Privatization of Interlagos Racetrack will Allow for Residential Buildings on the Premises

04/25/2017 - 12h22

The company that wins the bid to manage the Interlagos racetrack will be allowed to construct buildings on the premises. Such permission will be granted in the privatization project which São Paulo mayor João Doria (PSDB) will send to the City Council in May.

The mayor's office decided to enable real estate development because it considered that the racetrack alone offered very low financial returns - a fact that made the possibility of a successful bid very unlikely as long as there weren't any additional benefits.

The cost of maintenance of the Interlagos racetrack is very high: around R$ 7 million (US$ 2.25 million) a year. It also has to be renovated on a periodic basis in order to comply with Formula 1 standards. The most recent sizeable renovation cost the city R$ 160 million (US$ 50 million).

The privatization would transfer such costs to the company in charge, which could use the new developments to turn a profit.

According to an estimate given by technicians who work for the mayor, of the 1 million m² which make up the Interlagos racetrack, approximately 300 thousand m² can be used for the new constructions.

The city believes that while preserving the racetrack and the park (which can be accessed by the population free of charge), the area can also be used for constructing residential buildings, a shopping mall, a hotel, restaurants with panoramic views and an automobile museum.

It still remains unclear if the go-kart track, which is right next to the official track, will be a part of the package or not.

In order to make the racetrack more appealing, the city would even be willing to change the urban laws regulating that part of town.

The idea would be to allow for the construction of skyscrapers in the neighborhood that could occupy an area of up to 8 times the area of the plot of land on which they are built. Currently, São Paulo only allows for constructions which are 4 times the area of the land.

If the bill passes, then the neighborhood of Interlagos, which is predominantly composed of houses and small buildings, could start to see 45-story skyscrapers emerge.

However, a change in the legislation would require the City Council's approval.

Translated by THOMAS MATHEWSON

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