MIPIM grants special mention to Urban Rehabilitation Project for the parish of Paranhos

The international market for real estate professionals MIPIM as commended the real estate project that will be built in Porto, in the parish of Paranhos. This special mention was granted in the context of the 2018 AR Future Project Awards, in the mixed use category.

This new real estate development project in Paranhos, Porto, represents a total investment of 100 million euros, which is the result of the concentration of Saudi and English capitals.

The project, named "Tawny Project", will be built in a plot which belonged to a former leather plant. The undertaking will be part of Porto Innovation District, a joint initiative by Porto City Hall, universities, business schools, hospitals and research centres for the promotion and innovation of entrepreneurship in the city.

The project includes the construction of apartments, student residence accommodation, office premises, areas of trade and a hotel.

For Michael Bickford, Round Hill Capital CEO, one of the construction sponsors - in partnership with MEFIC Capital, a financial services company registered at Capital Market Authority of Saudi Arabia -, this honour is "a great achievement, considering the high quality of this project and the team working on it. We are really looking forward to forge ahead with this transformation process in the coming months".

According to the architecture firm, Bogle Architects, this "commend in the MIPIM awards" was "terrific given the high quality of the competitor architecture offices".

The first buildings are expected to be ready by 2020. Bogle Architects also state that "it will be fascinating to work in Porto, we are proud to contribute to the promotion of the architectural heritage of Porto".

It should be spotlighted that MIPIM has enhanced how important this investment is regarding the urban regeneration of Porto, most importantly because this venture will happen in the neighbourhood of Paranhos, demonstrating the interest real estate agents have for several areas of the city other than the city centre.

This is in line with the municipality's policies of extending progress and investment to areas previously deemed derelict areas. In fact, what is happening in Porto is the development of policy which frames structural projects within the eastern part of the city, at the initiative of Porto City Hall, namely the development and conversion project regarding the former Industrial Slaughterhouse and the Intermodal Terminal Station of Campanhã.