The building in Quinta do Leme (Santo António), belonging to the Assembly of the Republic, which had been on the market since 2011, was finally sold, for 430 thousand euros. The news is advanced in today’s edition of the Negócios newspaper, which quotes the General Secretariat of the national parliament. The value of the transaction is below the half million euros that the property cost in 1999, when it was acquired to house the representation of the Ombudsman’s Office in the Region.
The former house was the property of the Assembly of the Republic, which ceded it free of charge for the operation of the Ombudsman’s services. The latter entity assumed the maintenance and operating costs, which it considered “significant”, so it preferred to leave the building. Thus, in June 2011, the Ombudsman’s Office announced the relocation of its representation in Madeira and that the property in Quinta do Leme would vacate.
Since that date, the property was without function or activity assigned and became an imbroglio for the national parliament. With no destination to give to the farm, in 2013 the Assembly of the Republic put it up for sale at public auction with a base value of 600 thousand euros. They didn’t show up interested. In 2018, it held a new public auction, with a discount on the price – 400 thousand euros – but it was again without a buyer. In February 2019, there was a third public auction but the result was the same.
However, as of August 2019, the Assembly of the Republic changed its strategy and decided to put the business in the hands of a real estate company. Since then, the sale of the property was being advertised on the company’s website for 450 thousand euros. The mediator would be entitled to a premium of 3.5 percent in the event of completion of the transaction.
The building already showed signs of degradation and had no electricity. Despite being listed on the real estate website, anyone passing through Rua da Quinta do Leme could not find any poster or information that it was for sale.