Cezimbra

[ clique para ampliar ]Where values are taking off
By Peter Wise
Financial Times: October 4 2008

Sesimbra, a small fishing port in a secluded bay 50km south of Lisbon, is little known outside Portugal. But a recent decision to locate the capital city's new international airport in the same region, south of the Tagus estuary, is beginning to lift the white-walled town of steep cobbled streets out of relative obscurity.

"Very few people are aware of the stunning scenery in this area but interest is beginning to build up as potential investors hear about the new airport," says Connie Vitto of Quadrant Property. Located 18km from central Lisbon, the €4.9bn facility is expected to be one of southern Europe's leading transport hubs, served by a new €1.7bn road and a rail bridge forming part of a high-speed train network linked to Madrid and Porto. The new airport is not scheduled to open until 2017 so "it may be a slow burn", Vitto acknowledges. "But Sesimbra is definitely a place to watch."

Paul Houston of estate agency Lucas Fox in Lisbon agrees. "Since the decision, there has definitely been a growth of interest in the area and that is normally reflected in prices and investment."

Property values in the area immediately surrounding the airport site are said to have jumped by 20 per cent following the government announcement and the effect is expected to spread throughout the Costa Azul, or Blue Coast, which stretches around the bay of Setúbal and the skinny Tróia peninsula down to Sines.

The best vantage point for an overview of Sesimbra is on the crenellated walls of the castle 200 metres above the town, which the first king of Portugal, Afonso Henriques, captured from the Moors in 1165. The bay of placid blue water is protected by green hills. The long, sandy beach is bisected by a 17th century fort, now a customs post and possibly to be partly redeveloped as a beach club. The small fishing port is at the western end of the bay. From the seafront, the old village rises steeply up the hillside, giving way to more modern holiday apartments and hotels. A few miles to the east is the beautiful bay of Portinho da Arrábida; to the west lies Cabo Espichel, a dramatic windswept cape and a place of pilgrimage since the 13th century.

While the sea in Sesimbra is not as warm as in the Algarve and the landscape is not as craggy and wild as on the Silver Coast, -further north, there are local amenities for scuba-diving, surfing, windsurfing, deep-sea fishing and horse riding. The beach is cleaned twice a day and, while the water is not entirely litter free, it has received European blue flags for quality. The town's fresh fish and seafood restaurants are a big draw for Lisbon residents. And six golf courses are within driving distance south of the Tagus.

Although new developments are rising fast, targeting tourists and homebuyers from Portugal and abroad, Sesimbra still feels authentic. "It had a communist council which allowed very little development so it has retained many features," explains Ana Colaço from estate agency Okasa. The cobbled backstreets are, for example, full of old houses under red clay pantiled roofs, many with traditional dark green painted timber shutters.

Development is also restricted by Sesimbra's location at the foot of the Arrábida hills, a protected national park of beautiful woodlands and tall cliffs. "Sesimbra will never be able to cater to huge demand," says Vitto. "The area is surrounded by parkland and nature reserves and development is strictly controlled. There is simply very little room to build."

This is one of the main draws for companies such as Portuguese developer Lisop, which built the Terraços de Castelo apartments and villas in western Sesimbra and is now working on the €30m Sesimbra Bay Beach Resort, with 204 condominiums due to be completed in the second half of next year.

"I don't think there's really anywhere else like Sesimbra in the Lisbon area," says Michelle Prunty, general manager of Prunty's of Ireland, which is marketing the new project. "People like the fact that it's not well known and has not been spoilt by overdevelopment. They enjoy the feeling of living among local people in a Portuguese atmosphere. [It's] a quality location that appeals to people who want to invest outside the Algarve. [And] there is good potential for growth. The local authorities are investing strongly in renovating buildings and roads and I think we will see a real difference in about three years as the area becomes better known outside Portugal."

The Sesimbra Bay apartments, about half of which have already been sold, range in price from about €215,000 for a one-bedroom flat to €700,000 for a three-bedroom penthouse, or approximately €3,000-€3,500 per sq metre. Kasâmia, a serviced residence company, will run the development as a spa hotel, with owners earning a share of the income from the whole complex, in addition to rights of use for up to eight weeks a year. Lisop guarantees that everyone will have 180° views, although some Terraços residents have seen their views blocked by the new buildings.

A few other prime beachfront plots are also earmarked for development into small groups of apartments. And there are less luxurious flats and villas already available for about €2,000-€2,500 per sq metre as well as small houses needing complete refurbishment for about €1,000 per sq metre, Houston says. Colaço recently sold an old village house, near Sesimbra's promenade, for €150,000. "It had three one-bedroom apartments and will cost as much to refurbish but in this position it's well worth it," she says.

Properties available just outside town include two new hillside houses with three bedrooms each, terraces, sea views and small kitchens, as well as a small pool, for €750,000 and eight houses in a gated community, also with sea views, for about €400,000.

Buyers willing to venture a little further inland can also find "some absolute bargains", Vitto adds. Apartments targeted mainly at the local Portuguese buyers in a new development at Alcácer do Sal on the Sado river about 50km to the east start at about €95,000, which is "extremely good value", she says.

The Tróia penisula, 20km north-east of Sesimbra, is also being redeveloped by Sonae, Portugal's biggest conglomerate. The first phase of 360 apartments, a hotel and 184-berth marina was completed in September and the full €230m complex, with a conference centre, casino, restaurants and shops, should be open by 2011. Of the 78 apartments overlooking the marina, priced from €290,400, 80 per cent have been sold. There are also 98 villa plots with views of the Atlantic, the lake or the revamped 18-hole golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones, priced from €800,000.

Neil Cottle, 30, from London, recently bought a one-bedroom furnished beach apartment. "I knew the area anyway, my ex-girlfriend being Portuguese, and love everything about it - the nature reserve, the mountains, good sailing, surfing, walking and great golf." His neighbours will include José Mourinho, now coach of Italy's Inter Milan football club but originally from the nearby port of Setúbal, who bought a villa plot on Tróia.

Buyers in Sesimbra itself have traditionally been Portuguese or Spanish, since the town is only a few hours by motorway from Badajoz. But developers are now marketing to people from the UK and Ireland, the Netherlands, Russia and the Middle East, encouraging them to "defect" from resorts in Spain.

"The Portuguese market has always been considered a little more exclusive and a little more expensive than Spain," Vitto says. "So when prices in Spain reached a par with Portugal, some buyers began to see Portugal as a better bet. The Portuguese tend not to overbuild and there has never been a property glut. As a result, Portugal hasn't suffered the same 'boom and bust' cycle."

Peter Wise is the FT's Lisbon correspondent. Additional reporting by Eluned Price.

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