Brazil: Prominent Rio de Janeiro “A Noite” building auction receives no bids

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The third attempt to sell the building called “A Noite” did not receive proposals in the auction held on July 14 by the Department of Coordination and Governance of the Union Property (SPU), the Ministry of Economy.

The price for the 102-meter-high building with a constructed area of 29,377 square meters was stipulated at R$38.5 million (US$7.1 million).

Designed by architect Joseph Gire in partnership with Elisiário da Cunha Bahiana, the 22-story art deco building, considered historic for being the first skyscraper in Latin America, started being built in 1927 and was inaugurated on September 7, 1929, on the lot where the old Portuguese Literary High School used to be, at Praça Mauá, a port area in Rio de Janeiro.

Gire was the architect who also designed other prominent buildings in the city, such as the Copacabana Palace and Glória hotels, in the southern zone.

The building, built to house the newspaper A Noite, also underwent a strategy of attracting sophisticated tenants with businesses identified with modernity and housed Pan American World Airways, Pan Am, and the Dutch company Royal Philips Electronics, Philips.

In May 1933, the A Noite group expanded its business and established the Sociedade Civil Brasileira Rádio Nacional. With the prefix PRE-8, Rádio Nacional was inaugurated on September 12, 1936. The station’s successful programs marked Brazilian life, integrating the country through the radio waves.

In 1940, the A Noite building passed into the hands of the Union during Getúlio Vargas’ government.

Rádio Nacional, the broadcaster of the Empresa Brasil de Comunicação (EBC), operated there until 2012, when it was transferred to other facilities in Lapa, also in downtown Rio, because the building would undergo renovations.

The A Noite building also housed the National Institute of Intellectual Property (Inpi), which left the site in the same year.

According to the Ministry of Economy, the building, which is currently unused by the Union, generates costs of over R$2 million per year to the public coffers, spending on elevator maintenance, security, firefighters, and utility fees.

The sale attempt was through the Property Acquisition Proposal (PAI), which allows purchase offers for Union properties made by individuals or companies. In the notice of sale, the folder informed that any interested party could participate in the bidding.

To do so, they only needed to “access the VendasGov portal, send the offer and comply with the requirements of the notice, such as making the required deposit. To qualify, it is necessary to attach proof of payment of the deposit, equivalent to 5% of the property’s appraised value.

The highest bidder will win, and the deposit will be fully returned if the bid presented is not the winner.

With information from Agência Brasil