Built by Soares da Costa and opened in 1994, the shopping Cidade do Porto, which ended up in the hands of Teixeira Duarte, was embroiled in controversy from the start, as the license violated the Porto Municipal Master Plan, which provided for a green area for that space.
It ended up being denounced by the architect José Pulido Valente, who in 1995 brought a popular suit, with a request to revoke the license and demolish the works, against the then municipal councilor for urbanization.
After a very long court case, the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that the license was illegal. In 2003, the Administrative and Tax Court of Porto ordered the building demolished, with the decision suspended due to appeal.
In November 2007 the Administrative and Financial Court of Porto gave 42 months for the closure, eviction and demolition of the building to proceed. But this never happened.
In December 2019, the Central Administrative Court of the North ruled that the “executive body was overthrown” (read application for enforcement of judgment) because the building was legalized in the meantime and therefore should not be demolished.
This Thursday, January 5: “The Cidade do Porto Shopping Center entered 2023 with a new owner. This is the Domingos Névoa Group, which acquired from the Teixeira Duarte Group 100% of the company that owns and operates the shopping center in Porto, in a budget operation of 28 million euros,” Buyer declares, in a statement.
Part of a real estate complex consisting of offices, a hotel and a covered car park with a capacity of 560 spaces, the Cidade do Porto shopping center has about 15,000 square meters of leasable space, spread over four floors, and houses a total of 90 shops, including there are their “anchorages”. Such as Zara, Froiz supermarket, Decathlon, Fitness Hut, Livraria Bertrand, Cortefiel, McDonald’s.
According to the new owner, the mall received 3.4 million visits last year, an increase of 48.6% over the previous year.
Indeed “according to the data provided by the” Shopping “management team, the previous year allowed to record global sales (with value added tax) of more than 35 million euros (44.4% more than in 2021)”.
He paid $20 million to buy Braga Retail Center and Mira Maia Shopping
In the “coming months, the renewed vision” of the shopping center will be laid out, which will be presented “at the right time,” says Souza Ribeiro, general manager of the Domingos Névoa group for this business district.
The purchase of Shopping Cidade do Porto embodies the third such investment of the business group from Braga within a year, following the purchase of Braga Retail Center and Mira Maia Shopping, at the end of 2021, disbursing €20 million.
“They join existing portfolio assets in Beja and Darke (Viana do Castelo),” the group itself adds.
“Last year, we indicated our intention to be champions in this business segment. The acquisition of Shopping Cidade do Porto and its car park is an important step in the strategy outlined, not only because of what it represents in terms of business but also for the social and economic dynamics of the company. Invicta”, confirms Bruno Névoa, CEO and shareholder of Grupo Domingos Névoa.
The Domingos Névoa group presents itself as a multi-sector national company, headquartered in Braga, operating in the areas of automobile distribution (dealerships of Mercedes-Benz, Smart, Jaguar, Land Rover, Ford), real estate development, civil construction, shopping centers (manager and owner) and environment (water and waste ), car parks and hotels.
(The news was updated at 16:12)
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