Novo Banco – the new bank that rose from the ashes of BES – is seeking approval for a new €250 million real estate project to build a massive residential and tourism development near Portimão Marina.
The plan involves constructing 652 residential and tourism dwellings, with a capacity for 2,664 residents, as well as a new hotel on a 26-hectare plot of land mostly ‘populated’ by eucalyptus trees between the Estrada da Rocha roundabout, Tivoli Hotel and Portimão Port.
There will also be commercial spaces (for businesses and services) as well as several green areas, including an “urban park and an events venue”, according to the project’s environmental impact study which is available for public consultation until October 29.
The urban park will occupy 3.3 hectares of the plot’s total area and will become “the town’s largest green space”, says the developer.
Hopes are that the park can become Portimão’s new ‘green corridor’, linking the town’s riverside area to Praia da Rocha.
The project is going by the name ‘Loteamento ATR1 Foz do Arade’ and is included in the local council’s UP5 urbanisation plan.
The environmental impact study highlights that the project is expected to create 300 new jobs. Most of them will be linked to the stores that are expected to open in the development, as well as the maintenance services of the residential and tourism apartments.
Also planned is the demolition of a number of structures located on the land, as well as the removal of rubble that has been disposed of illegally.
The works are expected to be carried out across a 10-year period and divided into four phases.
The environmental impact study also summarises the project’s ‘pros and cons’, saying that it will “improve circulation in the area, create jobs, dynamise the economy and provide access to a quality urban park”.
However, it also admits that the project will “alter” the town’s riverside landscape and increase “human pressure” on the area, especially during the summer.
The environmental impact study can be viewed online at https://participa.pt/pt/consulta/eia-do-loteamento-atr-1-foz-do-arade
To see a video of the project, click here
Readers may recall that some of Portimão’s largest projects have been rejected recently, although so far, this massive real estate project has not received any public backlash.
Plans to build three hotels in João d’Arens, described as “one of the municipality’s last untouched coastal areas”, received a second ‘thumbs down’ last month (click here). Meanwhile, a dredging project to make Arade River navigable for larger cruise ships has also received unfavourable feedback (click here).
