In an interview to Expresso, the Belgian investor confirmed the plans to invest in the Portuguese real estate market, through the purchase of new assets for development – both through rehabilitation and new developments. But, in the meanwhile, KREST Real Estate Investments is committed to move forward with the projects it has on the pipeline.
That is the case of the K-Tower, a 50 million euro investment which will be constructed next to Torre do Oriente, within Parque das Nações and which will be composed by a 13 floor office building and by the 224 room hotel Moxy, the first unit from group Marriott’s sub-brand in Portugal. «The hotel will be finished in April 2020 and the offices will begin to be constructed in July 2020 and will be ready in September 2022», the CEO revealed to the weekly newspaper.
In Oeiras, within the terrain it purchased from Novo Banco in 2019, KREST is preparing to start, during the first quarter of 2020, the construction works at the Jardim de Miraflores, composed by three residential buildings with 119 apartments and private pools, gym, commercial and service areas and 274 parking spots. The construction works are expected to be finished by the third quarter of 2022. This project represents a 55 million euro investment.
Further North, in Porto, Claude Kandiyoti’s company has already invested 15 million euro in a terrain next to the Campanhã railway station where it plans to construct an office building, and is now waiting for the municipal masterplan to be defined for that area.
In the South, in the Algarve, the company is already developing two projects estimated at 90 million euro: the Lakes 24, which will develop 24 new apartments in Vilamoura and which will start being constructed «within three or four months»; and Forte Novo, a 124 apartment complex in Quarteira whose construction works are expected to start «within a year».
On its portfolio, KREST also has a set of 11 office buildings acquired in an auction from the Portuguese State in 2014, for 46.5 million euro – which marked the beginning of the company’s activity in Portugal.
These projects alone represent a 256.5 million euro investment made using mostly the company’s own funds. «Up until three years ago it was not possible to get financing for projects in Portugal and a company had to use its own funds in order to invest and that is why there were no new constructions. We bought buildings from the state and the terrain at Parque das nações using only our own funds, without any loans from the banks», he said in the same interview.