The municipal company Sociedade de Gestão Urbana – SGU, SA has already launched a public tender for the rehabilitation and operation of eight properties owned by the Municipality of Vila Real de Santo António and by SGU itself, located in the city's historic centre.
The measure is the result of a program contract signed between the municipality and SGU, whose goal is the rehabilitation, operation and maintenance of the buildings and their transformation into charming hotels.
The eight properties are located in some of the most emblematic arteries of the municipality, such as Praça Marquês de Pombal or Rua 1º de Maio.
The list includes the former headquarters of Caixa Geral de Depósitos, in the heart of the Baixa, or the SGU service building. To these items will be added the old customs building, located in front of the Guadiana River, which will be the subject of an individual public tender, to be launched in a few days.
After being restored, the units will form an open-air tourist resort, based on the history of Vila Real de Santo António, creating a new tourist segment based on the preservation of heritage and cultural tourism.
The joint exploitation of the properties should allow the creation of a hotel, charming apartments and a design hotel.
The public tender launched takes the form of a negotiated procedure, whose object will be the concession of public works, with the successful tenderer acquiring, in return, the right to proceed with the exploration of the buildings through the offer of accommodation, during the period stipulated in the contract.
The buildings will be leased for a period of 25 years, during which private maintenance will be guaranteed. In turn, the contract signed between the municipality and SGU is valid for 30 years.
For the Mayor of Vila Real de Santo António Luís Gomes, the launch of this competition proves that the municipality «is betting on the enhancement of the urban heritage» and, simultaneously, «promoting the creation of employment and the reputation of the municipality as a whole. tourist destination'.
In the same vein, the mayor highlighted the importance of interconnecting the «economic and cultural aspects» in a single project, showing that Vila Real has «one of the most privileged historical centers in the entire Algarve». "We are talking about the differentiation of the destination, including at the international level", he noted.
“Even at a time of economic and financial restraint, this is a sign that investments can be created through partnerships and that the electoral lines we have set out to be fulfilled”, summarized Luís Gomes.
The Historic Center of Vila Real de Santo António is currently a good example of XNUMXth century architecture and urbanism – it is a factory city, founded on Enlightenment ideals – whose importance is identified and preserved in the Safeguard Plan of the Pombalino Nucleus of VRSA.
Comments