93
93

Government of Madeira Puts Building on Sale for 12.6 Million Euros

10 August 2018

The Madeiran government has already raised close to 10 million euros through the sale of non-strategic real estate and corporate assets.

The regional government of Madeira wants to raise at least 12.6 million euros with the sale of a historic building located in the centre of Funchal. The Golden Building, where numerous Madeiran municipal services operate, will be sold by public auction on September 11.

The bid base has been set at 12.6 million euros, but the Madeiran government believes that the final sales price may be higher. “Proposals must indicate a bid that is equal to or greater than [the base bid] and bidding during the public auction may, therefore, result in a higher value,” the vice president of the Madeiran government, Pedro Calado, told Público.

The Madeiran government also recently sold the Café Golden, similar to Lisbon’s A Brasileira or Porto’s Majestic, in December 2016. The historic establishment, founded in 1841 and occupying part of the building’s two lower floors, was sold for 4.75 million euros.

The base bid had been set at two million euros, but 33 bids later the café, known as ‘The Corner of the World’, due to a literary reference in the work of Ferreira de Castro, was claimed by a Madeiran emigrant based in Miami. Madeira, which owns the property, received half of that money with the rest going to Millennium BCP, which owned the Café Golden. The Madeiran government is hoping to see the interest in the café replicated in the bidding for the rest of the building, which has excellent potential for real estate and tourism development.

As soon as he took office in 2015, the government of the Social Democrat Miguel Albuquerque launched a plan to evaluate the region’s public real estate assets. The objective, Pedro Calado explained, has been to sell any property that is not strategic. “[The sales] are intended to maximize the value of real estate assets and maximize their financial contribution to the region, channelling the proceeds of these sales to the continued reduction of its costs with outstanding liabilities,” the vice president stated, adding that the proceeds from the sale of the Golden Building will also serve to fund the “social commitments” envisioned in the Regional Budget of 2018.

To date, Funchal has already raised nearly 10 million euros from the sale of real estate assets and shareholdings. After the sale of the Café Golden, Funchal also sold its participation in the Cimentos Madeira group to Secil, which already controlled the Madeiran cement factory. Secil paid 4.5 million euros for the 42.86% held by the Madeiran government, and now controls 100% of the group comprised by Brimade (aggregates), Pedra Regional (transformation), Beto Madeira (production and sale of concrete) and LCM (independent laboratory). The government also sold the Jornal da Madeira, though for a symbolic price of 10,000 euros, and its holdings in sports companies.

Meanwhile, several public buildings were sold, yielding between 12,000 and 910,000 euros, while houses near Porto Santo Beach, where the former president of the Madeiran government Alberto João Jardim and members of the executive closest to him holidayed over Easter and summer. The houses are now to be used in tourism, in a deal that yielded 550,000 euros for a 15-year contract.

The sales will continue, says Pedro Calado. The sale of eight more properties by public auction is also scheduled in September. Among them is the former site of the Caniçal health centre, located in a parish on the eastern end of Madeira, along with the Porto Santo slaughterhouse. “[The government] is also looking at the sale of other urban buildings, which are under preparation and which are expected to be completed by the end of the year,” the regional government’s vice-president concluded.

Original Story: Público – Márcio Berenguer

Photo: Gregorio Cunha

Translation: Richard Turner