Old Mappin building in SP is sold and will be Sesc – 04/28/2023 – Market

Located at number 131, Praça Ramos de Azevedo, right in front of Theatro Municipal, the 12,359 m² property recognized for hosting Mappin —the first department store in São Paulo—for 60 years has just changed owners.

São Carlos Empreendimentos e Participações, controlled by members of the families of the billionaire trio Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles and Beto Sicupira, completed the sale of the João Brícola building for R$71.5 million.

For strategic reasons, São Carlos claims that it does not disclose the buyer of the building. But, such as Sheet anticipated, the site will house a new Sesc unit. The purchase is part of the institution’s expansion plan.

The João Brícola building has been closed since the beginning of March this year, when Casas Bahia left after 19 years.

Built in 1939, the building was designed by the architect Elisário Bahiana, the same man who designed the Chá viaduct and the Jockey Club in São Paulo. The property is named after a banker born in 1853, who left “half of his fortune” to the Santa Casa de Misericórdia. The entity, by the way, owned the building until 2019, when the São Carlos group bought the land for R$ 70 million.

In addition to the building in front of the Theatro Municipal, João Brícola also names a street in the historic center of São Paulo, next to Praça Antônio Prado.

The João Brícola building was planned to be the headquarters of Banespa, but the bank thought that it was far from the financial center of the capital, at the time, between Rua Direita and Rua 15 de Novembro. It ended up becoming rental space for large retailers. In addition to Mappin and Casas Bahia, Extra also set up a store there.

The amount paid was 11.9% lower than the net asset value, according to a statement from São Carlos to its investors. With the transaction, the administrator now has 110 properties, with a market value of R$ 5.2 billion.