Krest plans Portugal’s tallest apartment towers in Gaia

Belgian-backed developer Krest plans to build what it says will be Portugal’s tallest residential towers in Vila Nova de Gaia, across the river from Porto, in a €150 million project close to the city’s new Ruby metro line. The Haya Towers, due to reshape the skyline from 2028, underline how new transport links are driving real estate investment in northern Portugal.

The project, to be presented on Thursday at Portugal’s property fair SIL in Lisbon, includes two towers of 31 and 30 floors, reaching 107 metres at their highest point. Krest chief executive Claude Kandiyoti told ECO/Local Online that the company bought the site because it sits in front of the future Rotunda station on the new Porto metro line, saying “the investment would not have happened” without that connection.

Krest is developing the scheme with Glowing Merit. Sales are scheduled to start in June, prior notification to the municipality will come later, and construction is expected to begin within a year, according to the timetable given by the developer. The complex will have 361 apartments, from studios to five-bedroom units.

Prices are expected to range from €5,000 to €6,000 per square metre, which the developer described as high for Gaia but still “affordable”. That would place studio apartments at around €200,000, while four and five-bedroom units would cost more than €1 million.

Kandiyoti also told ECO that Krest is studying build-to-rent partnerships with municipalities including Porto, Lisbon, Cascais and Oeiras, under a model in which the company would build on its own land and local authorities would act as tenants before subletting homes to residents. He said the company is waiting to see how legislation develops before moving ahead.

Originally published at Eco.pt