Old downtown commercial buildings give way to residential

Retrofit projects have been gaining prominence in the real estate market in Rio de Janeiro. In downtown Rio, where there is a lack of available land for new launches, old commercial buildings are giving way to residential units. With cheaper prices than in the South Zone and offering transport infrastructure and services, retrofitted launches in the region have attracted a varied public.

That’s what Nayara Técia, CEO of the On Brokers Group, who is in charge of the sale of Send Coliving properties, says a retrofit project for a building built in the 1940s, in Cinelândia. With 264 studios from 28 to 68 square meters, the building also has six commercial spaces on the ground floor of up to 224 square meters. The works lasted two years, and there are still 49 residential units (from R$ 299,000) and two stores available for sale.

— The number of people interested in residing in the development, including the elderly, is noteworthy, attracted not only by the price, but also by the project’s infrastructure — explains Nayara.

In Send, the condominium fee and IPTU cost R$392 and R$120, respectively. The building offers laundry services, pet space, cafe, sauna, gym and games rooms, bike rack, barbecue and rooftop terrace with cinema and lounge. And it is next to the Municipal Theater, the National Library and other cultural centers, subway station and Santos Dumont Airport.

The idea of ​​making retrofits in the Center came with the encouragement of the Rio City Hall to revitalize the region through the Reviver Centro project. The director of Sérgio Castro Imóveis, Claudio André Castro, recalls that the old Hotel Nice, in the Fatima district, will also undergo renovation and will become a residential condominium, with 201 units starting at R$ 258,000. The proposal is that the building has complete leisure infrastructure, including a swimming pool.

He defends that retrofit projects are a good way to bring new residents to the Center, but mentions some challenges of transforming old commercial buildings into residential ones in the region. One of them is the difficulty in negotiating the purchase of buildings, which, in general, have many owners.

— A commercial building with 200 rooms means negotiating with 200 different people. The projects that have been carried out so far were for a single person or a family, for example, which does not happen with most of the buildings located in the Center, and this slows down the process of transforming and reconverting buildings.

Most of the buildings undergoing retrofit in the city will offer studio units or one- and two-bedroom apartments. In Reviver Centro’s portfolio, there is also the building of the former headquarters of the Mesbla department store, located on Passeio Público, which will be transformed into residential units.

The building, an example of art deco in the city, should be adapted to gain 122 apartments with areas of 40 to 50 square meters. There is also the retrofit of the iconic building of the former Hotel Glória, which has attracted a high-end public, by contemplating units of up to 314 square meters.

Calçada Commercial Director, Bruno Oliveira points out that the retrofit is a challenge because it is a work in an old structure, with characteristics and facades that need to be preserved. The construction company, according to him, was responsible for the first retrofit of the city of Rio, the Amarelinho building, in Cinelândia, in the 1990s.

— In the main capitals of the world, the Center is inserted in the commercial area, mixing buildings with offices and residences, where the population mixes on a daily basis. This brings quality of life for those who work and live in these regions, as well as the appreciation of the areas – argues Oliveira.

Evaluation of projects must be thorough

Retrofit model reforms combine modernization with preservation

One of the advantages of retrofitting is being able to take advantage of structures located in valued areas of the city, where there are not many offers of land to launch new buildings. But the evaluation of a project needs to be meticulous, points out the director of Consultare Performance Engineering, Otávio Luiz do Nascimento. The company specializes in this type of project.

— The analysis of the condition of the structure has to be done very carefully, as well as the architectural project, which combines modernization and preservation. All of this directly impacts the value of the work and, consequently, the costs of the units to be sold.

According to Nascimento, the maintenance of original characteristics benefits the business, since this increases the potential of attracting the public, as well as bringing people’s interest from the tourist point of view.

For Antônio Edmundo, civil engineer and consultant in the Structures Area at AAAP Consultoria, it is necessary to look at all aspects when designing a retrofit project. With regard to public action, it is necessary to go hand in hand with improvements in security, infrastructure, good schools, hospitals and entertainment.

— The Center’s retrofit projects have the potential to attract people of medium purchasing power, with a mix of audiences, ranging from young people to the elderly.