City Hall launches new program to revitalize properties in downtown Rio

Cervejaria Vírus Bier, the first venture on Rua da Cerveja, in the city center, began operating in September - Rafael Catarcione/ Prefeitura do Rio

Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes launched Reviver Centro Patrimônio Pró-APAC on Thursday (15/5), a new urban requalification program aimed at recovering degraded properties in the city center. The proposal calls for the use of legal instruments, such as expropriation and land redistribution, to enable the renovation of buildings through partnerships with the private sector. The program includes properties that are abandoned, degraded, at risk of safety or that pose a threat to protected cultural heritage, in areas previously selected by the City Hall.

– Today we are presenting another stage in the revitalization process of a fantastic downtown area, full of history, a downtown area of ​​colonial Brazil, of imperial Brazil and capital of the Republic. And one that has a beauty that is incomparable to any city we have visited in the world. We will contribute enough resources to restore all the listed, preserved and degraded properties in the downtown area. We have provided a solution to the land issue and we will fully subsidize the renovation and reconstruction of all these properties in the downtown area – said Eduardo Paes, during the launch event of the program at the headquarters of the Civil Construction Industry Union of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Sinduscon-Rio), in the downtown area.

Qualified properties may be expropriated and transferred to interested parties through a public auction. In order to encourage the structural recovery of these assets, subsidies of R$3.212,00 per square meter will be offered to companies that acquire and renovate the properties for any use, in compliance with local urban planning legislation. The installments will be paid in pre-defined percentages for each phase of the recovery. If the beneficiary company does not comply with the renovation, ownership of the property will revert to the municipality.

– We are entering the third year of the Reviver law, a very broad law, with a set of initiatives that allowed the implementation of Reviver Cultural, Rua da Cerveja, which already provided for subsidy elements. Reviver Cultural was born because there were many closed stores in the Center. The same thing happens with Rua da Carioca, with many closed stores and a bohemian vocation. And then there is the issue of old, abandoned, listed houses that are without a destination. At this time, we want to guarantee this destination with an economic incentive, guaranteeing maintenance and permanent occupation – said the Secretary of Urban Development and Licensing, Gustavo Guerrante.

The program is included within the perimeter defined by complementary law no. 229/2021, which establishes the limits of the Reviver Centro program and reinforces the actions already underway, such as the Reviver Centro, Reviver Cultural and Rua da Cerveja projects.

– This new program presented today aims to understand how we can carry out urban regeneration of properties that are clearly abandoned, at risk of falling and with inadequate occupation for the Center. We will use all the benefits and regulatory structures that we already have with the existing programs in the Center to improve this regeneration of the region – declared the Undersecretary of Regulation and Business Environment, of the Secretariat of Economic Development, Carina Quirino.

As part of the process, the City Hall opened a public consultation to receive suggestions from citizens, experts and the private sector about which properties are in a state of degradation and abandonment, and are eligible for renovation/restoration intervention. The City Hall created a task force last month to map the properties eligible for inclusion in the program. The final list will be defined after a public consultation. Contributions can be sent until June 4, using the form available at CCPar website.

History of Reviver Center

Sanctioned in 2021, Reviver Centro guarantees tax and building incentives and new use permits to encourage the construction of housing and the retrofit of vacant commercial buildings, converting them into residential or mixed-use buildings. In 2023, the program underwent an update and gained new rules to further encourage real estate activity in the region. Since its creation, 49 permits have been issued, totaling 4.145 new residential units in the Center. Of the 49, only 9 are for the construction of new buildings and 40 are for the conversion of existing properties (retrofit).

Reviver Cultural, a program that aims to revitalize downtown Rio by attracting cultural initiatives and increasing circulation in the region, also focuses on recovering empty properties and creating cultural spaces – 43 are part of the program, of which 35 are already open. On Rua da Cerveja, which will revitalize Rua da Carioca with a new urban project, three breweries have already opened and there are six more to open.

– Sinduscon-Rio has been participating in this movement to revitalize the city center since 2019. We have been conducting surveys and identifying the need for urgent actions to recover the city center. We helped to develop this project presented today. The city center is the soul, the heart of our city. It is where it all began. Revitalizing the city center is revitalizing the soul of the people of Rio, our city. We will always support any initiative in this direction – said the president of Sinduscon-Rio, Claudio Hermolin.