Coimbra City Council invests in more student accommodation in the city center through the Coimbra Viva fund

The Coimbra City Council (CM) has integrated two properties into the Coimbra Viva I fund, increasing its participation by 646,500 euros. The operation, formalized last week, aims to support the creation of new student residences and promote urban regeneration in the city centre.

The deed took place in the presence of the Councillor for Urbanism, Ana Bastos, representing the mayor, José Manuel Silva. The integration of the properties, located in the Nogueiras Quarter, was approved at a meeting of the Municipal Executive on April 22 and translates into the subscription, in kind, of participation units in the fund. The operation does not involve direct financial flows.

The two properties were acquired by the municipality in November 2024. One is located in Rua João Cabreira (nos. 26 to 28), with an area of 178 m², and the other in Rua da Nogueira (nos. 1 to 3 and 5), with 680 m². The appraisal set the capital value at 351,000 euros for the first and 295,500 euros for the second, for a total of 646,500 euros.

According to FundBox, S.A., the fund’s managing body, this integration will make it possible to expand the student accommodation projects underway. It is planned to connect the new buildings to adjoining ones, already included in the rehabilitation plan, and to create a new interior square in the Nogueiras Quarter, with public spaces for socializing.

During the last Executive meeting, Ana Bastos pointed out that 2025 will be a year in which “a significant number of essential investments for the rehabilitation and renovation of downtown Coimbra are expected to go ahead”. The aim of the fund, she said, is to complete the licensing of the P28 project (the acquisition of a plot of land for which took place in 2024) and the Rua Direita project (P11 to P15). “The contract for the student residence (P45 to 47) is also in the construction phase – preparatory archaeological work – and is expected to be completed in 15 months, which should result in around 2,700 m² of construction area for 62 residential units and three commercial areas,” she said.

The councillor recalled that, in order to make this contract viable, in May 2023 the municipality carried out a capital increase of 2.829 million euros in the Coimbra Viva fund. With this operation, the City Council now holds 73% of the fund’s capital. “This action made it possible to move forward with the construction of the student residence in Baixa, and it is now essential to envisage its expansion to adjacent plots,” he stressed.

Since the beginning of its activity, the Coimbra Viva fund has already intervened in nine buildings, providing 16 dwellings and eight spaces for economic activities. These operations have also encouraged private investment in the area, with a total of 22 occupations (including commerce, services and restaurants) and 36 dwellings.

“It is expected that by the end of 2025 all the properties that have already been rehabilitated will have been sold,” said Ana Bastos. The fund still owns 18 buildings that have yet to be renovated, with the Quarteirão das Nogueiras being the largest investment front, in line with the municipal housing policy. Coimbra City Council is the main investor in the Coimbra Viva I fund