When you walk around São Paulo, you see that multi-story residential buildings and office buildings are being built in every area. Some 818 multi-story buildings are due to be completed in 2024, and 98% of them are residential buildings. This means the number of apartments will increase by about 150,000. Almost all of them are luxury apartments of over 100 ㎡.
Near the famous Paulista Avenue, apartments will be completed in 2026 that are 280 ㎡. The price for one of these apartments is 7,500,000 Brazilian reals (about 1,500,000 US dollars). Of course, the condominium will have everything: gym, pool, ball sports court, spa, and the rest. I wonder who is going to be living in such expensive apartments.
According to the real estate companies, a lot of people in São Paulo move again and again, but it seems that it will be people who live outside São Paulo or in other states who will also be buying apartments like these ones. There are quite a few people who stay in São Paulo on weekdays for work then on the weekend leave the city to go back home.
Since people started working from home, there has been a tendency to place more importance than before on the home, the surrounding environment, and lifestyle, and I have been hearing about people who are thinking of moving or who have already moved. People probably have different reasons for moving, like wanting to spend time in a separate room just for work or a verandah they can go to for a change of scene, or choosing somewhere close to a park or gym where they can do some exercise. I guess the needs of residents like that are being considered in new apartment designs.
Putting a convenience store or restaurant on the ground floor (in Japan, the 1st floor) of new apartment buildings is handy for the residents and the people in the neighborhood. They have built a new office building in the street where I live, and next to the reception for that building on the ground floor they have put a stylish ice cream shop.
Building is booming all over, not just in central São Paulo, and especially in the areas around the subway stations. The atmosphere of neighborhoods is changing relentlessly, and people are making comments like “Here’s another new building!” and “The shop that used to be here has gone.” All the same, I am concerned about what is going to happen with the rise in land prices following this building boom.
I live in Paraiso, a suburb near Paulista Avenue, and despite it being in the center of the city, there are houses in between the multi-story buildings with rows of shops. That gives it a slightly quieter atmosphere, which I like. But last year I started seeing familiar buildings and shops being demolished, which is of course painful to watch.
Building new multi-story buildings modernizes the neighborhood and makes it look nicer, which is good, but...it’s going ahead so fast I’m just startled, bewildered by it all. Could that be proof I’m not keeping up with the times?
