Baixa is the most central and renowned neighbourhood in Lisbon, where most of the shops, leisure activities, hotels and restaurants can be found. It is also one of the most important touristic areas of the city with it’s peculiar architecture, narrow and tall windows and cobblestone sidewalks. Over the last decade many of the buildings had been refurbished for hotels, hostels and apartments.

The average size for ground floor units in this area of the city is around 150 sq m -200 sq m.

Property Description

The shop where Cupra City Garage stands has a GLA of 435 sq m spread over two floors - ground floor and basement. Internally the unit benefits from high ceilings, and has a wide facade, wrapping three sides of a city block with a total of 17 windows.

Store Concept

In an iconic location, where Cupra innovation, creativity and irreverence merge with design and architecture that mirrors the traditional Lisbon soul, the new City Garage concept is unique in the Iberian Peninsula and is the fifth location of its kind worldwide, after Mexico, Hamburg, Munich, and Milan. The space has a bar at the entrance where people can taste different cuisines. The ground floor can host brand exhibitions and gastronomic events, while at the basement there is a multidisciplinary area for meetings, works and private events.

Landlord Details

A renowned Portuguese promoter that buys and redevelops old buildings in the prime areas of Lisbon.

TIMING

The Aurea 72 building was identified very early in our search as one of the potential premises within a suitable area for the Cupra project.

Cupra chose this busy, heavy footfall area as opposed to a more suburban location normally preferred by car brands – they wanted something “outside of the box”… something outstanding with a strong impact which was in line with their innovative thinking.

It was love at first sight on the first viewing! The premises and location were perfect. It was exactly the type of property that Cupra wanted to test their concept, with exceptional window frontage to a busy intersection of streets, with traffic lights where cars are obliged to stop in front of the store and able to look inside.

Savills had a good relationship with the landlord, and before presenting the store to Cupra, we ensured that he was comfortable with a motor related tenant.

Our initial engagement started in November 2020, and 16 months were needed for the deal conclusion. The opening of Cupra City Garage in Lisbon took place in February 2022.

Construction or other building issues

Several technical issues arose during the detailed negotiating phase, mainly focused on vehicle access through the shopfront openings. These were dealt with in several meetings and technical visits before final agreement.

The principal issues that emerged were the timeframes: how long will it take to have the permits for the building works required, and after, the use licence for the opening. These permitting issues could have caused significant delay to the transaction and Cupra only had several months until the opening.

In Lisbon, historical neighbourhoods have significant delays in obtaining permitting, sometimes more than a year.

Due to his background, in sensitive areas and building rehabilitation, the landlord played a significant role in this process, helping Cupra in the bureaucratic relation between Tenant and Municipality.

key learnings

• The retail consultant had an important role during the negotiations in order to establish confidence between the parties. Despite all the bureaucratic issues, we were able to achieve the goal, which was Cupra opening in the scheduled time.

• Co-operation and transparency during negotiations were essential to conclude the lease process.

• Increasingly brands feel the need to innovate and create strong relationships with their customers through personal experiences, and locations play a leading role in the game of attraction between customer and brand.