Is Rio de Janeiro Real Estate Booming Again?

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – According to the main corporate real estate market analysts, whenever the corporate office market warms up, the demand from companies starts for the most modern buildings, and for those with the largest infrastructures, as well as for those with the most floors.

According to Wilton Alves, of Sergio Castro Real Estate brokers, the largest national consultancy specialized in commercial real estate, “large corporations favor floors with the largest possible number of square meters and no pillars, as this greatly enhances the company’s operation: they call it ‘Open Space’, or ‘open concept'”.

Also according to Alves, commercial buildings in Rio de Janeiro that cover more than 1000m2 and have no pillars are very scarce. He says when companies are subdivided into smaller floors, “they necessarily break these down into departments, forcing them to have additional managers or supervisors”.

The Presidente Business Center building is one of these very few buildings. Each of its floors covers an open area of 2,400m2, with no pillars. The building is called “giant” by specialized brokers. It features 300 parking spots for visitors, plus 20 parking spots per floor, located 4km from the South Zone, 200 meters from the subway and also close to Santos Dumont Airport. The building is located in Cidade Nova, on Presidente Vargas Avenue. It is one of the only modern buildings in the vicinity of the Sambadrome and the Sulamérica Convention Center.

According to realtor Lucio Pinheiro, the building is massive and has been in great demand since last year. “It’s too cheap for what it offers,” according to the realtor. “I had never seen a building with 15 elevators”, Pinheiro said, pointing out the constructive will of the building’s administration with requests from tenants for the President Business Center. “If tenants need more space or exclusive elevators, they will study it, the building is so massive and modern that virtually anything is possible”.

The market has recognized this. In recent months, several large companies have started to move to the “Giant on President Vargas”. The Cateno card operator, of the Banco do Brasil, was one of them. On its heels came ESSS, a software development company, and the GEAP Health Group, which is one of the largest health plan operators in the country. “Although the market is still very slow, vacancy rates have greatly decreased, and always first in buildings with greater infrastructures”, emphasizes Wilton Alves, who manages the full property rental area of the traditional Sergio Castro.

The building’s immense granite lobby is impressive, as it resembles the reception of a large government palace, with an exit to two streets. According to one of the doormen, while the Rio de Janeiro Forum was under construction, all the Circuit Courts operated in the building, which belongs to a real estate administrator that also owns the well-known Atlântica Business Center, the only business building on the Copacabana waterfront.

“Today the Presidente is one of Sergio Castro’s priorities,” says Alves, who has received several calls from companies seeking open spaces with no pillars in modern buildings. “At this time when there is still a retraction in the market, no one wants an old building, only if it is in an excellent prime location”, adds Alves, who during the interview was escorting a Japanese company visiting the Giant’s floors.