“The dynamics of street commerce are unstoppable, and the proof of this is that new commercial clusters are consolidating both in Lisbon and Porto. This movement owes itself, on the one hand, to the expansion of urban regeneration in more zones of the two cities, and, on the other, to the tourist ‘boom’, as well as to changes in Portuguese consumer habits”, comments Patrícia Araújo, Head of Retail da JLL Portugal. Without forgetting the “re-emergence of the residential neighbourhood living, which has been responsible for dynamism in zones exclusively residential, where activity on the part of national operators of convenience together with concepts of neighbourhood commerce”, she adds.
For the specialist, “It is healthy to see that each segment is finding its place and each zone is creating its own specific profile. Furthermore, it is not just consolidated brands, be they national or international, that are choosing this format to establish themselves. There are also several examples of innovative entrepreneurialism which are opening shops in Lisbon and Porto ”, she continues.
In Lisbon, Cais do Sodré is one of the ‘new’ retail zones which has become established as a restaurant zone which could be called ‘trendy’ or ‘alternative’. Here, the prime rent in the 3rd trimester of the year was 35 €/m²/month, over 30 euros in the Rua Castilho and below 40 €/ m²/ month in the Príncipe Real.
Towards the North, the Clérigos e Aliados zones stand out, situated in the ‘premium’ segment where shortly new housing and retail projects will multiply. It can be treated as a destination of the premium segment, a prime destination. In this city, commercial street rents continue to be based on values used on the Rua de Santa Catarina, the central downtown axis, and grew 22% in the past year, settling currently at 55 €/m²/month.
Meanwhile, destinations such as Santa Catarina, in Porto, or the Baixa and Chiado, in Lisbon, continue to be the most competitive in terms of street commerce, with rents of 90 €/m²/month or 120 €/m²/month, respectively.