The 33-storey, 100m-plus development in Jardins consolidates Gafisa’s position in the high-end luxury market and launches the Allard brand
“Construction companies and developers measure their economic models with very boring things, like PSV (general sales value) and price per square meter”, explains Alex Allard, creator of the complex Matarazzo citytaking a bite. “But we sell seconds of life, for which anyone would pay the asking price, if that were possible.” It is with this completely off-the-books reasoning, with the face of a rich man, that he talks about his new challenge launched for Gafisa: the Allard Oscar Freire.
Located on a plot of land of 2 thousand m2 Oscar Freire with the Consolationin Jardins, the 33-storey development, more than 100 meters high, brings two important milestones. The positioning of Gafisa in the high-end luxury market is consolidated and the launch of the Allard brand, which will bring the language already seen in Cidade Matarazzo, where the hotel rosewood and cultural center Bradesco Housewhich currently hosts, among other spaces, an Anish Kapoor exhibition. The Allard signature includes Brazilianness, regeneration of physical space and integration with nature.
The launch also brings the “hassle” of what could be one of the highest prices per square meter in the city – which the companies do not disclose, as well as the value of the apartments. The PSV of the project is estimated at R$800 million. For reference, two years ago the price of apartments in the luxury residential building of Cidade Matarazzo was R$85,000 per m².
This is because Allard Oscar Freire’s high luxury arises from the conception of what he calls the “resignification” of consumer experiences. It is, among other things, the project of the architect Arthur Casas, the landscape architecture of Benedito Abbud, with the first eight floors open to the public. There will be bakeries and shops, restaurants, a longevity and health center, an events area and lots of Brazilian art, curated by Marc Potier. “That’s why it’s a complicated economic model: there are eight floors dedicated to living,” says Allard, who declines to talk about numbers.
‘Vertical forest’
The project also includes what he calls a “vertical forest”, which has become his hallmark in the buildings of Cidade Matarazzo. With a design with attention to the smallest details and where nothing is banal – like the garage that at Rosewood begins in a library in front of the main atrium –, the new development also aims to surprise.
In addition to the area open to the public which includes integration with Oscar Freire’s pedestrian area, the building will have 17 apartments of 430 m2, starting from the 9th floor. It will also have two duplexes, of 770 m² each. And the triplex penthouse, with almost 1,300 m². Your building must be carbon negative. If the average price of R$85,000 per m² were maintained, the smallest apartment would cost more than R$36.5 million.
For Allard there is no contradiction between the construction of such a tall building, in a region characterized by smaller settlements, and the concept of regeneration he defends. “We need to save nature in the city and not send people to live where it is untouched,” he says.
Gafisa’s new strategy
Gafisa, owned by businessman Nelson Tanure,’s migration into the ultra-high-end luxury segment began about five years ago, after a survey found growing demand in the segment and a lack of suppliers of this standard. “We have seen, not only in the real estate sector, that there is a high-income audience, with more references on the increase and who do not find in the country what they see abroad”, says Luis Fernando Ortiz, vice president of the developer. “It’s more than just interior design: we bring a product thought out down to the smallest detail right from the architectural project.”
In this way, Gafisa intends to become a more resilient company with better margin results. The developer, which recorded net sales of R$2.3 billion in 2015, ended last year with R$1.1 billion and a loss of R$195 million. Over the year, the company’s shares have fallen 83%.
“This segment has more flexibility, better margin and we are more likely to not be affected by external factors,” says Sheyla Resende, CEO of Gafisa. “It has been a thorough job and we have spent the last few years acculturating the team and all processes to a high standard.”
When designing the strategy, Gafisa turned to Allard. It has invested in some units at the Cidade Matarazzo complex, in what they say is a four-year apprenticeship. According to Resende, the developer is financially prepared for the project. However, no detailed information on the investment, financing or business model was provided.
Allard, for his part, says he has postponed the launch of his own brand for at least 15 years and now arrives with the ambition of nothing less than “to create ‘the’ luxury brand of the Global South”. “The Northern Hemisphere, which has guided world culture for decades, has nothing as new and powerful as what emerges from the South in terms of music, painting and gastronomy, a force ready to be refined,” he says. “Let’s make this a high fashion project.”
Without getting into trivial matters like values, he says his group is growing with the new business. According to Allard, we should go from 4 thousand employees at the end of 2025 to 20 thousand within a period of five years. He also says that there are already other projects to develop with his brand, which he prefers not to detail.
Source: Terra
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