public tender delineates the permitted uses for the respective building, which do not necessarily have to be converted into hotels, as long as the focus is tourism.

The buildings included in this first phase of the program were the subject of architectural studies by the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage, which established rules and parameters for interventions, and historical and artistic studies by the Universidade Nova de Lisboa’s Institute of Art History. The program’s new phase is expected to be launched by the end of the year.

Original Story: Dinheiro Vivo – Sónia Santos Pereira

Photo: Leonardo Negrão / Global Images

Translation: Richard Turner