JLL advises on the sale of the Metropolis project with 80,000 sq m construction in plain Campo Grande

LISBON – 20th of January, 2020 - Real estate consultant JLL, through its Development department, has just completed the sale of Metropolis, one of the largest property development projects planned for the Campo Grande zone in Lisbon. Involving a gross construction area above ground of 80,000 sq m the project was sold by Multi to Norfin, the real estate investment manager. JLL advised Multi, having been responsible for the preparation and handling of the entire sales process. The consultant thus once again leads a major transaction of assets for sale, which increments an already extensive number of reference transactions concluded in Portugal in recent months.

One of the major defining projects planned for Lisbon’s main axis, the Metropolis will be developed in Campo Grande near the Alvalade Stadium and is one of the measures envisaged for the regeneration of the entire area which in the past hosted the old Sporting Clube de Portugal Stadium, demolished more than a decade and a half ago. The first development phase has already been completed by integrating an office component with the NOS headquarters, in the meantime already sold by Multi to an institutional investor, in an operation equally led by JLL.

The current project will provide continuity to the outlined plans to create a new centrality in Campo Grande, with an approved above ground construction area of 37,600 sq m of offices spread over four buildings; to which 30,250 sq m of housing will be added in a total of more than 200 apartments spread over three buildings; furthermore, there will be 12,150 sq m dedicated to retail which communicate with a large central public space.

Gonçalo Santos, Head of Development of JLL Portugal, comments: "Given that this is one of the few new large-scale housing and offices construction projects in the pipeline for the central axis of Lisbon, even more so next to one of the largest combined transport terminals, the sale process of the Metropolis was quite competitive with the asset being disputed amongst various national and international players. " He adds: "The interest generated by this asset confirms the commitment of large investors in substantial scale and new construction projects, in what was one of the defining trends in real estate development in 2019 and which promises to be a driver of the real estate market in the next few years".

In 2019 JLL had a particularly active role in the real estate development segment, with the Development department concluding 21 transactions of assets for rehabilitation and sale, worth 281 million euros and totalling a 287,000 sq m area. Indicators of the momentum of the portuguese market, these figures reflect a five-fold increase compared to 2018, as well as the consultant’s leading edge in this activity segment.