Facing the sea, painted white with red details, is the last “little house on Avenida Atlântica”. Unlike the skyscrapers and high-walled luxury homes of Balneario Camboriú, its low white doors are hollowed out, allowing curious onlookers to get a closer look.
Over the years, the property has even acquired tourist attraction status.
However, there is little time left for the last wooden house on the city’s noblest avenue: residence number 4100 will be demolished to make way for a 12-story building.
The white house, with its red frames and windows, is 139 m² and occupies most of the 286 m² plot.
An example of Popular Architecture, a style widespread in Santa Catarina between the end of the 19th century and the mid-20th century, this type of construction presents simple solutions with limited materials, according to the architect and professor at the University of the Itajaí Valley (Univali) Alessandra Devitte .
A historical and cultural loss
Wooden architecture has generally followed the socioeconomic and cultural evolution of the southern region, he says. This architecture incorporated aesthetic influences from various cultures, especially German, Italian and Polish immigration, which contributed new construction techniques and styles.
Wood occupied a prominent place, especially among German immigrants (of forestry origin), due to the abundance of this material in the region at that time.
The demolition of the house, in Devitte’s opinion, represents not only a material loss, but also a historical and cultural one.
“The conservation of popular architecture plays a crucial role in maintaining the cultural and historical identity of a community. “It reflects the traditions, traditional crafts, values and ways of life of the people,” says the architect.
The cottage demolition application and project protocol were submitted in December 2022 for analysis by the Planning Department. In January 2023, the demolition license was granted.
The property, in the South Barra of Balneario Camboriú, was built even before the so-called “Brazilian Dubai” (in reference to the abundance of tall buildings) became a city. The house was built in 1956 and purchased in 1973 by Lio Cesar de Macedo, who died in 2016.
Over the years, the modest house has seen its surroundings taken over by buildings and is now “squeezed” between them.
Although the casita is seen by many as a symbol of resistance in the region, Macedo’s heirs – who used the property as a vacation home until last year – may have negotiated the beachfront residence for a price commensurate with a title that currently boasts the city: the most expensive square meter in Brazil, according to the Fipe-Zap index.
A local broker consulted by BBC News Brazil estimated that the property could be worth between US$3 and 3.6 million (15 and 18 million reais), considering real estate prices in the area.
In 2019, one of the sons, João Ferreira de Macedo Neto, told a local newspaper that he had no interest in selling the property. The family was contacted but did not respond to BBC News Brazil’s interview request.
In 1956, when the beach house was built, there was not even a building in Balneario Camboriú, which was then called Camboriú beach. It was not until six years later when the Punta del Este building appeared on Central beach.
The property has seen the urban landscape transformed, especially in the last two decades.
For real estate agent Diego Wantowsky, it was only a matter of time before the house was demolished.
In his opinion, the only reason why it has not been sold before is because the investment to build a beachfront development is high.
“There is still no forecast as to when the building will be built. It has only been shared that it has been sold, the owners are very reserved with this information,” he states.
The price negotiated for the house does not surprise those who know the region, as it is a tourist destination for celebrities such as soccer player Neymar. After all, Balneario Camboriú is now the Brazilian city with the most expensive square meters in the country.
While the prices per square meter of real estate in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro stand at US$2,125 and 2,040, respectively, Balneario leads the ranking with an average price of US$2,485. The data comes from the FipeZap Index, published in a bulletin from the Economic Research Institute Foundation (Fipe) earlier this year.
The high demand for properties in the city is due to its security and privileged location. In addition to the beaches, Balneário is easily accessible by road and airport.
The expansion of Central Beach was also a crucial factor in the increase in value, Wantowsky says. “The beach expansion was as important as the upcoming revitalization of the boardwalk. It will increase the value of apartments in the area by at least 20% to 30% more.”
The real estate boom is repeated in other coastal towns in Santa Catarina, such as Piçarras, Playa Brava and Itapema – the latter is the second with the most expensive square meter in the country: US$ 2,117.
In addition to targeting the high-income Brazilian public, construction companies also focus on attracting foreigners. At the end of July, FG Empreendimentos launched an advertisement starring Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo.
The advertisement was for the One Tower development, the tallest residential building in Latin America, with 84 floors. With 20 leisure areas, each apartment sold for about 15 million reais (about US$3 million).
“People even say that Balneario is already a little ‘dollarized’. I myself recently sold an apartment to a woman from Belgium,” says Wantowsky.
Many things wrong
With the exponential growth of the city, issues such as shading of the beaches, the lack of water and sewage infrastructure and traffic have been worrying the population and experts in the field.
After the widening, the ten points of Central beach were not suitable for bathing, according to an analysis carried out by the Environment Institute (IMA) at the end of 2022.
In addition, the beaches and central squares are left without sun in the middle of the afternoon due to the height of the buildings.
Daniela Occhialini, president of the Community Association of Praia Brava Residents (AC BRAVA) and one of the organizers of the Save Brava movement, fights so that Brava beach does not follow the same path as the “Brazilian Dubai”, although the place is already very different from the original.
“We start to look around us and see that there are many things wrong. There is a gigantic alignment between public management and the private sector, which in this case is the construction industry,” she says.
In a statement, the Balneario Camboriú City Council affirms that the municipality does not believe that verticalization is a problem and that, in relation to the shading of the city, the works to expand the sand strip (from 25 m to 75 m) provided more sunlight during the day to bathers.
Regarding criticism about the primacy of money and alignment with construction companies, he responded that the onerous concessions of construction companies allow important projects and works to be carried out for the city.
He added that a large part of the city council’s income comes from taxes such as the IPTU and ITBI, which are generated by the real estate business. And he highlighted that all the processes necessary for the construction of buildings are followed in a transparent and rigorous manner.
The organizer of Salve Brava affirms that other municipalities in the region – such as Barra Vieja, Penha and São Francisco do Sul – have already requested help to prevent disorderly growth from reaching their beaches.
Lilian Simões, a 78-year-old retiree, has lived in Penha (37 kilometers from Balneario Camboriú) since 1996 and has a special relationship with the sea: as a child she contracted whooping cough and the doctor recommended the family spend some time on the coast. Since then, she has been attached to the beach.
The resident of Penha agrees that it is necessary to structure the city so that it can accommodate the real estate sector. However, she says she wouldn’t mind selling her house and moving into an apartment for more comfort.
“I’m thinking about moving to Itajaí, because there is more structure there, such as hospitals, markets and services in general.”
Learning for the coast
It is no longer possible to reverse the urbanization model of Balneario, says Rosemeri Carvalho Marenzi, forestry engineer and professor of the Postgraduate Program in Environmental Sciences and Technology at the University of the Itajaí Valley (Univali).
“It is a lesson that other cities can learn. “In the sense that they may have a different model, especially in terms of scale and distribution of the buildings.”
In the case of Balneario Camboriú, says Marenzi, the urban concentration occurred because the territory is small, but this does not mean that people need more housing, since most of these buildings are vacation, investment or rental.
For her, the so-called “ghost apartments” (those that are only occupied for a small part of the year or not at all) cause the exclusion of local residents.
“It is the residents who often end up having to sell their properties due to real estate speculation. “If they don’t sell their property, they will end up in the middle of a group of buildings, isolated and without sun.”
In the expert’s opinion, urban planning should not only focus on the economy, but also on tourism, the environment and the interests of residents.
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