Old mansions in upscale, vertical neighborhoods in the capital of São Paulo are giving way to exclusive horizontal condominiums. With projects signed by renowned architects and great concern for security, the projects have houses from 300 m² to 1,300 m² and a square meter that can reach R$42 thousand.
“The home product, even of a high standard, has always been an object of desire that has historically been undersupplied. The difference between these condominiums is their premium location”, says Cyro Naufel, institutional director of Grupo Lopes.
The condominiums are being built in the region of Vila Nova Conceição, Moema, Itaim Bibi, Jardins and Pinheiros, on land measuring 2,000 m², on average, to house between six and eight houses with internal elevators. The properties have generators capable of meeting 100% of demand, water reuse tanks, solar panels and technology for lower energy expenditure.
Three Desenvolvimento Imobiliário, one of the pioneers in the city, has focused on the segment since 2012. The company has already delivered eight projects and has another four to be completed by the end of this year. Among the launches is Casa Magnólia, in Cidade Jardim (south zone). The condominium of seven classic-style houses is located on a plot of 6,440 m².
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The units have between 1,2067 and 1,338 m², three floors, five or six suites and eight parking spaces with an electric car socket in the basement. For leisure: 25-meter swimming pool, sauna, gym and tennis court. A house costs around R$30 million.
Another company venture is located on Avenida Rebouças, which connects Paulista to Faria Lima, where the financial market is concentrated. There are nine houses from 170 m² to 223 m² with private gardens on the popular road in the west zone. Everyone can have a private floor plan customized to the residents’ needs.
“I always thought that the real estate market only offers buildings and we see these areas where [legalmente] It is not allowed to go vertical with huge, often abandoned, houses in prime neighborhoods”, says Francesco Rivetti, founding partner of Three Desenvolvimento Imobiliário.
“Since we started focusing on this, we’ve only seen demand growing and competition increasing,” he says.
A survey by condominium administrator Lello with 250 real estate developers shows that the city of São Paulo will have an explosion of new vertical residential condominiums in 2024. There will be 790 new buildings while in horizontal constructions they estimate 28 projects.
The search for houses with green areas and ample leisure space gained momentum during the pandemic. The obligation to maintain social distancing and the possibility of working remotely led many São Paulo residents to leave the capital for the interior of the state. The trend now, according to sector experts, is more horizontal condominium projects close to the financial center to meet a pent-up demand due to the scarcity of projects of this type in the city.
“Those who could live in the interior or on the coast or exchanged apartments for penthouses and houses,” says Naufel. The sales volume of million-dollar homes in Lopes grew almost four times in 2021 compared to 2019 and continues to rise. The real estate agency was one of those that had to create a search filter for condominium houses on its website, due to the demand for the product.
At Coelho da Fonseca, a high-end real estate agency, 30% of sales last year were condominium homes.
“There are many clients who look for outdoor areas with nature, but are afraid to move to houses on the street, because it is very exposed. Because these projects have 24-hour monitoring, armored guardhouses, they bring security”, says Álvaro Marco Coelho da Fonseca.
For the executive, there are still many regions of the capital to be explored for the construction of horizontal condominiums. “Where you cannot go vertical, it is a way out and helps to enhance the value of neighborhoods that suffer from insecurity”, says Fonseca.
According to a survey by Brain Intelligence Strategic carried out at the request of Sheetin the first two months of this year, 25 units were sold, while throughout 2023, there were 100 properties.
A real estate project like this needs at least a 2,000 m² plot of land to be financially viable and guarantee the privacy of residents, according to Marcelo Moraes, CEO of RFM Incorporadora. The company has four luxury home condominiums and land projects under negotiation.
In Alto de Pinheiros (west zone), the developer has three condominiums under construction, with houses ranging from 569 m² to 968 m². 750 meters from Villa Lobos Park, Milano 1 has a landscaping and interior design designed by Roberto Riscala and João Armentano. The houses have leisure space on the rooftop and dining and living rooms with triple height ceilings, to take advantage of natural lighting.
In the same region, Kiná has eight houses with a pool in the garden and four suites. Walls full of signed landscaping and setbacks on the bedroom balconies guarantee residents’ privacy. Monitoring systems using cameras and sensors throughout the perimeter take care of the security of the condominium. With dimensions starting at 802 m², the launch costs from R$ 14.4 million per unit.
The client, says Moraes, is not an investor, he wants the opportunity to live with all the quality of life and modernity possible inside a house without having to leave São Paulo.
Marcello Romero, CEO of Bossa Nova Sotheby’s, states that the São Paulo market has not experienced this demand for high-quality homes for a long time. “It has increased so much that we now have a specific team to serve it,” he says.
“As property prices rose, there was room for [financeira] for developers to look at these mansions that are like a ‘white elephant’, with outdated architecture and hard-to-sell square footage, and form an area for very high standard condominiums”, he says.
According to research by Lopes, which this month launches a label focused on the luxury market, LPS – Luxury Properties Selection, this type of consumer is made up of 44% of people between 56 and 65 years old, the majority (65%) of whom are women. The majority (72%) are married and 33% are experiencing “empty nest” syndrome (when their children leave home). The survey carried out with 605 interviewees also shows that 100% of them own at least one property.
