The former Retail Park in Portimão, destroyed by fire in September 2012, may be back in business. The land, which is now cleared of the wreckage of old commercial buildings, is one of five retail parks purchased, for around 100 million euros, by an American investment fund.
Identified as «Portimão Plot» (which in English means only “lot”), the former retail algarvio is part of the package acquired from the British Land fund by Multi Corporation, the real estate asset management platform of the American fund Blackstone.
In addition to Portimão, the operation also includes the retail parks from Sintra, Viana do Castelo, Santarém and Aveiro, and the Algarve is the only one that is not in operation.
However, the plans of the new owners for the space are still unknown, which has a total area of 79 thousand square meters.
Joaquim Castelão Rodrigues, vice president of the Portimão Chamber, told the Sul Informação that the municipality "has not received any contact either from the fund or from any company" interested in reactivating the Retail Park.
«Right now, Retail is an empty lot, already infrastructured and prepared. Anyone who wants to move forward can do so, simply informing the Chamber of the intention to rebuild», explained Castelão Rodrigues.
The Retail Park land, after the fire that devastated it in 2012, was almost abandoned for two years, with the wreckage of buildings destroyed by the fire rotting and creating problems for neighbors, in the locality of Chão das Donas. It was the current municipal executive chaired by Isilda Gomes who ordered the cleaning of the debris and the consolidation of the space.
The five retail parks The purchases reinforce the portfolio of assets of Multi Corporation, which already owns Alverca Park and which, in the Algarve, manages Albufeira Retail Park, and in the rest of the country Braga Retail Center and Lago Discount.
According to the newspaper Expresso, the company also manages 11 shopping centers in Portugal, including Forum Almada or Armazéns do Chiado, an outlet (Campera) and three office centres.
See photos of the current status of Retail Park in Portimão:
(Photos: Elisabete Rodrigues|Sul Informação)
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