DEVELOPERS ARE LOOKING TO CARVOEIRO AS BRAND NEW PROJECTS BEGIN TO TAKE SHAPE
Earlier this year, estate agents across the region were reporting surprisingly promising signs on the property market, with more enquiries and property viewings than anyone had expected. But is this a sign of things to come? Maybe, maybe not, but in Carvoeiro, it’s certainly true that new projects have begun to crop up, with the foundations now being laid for tourist apartments, resorts and even futuristic luxury villas.
One example is the land on the clifftop next to the Tivoli Carvoeiro hotel. Signs of movement began earlier this spring, with infrastructures already being put in – according to sources, the construction of a small tourist resort, comprising up to 30 townhouses, is due to begin in September. Further along the road across from Areias dos Moinhos is another tourist development in the initial stages of construction.
Developed by Silves-based Prime Life Properties, the project will comprise two-storey tourist apartments that are due to be completed in early 2015. But perhaps more surprising is the project at the top of Estrada do Farol, an ambitious venture that comprises five villas on 2,000sqm-plots, called Palmar Villas. The brainchild of local property developer Toliloka Imobiliária, the idea was to create villas “for modern people with an exclusive lifestyle to live near the sea”, according to Antonius Verhoeven of the family-run company.
For this, he joined forces with Thomas Van Mierlo of Waratah Properties in Almancil and architect Miguel Sintra Rebelo, who designed each four-bedroom villa with unique and exclusive aspects. “The style is minimalist and futuristic based on light, space, design, safety, luxury and hi-tech, fitting the demand of tomorrow and marking the difference between the existing and the new,” said the developer. With a complete finished villa costing just over a million euros, the whole project can also be sold as a whole or with the five building plots sold individually, upon consultation.
And it seems it is this luxury market that’s worth focusing on, according to René Kalkbrenner, managing director and second generation of property management company Kalkbrenner, who, alongside local architect John Wilson and lawyer Marcos Mascarenhas, set up Panoramic Invest in June last year. By pooling each of their fields of expertise, the company locates and develops the most attractive properties on the Algarve’s coast, with an initial focus on the Carvoeiro area.
With an ethos centred on providing the highest quality in the best locations, and covering everything from real estate, legal services, architecture, interior design, project management and property management, the company was founded to fill a gap in the luxury residential market and provide a construction project “from A to Z”: “People would rather have one person to deal with, to find them a piece of land, build them a house, and see them in 18 months with the keys. If they want a convertible in the driveway, we can get that, too. It’s an all-inclusive package,” said joint founder René, whose family has been in the property management business in Carvoeiro since 1980.
With John leading the planning and project management side of things, and Marcos bringing his expertise in financial planning and property law to the table, the company has since been focusing on acquiring partnerships with established and reputable companies and speciality providers, such as luxury audiovisual experts Bang & Olufsen. In the belief that real estate is the best investment in the current market, with a number of great deals available to cash buyers who have the luxury of time, the founding partners have a growing portfolio of large plots with sea views and existing properties with huge potential.
Advising those who buy plots to “build a good-quality, durable and cost-effective construction that 10 years down the line will be worth a lot more than it is now”, René also notes that older properties, such as the villas at Carvoeiro Club, are built on huge plots in excellent locations. “Space is an aspect of luxury that’s getting less available,” he explains. But the question is, why Carvoeiro? “Carvoeiro is relatively unique as far as the way it is constructed, with good building laws keeping a very low density of building. You also have a very stable climate, and people come here and just fall in love with the place,” believes René, adding that those purchasing a well-located seaside property, built to today’s standards of technology, will get their initial investment back in eight to ten years.
www.toliloka.com | www.panoramicinvest.co.uk
