Belgian company Krest will invest 200 million in Portugal over four years
The total investment of Krest in Portugal will double over the next four years, with a focus on “affordable and sustainable” housing. The CEO of the Belgian real estate developer, Claude Kandiyoti, criticizes the “bureaucracy” in licensing. Present in Portugal since 2013, Krest will double its investment in the national market over the next four years, surpassing €400 million, says Claude Kandiyoti to Negócios. There will be €200 million in new projects focused on Greater Lisbon, Greater Porto, and the Algarve. And, assures Kandiyoti, these will be “affordable” and “sustainable” projects.
Currently, Krest has several ongoing projects, notably the K Tower in Parque das Nações, Lisbon. The 13-story office building began construction in March. Also this year, construction began on the Girassol Tower, the second of three buildings in Jardim de Miraflores. Construction of the Horizon project, in Forte Novo beach, Quarteira, is expected to begin in the summer and will be marketed in May. In the Algarve, Krest is constructing the Lakes 24 private condominium in Vilamoura, with 70% of the 24 apartments already sold.
In the pipeline, but in a less advanced stage, is the mixed-use project in Campanhã, in the heart of Porto. The project by architect Eduardo Souto Moura is expected to include 7,000 square meters for housing, 5,000 square meters for offices, and 2,000 square meters for “a small hotel and a restaurant”. “We will apply for licensing in two to three months and hope to obtain permits to start work within a year or year and a half,” says the CEO. “It will be a sustainable project. Something we decided will be a criterion we won’t give up,” he emphasizes.
Claude Kandiyoti says this choice cannot compromise the cost of projects, making them “unaffordable”. “In Poland, costs in sustainable projects increase by 10%. Here, I’m told they rise by 40%. I don’t accept that. We like to work with Portuguese architects, but if they can’t deliver a sustainable project with acceptable costs, we will bring in foreign architects,” he stresses. Krest also has two major projects in sight, each over €50 million, one in Greater Lisbon and the other in Greater Porto, but details cannot yet be revealed.
Claude Kandiyoti doesn’t hide that licensing is one of the major problems in the sector. “Not only in Portugal, but throughout Europe. In Belgium, for example, we spend a lot of time discussing projects with political power. Here the delay is essentially administrative,” he notes. Licensing is “extremely complicated and slow” in Lisbon, he emphasizes, even stating that “if I’m considering a project and the alternatives are Lisbon or Oeiras, I choose Oeiras because the process is faster.” The CEO of Krest acknowledges that “it is evident that the Lisbon City Council is concerned about the situation,” but “there is still no progress.” And, he argues, in large projects “there needs to be someone who follows the process from start to finish. And there needs to be a timeline for obtaining licenses.”