en.Wedoany.com Reported - A study commissioned by the São Paulo Commercial Association (ACSP) and conducted by Campagner Arquitetura e Urbanismo reveals that in blocks within 150 meters on either side of urban bus corridors (i.e., areas along the city's structural axes), between 60% and 80% of active ground-floor retail spaces are vacant. In the Vila Mariana district, the vacancy rate reaches 80%; in Ibirapuera, 70%; and in Rebouças, 63%. The report notes that most of these properties are not even advertised for lease. Developer One Innovation has decided to halve the area dedicated to active ground-floor retail in its new projects, while other companies have abandoned the concept entirely.

Alessandro Azzoni, coordinator of the ACSP's Urban Policy and Environment Committee, believes the issue lies not in retail demand itself (which is actually growing), but in how these spaces are designed. Many construction companies treat active ground-floor retail merely as an area gain to be included in the total sales value (VGV), without focusing on commercial suitability. Some stores are located on low-traffic streets and are delivered without retail specifications, making it difficult for shop owners to purchase them, while investors only pay when they see viable income. For Julia Arruda Botelho, founder of Matchpoint Real Estate, a consultancy managing assets worth 2.7 billion reais and over 1 million square meters of managed area, abandoning active ground-floor retail means forgoing potential profits. She believes that in the vast majority of cases, the legal incentives for such designs are very worthwhile, and the key is to incorporate retail considerations from the very beginning of the project design.

Some developers have explored different paths. Porte Engenharia is developing the Platina Axis project, a 3.6-kilometer stretch along Radial Leste Avenue in the eastern region, home to approximately 4.4 million residents (of whom 2.6 million commute to other parts of the city for work), aiming to create a new urban center connected to the community. In the Métrica project, set for delivery in July, the company decided not to sell store ownership units but instead to bring in partners to hold asset shares, maintaining control over the tenant mix, sales, and occupancy rates, thereby transforming active ground-floor retail into recurring income. HBR Realty operates commercial ground-floor spaces through the ComVem platform, which currently has 40 operational units and 22 development units, with a total leasable area of approximately 110,000 square meters and an occupancy rate of around 90%. In the first quarter of 2026, sales by merchants on the platform grew over 37% year-on-year. Alexandre Nakano, CEO of HBR Realty, views ComVem as a scalable urban asset platform built on a portfolio logic, bringing together chain brands such as McDonald's, Starbucks, Oxxo, and Drogasil.

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