José Cardoso Botelho quits Vanguard Properties for new project

José Cardoso Botelho, The CEO of Vanguard Properties, a premium residential property developer with a €5Bn investment portfolio in Portugal, has announced he is to leave the company today.

The CEO of the developer that purchased the assets of the Herdade da Comporta estate on the Alentejo coast wrote a message to friends and associates stating: “From tomorrow (September 10) I will leave Vanguard Properties to start a new project independently and also have a rest.”

“I have a fraternal relationship with my partners, which is why I remain the VP representative at APPII. (Portuguese Association of Rea Estate Investors and Developers). It will only be made public tomorrow.”

An official source from Vanguard was contacted but declined to comment.

The change in Vanguard’s shareholder leadership, with Alexandre Berda replacing his father Claude Berda, who stepped down from the management of the business due to illness, may explain the change in strategy for Portugal.

The group, now led by Alexandre Berda, wants to optimise investments in Portugal and focus on residential properties, so it has put some of the tourist and hotel assets up for sale. This may lead to speculation that these are losing money and not attracting the demand expected.

It is worth remembering that Claude Berda’s luxury real estate developer hired the financial advisor Alantra to sell tourist assets. The teaser has been reaching potential investors, including other real estate developers, as reported firsthand by Jornal Económico.

Among the tourist assets that Vanguard has for sale, through Alantra, are some tourist and hotel lots in Torre and Dunas.

Vanguard is selling some lots of Torre, namely part of the tourist and hotel area of the tourist project in Comporta, which includes two luxury hotels and 171 Branded Residences. Vanguard intends to focus on the residential lots of Torre, whose infrastructure is finished, and later on Dunas, which includes a golf course that has already been inaugurated.

“These are tourism projects, the sale of which is part of a strategy based on focusing on the assets that best reflect our experience and long-term vision for the national market, particularly in the residential segment,” said Duarte Zoio at the time, adding that “this operation allows us to concentrate resources on the development of structuring projects, such as Dunas, Torre and Foz do Tejo, as well as other reference projects that reinforce Vanguard Properties’ position as one of the main real estate developers in Portugal”.

According to the newspaper’s sources, Vanguard Properties is also selling The Shore Residences in the Algarve through commercial real estate consultants DILS Portugal.

In 2019, Vanguard Properties (then in partnership with Amorim Luxury) bought Herdade da Comporta (which was outside the Espírito Santo Group) for €157,526 million. Herdade da Comporta is composed of the Comporta Dunes and Comporta Links developments and covers an area of approximately 1,380 hectares, including buildings and forest.