BPCC honours three of its long-standing members at Branded Residences event

Text: Chris Graeme; Photos: Joaquim Morgado (Colorshop)

At its final event of the year, the British-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce (BPCC) honored three long-standing members for 50 consecutive years of membership with the chamber.

João Branco of Millennium bcp, Rodrigo Simões of Almeida (Marsh), and Vasco Mendes (KPMG) accepted the awards on behalf of their respective companies on Wednesday, December 3, at a luncheon organised by the BPCC with guest speaker Pedro Vicente, CEO of developers Overseas.

While it was supposed to be an enlightening talk on the ‘Future of Branded Residences’, Mr. Vicente (Pictured below) chose instead to inform the attendees about one particular 10-apartment branded project in Lisbon’s upmarket Rua Castilho, located near to the iconic Heron Castilho building and Vanguard’s award-winning premium condo refurbishment project Castilho 203.

Mr. Vicente has had a long and varied career in the premium luxury residential market variously as Managing Partner at Sarsfield Vicente, a guest lecturer at ISEG – Lisbon School of Economics & Management, a member of the Strategic Board or the Portuguese Real Estate Fair (SIL), and partner of Neovalçora.

Three years ago he founded the premium real estate development company Overseas – Real Estate Developer which specialises in developing, building and mediating premium properties for living, working and investing.

The developer was on his way to Paris to unveil this latest project at the HQ of Karl Lagerfeld  – a luxury branded residence in the heart of Lisbon sporting the Karl Lagerfeld brand including many of its aesthetics, interior design, furnishings, colour schemes and motifs that are internationally synonymous with the famous fashion designer.

While certainly not cosy, the concept seems big on marble with white, gray and grey-blue tones and chrome with a distinctly futuristic starkness about it – perfect for wealthy minimalist lovers of post-deco modernism with baroque touches.

The Branded Residences concept, we are told, is actually not the latest development in luxury homes, rather it had its roots in New York’s Manhatten in the 1920s, when the Sherry-Netherland Hotel (1927) started to provide some services it offered to guests to some appartments that were attached to the hotel.

This trend was swiftly copied by the Pierre Hotel in 1930 using the appeal that affluent buyers could access low-maintenance, high service living at prestigious addresses.

However, the trend really took off in the 1980’s onwards with Four Seasons selling its Boston hotel condos and Aman launching Amanpuri in Thailand.

Ritz-Carlton soon followed, and by the 2000s, brands like St. Regis and Mandarin Oriental entered the market, capitalising on the success.

This latest project follows on the heels of using fashion and other brands to create an identity for living while indirectly promoting the luxury brand itself.

It is for HNWIs  who like a particular brand and what it stands for and means to them, and incorporate the essential design or other elements of that brand into their own intimate spaces and lives.

One only has to look at Beyond hotels (Versace), car brands like Porsche which have entered the sector, CR7 (Pestana hotels with the Cristiano  Ronaldo brand), and lifestyle brands such as Condé Nast.

And the market has seen an explosion of demand of over 200% over the past 20 years, driven by global luxury buyers seeking quality, consistency and seamless hospitality in multiple homes.

These kinds of projects are considered low risk for developers like Overseas because they are targeted at a very specific niche market where significant price premiums of 20-35% plus can be achieved compared to unbranded luxury property developments.

But back to the Karl Lagerfeld branded residences in Lisbon which are the fashion houses’s first foray into the Portuguese market through its iconic brand.

The project is composed of 10 apartments, over one or two floors, with unique characteristics such as a common relaxation space, indoor pool, spa and gym, several other swimming pools, and private gardens,

At the time the partnership was launched in December 2023, Pier Paolo Righi, CEO of the Paris fashion and design house, said: “Overseas is the perfect partner for this challenging project.

“We share core values of innovation and a focus on building a better future and I am sure that this project will be an important addition to the sought after and vibrant city of Lisbon”.

And Overseas has a number of other projects in the pipeline including ‘Estremoz – hospitality project’ and ‘Yacht Club Residences’, a Commercial and Residential project,

The BPCC lunch was supported by Susana Miranda from the SM Group.

Photo (Above) Pedro Vicente, CEO da Overseas (left); Pier Paolo, CEO da Karl Lagerfeld (centre); and Ricardo Puci, Project Shareholder. Photo: Marc de Groot

 

Photos: Paulo Silva, BPCC Board Member, (Far left) and BPCC CEO Chris Barton (Far right) with, in descending order: Rodrigo Simões de Almeida (Marsh LDA), Vasco Mendes (KPMG), and João Branco (Millennium bcp).