A new edition of MIPIM, the most important fair dedicated to real estate investment, takes place in Cannes, from 15 to 18 March, and the Lisbon and Porto chambers are present in their own stands to promote some of the main projects in the city.
In an interview with Vida Imobiliária - the Portuguese magazine of Grupo Iberinmo, giving his first impressions of the event, Carlos Moedas, Mayor of Lisbon, assured that «Lisbon's presence at MIPIM is very important for the city, to show its real estate potential and to present projects of the city», as exemplified by the Affordable Income Program, and "to support those who are in private investment". The mayor highlights that «the city still has a great lack of capital, and it is important to understand that attracting investment is the biggest mission for a Prime Minister or a Mayor».
Rui Moreira, Mayor of Porto, considers that «this is certainly the most important fair in which we participate, along with Expo Real. We are once again present with an improved stand, in partnership with several real estate agents. It is an institutional presence, and also showcases various projects in the city, such as affordable income, such as student residences. It is the ideal place to show what is being done in the city, and to find partners interested in making these investments with us», he tells Vida Imobiliária.
300,000 sqm of affordable rent in Lisbon are looking for interested parties
Specifically, Lisbon takes three concession projects from the municipal Affordable Income Program to MIPIM, namely in Alto da Ajuda, Olaias and Vale de Santo António.
Altogether, these projects total more than 300,000 square meters and, therefore, Carlos Moedas considers them to be "transformative", and recalls that «Lisbon needs investment and also an affordable income. If the city doesn't have a balanced social fabric, it doesn't work. Lisbon has to learn and balance this mesh with municipal housing and also with affordable income, which is interesting for investors, and so far we have not had this capacity to attract». For this reason, he guarantees that the municipality is working to «modify criteria to make the program more attractive».
Carlos Moedas also assures that the municipality is working on streamlining urban planning processes, which are so often referred to as one of the main obstacles to investment. He recalls that a new team has already been created in urban planning, «a sort of commission for Social Dialogue between services, which work on a weekly basis, which brings everyone together around the table». CML continues its digitization process, and the process manager has also been created, who monitors the entire licensing process from beginning to end.
«Lisbon is an open city, which thanks those who wanted to invest, which will do everything to treat investors in a transparent, dignified way, with quick responses. Invest in Lisbon, which has enormous potential for investment and takes care of its investors», concludes Carlos Moedas.
Porto Chamber promotes affordable housing and Build to Rent projects
Rui Moreira recalled that the city has several large real estate projects underway, some «purely public», such as the Lordelo do Outro project, but others will be carried out in partnership with private parties, such as Monte da Bela.
«Affordable housing and Build to Rent on municipal land are the main projects we present here. We have no problem doing these projects in partnership with private companies. Today there is a huge lack of affordable housing, we need to go beyond social income», says the mayor.
He recalls that the concession tender for the Monte da Bela project, launched in 2021, “did not go well, it was not the right time”, and that now the municipality will be responsible for the project’s infrastructure, which, he believes, will give greater confidence for investors.
The same with the Monte Pedral project, which «is ready, and we have already discussed what to build in that area. The project is stabilized, and we are going to develop a student residence in partnership with the University of Porto». It will also have an office and housing component, totaling 330 dwellings, and it is for this component that «we are going to hold a competition to see how much interest the market has».
The Porto com Sentido project is also one of the highlights, a project that invites owners of empty houses, namely local accommodation, to lease their properties to CMP, which subleases them on the affordable rental market. Rui Moreira says he is “curious how today the rental market is still viewed with suspicion, even when the tenant is a city council”. The program started out slowly, but “fortunately, things have been accelerating, and we have contacts with interested investors here. If the CMP is an intermediary, it gives the owner more confidence to lower prices, which is our goal”, he explains.