Habitat Invest recovers Irish project at Quinta da Marinha

6 November 2018

The development is called Marinha Prime and construction will begin by the end of this year.

Many of the new developments that are currently under construction in Portugal are projects that belonged to companies that went under during the crisis and ended up transferring their assets to their creditor banks. Now, those banks are selling the properties at a more advantageous price.

Bayline, which is owned by Vanguard Properties and its head, the Frenchman Claude Berda, is an example. The new development is under construction in the Algarve. Another example is Bloom Marinha, which Zaphyra and Reformosa will develop at Quinta da Marinha, which Expresso first reported a month ago. It is also the case of Marinha Prime, a project that the developers Habitat Invest and Noronha Saches are undertaking at Quinta da Marinha.

According to Eduardo Portugal, the head of the commercial area at Habitat Invest, the land – located in the south part of Quinta da Marinha, next to the golf course – and the architectural project by the studio Promontório, belonged to an Irish company operated in Portugal during a total of 14 years, but left in 2010 due to the crisis, leaving the asset in the hands of Santander.

The two companies acquired the land, together with the project which had already been approved by the municipality, from Santander in 2017. Nevertheless, they managed to make some changes, which the Promontório studio also headed. “The plan had already been approved, so we decided to mess the total size too much, to not lose the approval. However, while the initial project planned for 80 units, we found that to be too dense, and we then dropped the plan to 55 units,” Mr Portugal stated.

In total, the developers will build 11 villas and 44 apartments, all with between one and four-bedrooms and areas between 82 and 267 square meters. 41 of the 55 units will have private swimming pools. The villas will also have private gardens, next to the golf course. “This development is very much for dedicated golfers,” Eduardo Portugal said. That view seems to make sense, considering that Prime Marinha will be for both permanent housing and tourism, like a resort.

€70-million in sales

According to the executive, construction and pre-sales for the Marinha Prime will begin “by the end of this year.” “We’ll star sales when we start construction. We already have the Prior Information Request (PIP) approved, and now we are just waiting for the construction license, which has been a little time consuming,” he said, without revealing the size of the planned investment. “I’d rather say The price of the 44 houses and 11 apartments in the luxury development amount justify the rather hefty figure. “The one-bedroom flats start at €550,000, and the houses and four-bedroom apartments cost slightly more than 2 million euros,” says Eduardo Portugal. The prices are high, but the executive says that they are far below others in the market in Cascais. “Prices are already equal or higher than those practised in Chiado, Lisbon. The average is now around 7,000 euros per square meter, and there are even houses at 12,000 euros per square meter,” he says.

Perhaps this is why they are already receiving contacts from potential buyers before the sales have even begun and about two years before the construction is expected to be completed, in 2020. “After Lisbon, it’s now Cascais that is starting to see a lot of demand,” he concluded.

Original Story: Jornal Expresso – Ana Baptista

Photo: D.R.

Translation: Richard Turner