The Lisbon City Council today approved a municipal subdivision in the parish of Santa Clara, covering an area of 20,981 square meters (m2), consisting of four plots, two of which are for residential use, with 265 dwellings.
In a private meeting of the municipal executive, the proposal signed by the councillor for Urban Planning, Joana Almeida (an independent elected by the Novos Tempos PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM/Aliança coalition), was approved with the votes in favor of the PSD/CDS-PP and PS leadership, the abstention of PCP and the votes against of Cidadãos Por Lisboa (elected by the PS/Livre coalition), Livre and BE.
Promoted by SGAL – Sociedade Gestora da Alta de Lisboa, the subdivision operation is aimed at the municipal land at Rua Hermínio da Palma Inácio, Rua das Calvanas and Rua dos Sete Céus, in the parish of Santa Clara, which covers “an intervention area of 20,981 m2, consisting of four plots, with a total area of 17,218 m2, and providing for the integration of the remaining area of 3,763 m2 into the municipal public domain as streets, sidewalks and public surface parking (139 spaces)”.
Of the four plots, with 34,174 m2 of floor area (floor space), two are for residential use, with 26,824 m2 of floor space, distributed over 265 dwellings, with a variation of six/seven floors above the threshold and one floor below the threshold, and the other two are for commercial/service use, with 7,350 m2 of floor space, according to the town planning councillor’s proposal.
According to the document, the Lisbon and Tagus Valley Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR-LVT) has issued a “final favorable opinion” on the municipal allotment operation, but the council’s approval is conditional on compliance with the opinions of the municipal urban planning, public space, mobility management and urban hygiene services.
Justifying its vote against, the Citizens for Lisbon (CPL) councillor told Lusa that “the contract with SGAL no longer makes sense” and that “extending it is a mistake”, arguing that “that municipal land in Alto do Lumiar – which is the largest reserve area still available in the city – should be used to increase municipal housing and not to build more houses for the open market”.
With BE voting against and Livre abstaining, the council approved the “construction of a private facility for student residences”, with 289 accommodation units, in the parish of Ajuda, a project presented by the group Estúdios Utópicos Coliving & Coworking Atividades Imobiliárias, as owner of the property located in a block bounded on the east by Rua do Cruzeiro, on the south and west by Travessa José Fernandes and on the north by the patios of the buildings that confront Travessa das Fiandeiras.
The urban development operation concerns an urban building with a total area of 4,494 m2 for construction, demolition and excavation works, in which “the new construction has two floors and an attic above the threshold level for equipment – a student residence (289 accommodation units), and a floor below the threshold level for private car parking (21 spaces, including two for people with reduced mobility and one for loading and unloading), motorcycle parking (seven spaces) and technical areas,” reads the proposal.
By unanimous vote, the municipal executive approved the project for work on the former Fonseca Benevides Basic School in Alcântara, in order to “provide the building with conditions for the training activity that IEFP – Instituto do Emprego e Formação Profissional intends to develop there”.
Also unanimously approved was the amendment to the license for a plot of land that includes Vale de Santo António, in Penha de França, with an implantation area of 698 m2, for the redistribution of uses, “maintaining the total value of 3,800 m2, but providing for 3,575 m2 for housing and 225 m2 for commerce, instead of 3,200 m2 for housing and 600 m2 for commerce, and not altering the 24 dwellings provided for”, and for the increase in the number of basement floors, from two floors to four floors, for the programming of private parking.
Currently, the 17-member Lisbon City Council executive includes seven elected members of the “Novos Tempos” coalition (PSD/CDS-PP/MPT/PPM/Aliança) – who are the only ones with portfolios and who govern without an absolute majority – three from the PS, two from the PCP, three from Cidadãos Por Lisboa (elected by the PS/Livre coalition), one from Livre and one from BE.
