en.Wedoany.com Reported - Construction company Direcional has acquired a former Carrefour store property in the Usina area of Tijuca, northern Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and plans to build a residential community with approximately 600 housing units distributed across 10 buildings. The property, built by the Carrefour Group in 1997, covers an area of about 3,000 square meters and has been closed since February 2005, set to see new use after nearly two decades of inactivity.
The property is located at 1181 Conde de Bonfim Street, on the uphill stretch toward Alto da Boa Vista. The old store closed in the 2000s due to local violence, with reports at the time citing gunfights and supermarket robberies leading to its shutdown, as the area is near the Borel and Indiana communities. The building has since remained idle for an extended period, with multiple attempts at repurposing failing.
Before the sale, there were other attempts involving the plot. In 2009, negotiations with Realesis Holding S.A. valued the property at approximately 14 million reais, but the deal ultimately became embroiled in a dispute over the collection of the Real Estate Transfer Tax (ITBI). The case appeared in Rio de Janeiro City Taxpayer Council Ruling No. 14,727, where the buyer declared a value of 14 million reais, while the ITBI calculation base reached 99.27 million reais, followed by a technical assessment indicating a value of 96.12 million reais. The tax conflict left the building idle after the negotiations.
The property also appeared in public proposals, including state government expropriation for establishing a Special Police Operations Battalion (BOPE) unit and creating a COVID-19 patient care center, but neither advanced. Additionally, in January 2025, an operation involving the Greater Tijuca Deputy Mayor's Office, the Municipal Guard, the Urban Cleaning Company (Comlurb), and police from the Tijuca Battalion found over 100 people occupying the old building; the occupants were evicted, and the operation removed two vehicle wrecks and approximately 20 tons of accumulated garbage.
The Direcional Group, focused on affordable housing construction and development, sees this acquisition as a turning point for the site. Currently, no specific details are publicly available regarding the project's commercial name, apartment sizes, prices, parking spaces, or timeline.
