TRF6 leases 25,000 sq m and highlights shortage of premium offices in Belo Horizonte
- The 15-year lease at Edifício Beyond accounts for 82% of the area involved in the city’s latest premium office leases and reinforces pressure on a market with vacancy of just 5.45%
TRF6, the Federal Regional Court of the 6th Region, was responsible for one of the largest office leases of the year in Belo Horizonte. More than the size of the area occupied, however, attention is turning to what remains of the city’s premium office inventory, in a market that has historically offered few options for occupiers seeking this type of space.
With more than 25,000 sq m of BOMA area, Edifício Beyond is one of Belo Horizonte’s main new deliveries, representing around 9% of the city’s total premium office stock. Initially expected to be delivered in the final quarter of this year, the property may now be completed only between the second and third quarters of 2027 following the fit-out works required under the pre-lease agreement.
At the submarket level, Funcionários, the area selected by the court, has the highest vacancy rate, according to SiiLA Market Analytics data, at 20.74%, while also recording the highest asking rent, at R$84.92 per sq m.
The lease stands out from the typical pattern of the Belo Horizonte market, as the area is around 50% larger than the city’s total premium gross absorption in the second quarter of this year. It is also unusual because of the volume concentrated in a single asset, since the largest leases recorded so far this year had ranged from 500 sq m to 900 sq m.
Among the city’s 10 latest leases, the TRF transaction accounts for 82% of the total area involved, with the rent per sq m close to the average of approximately R$89.88 per sq m.
The size of leased areas directly reflects the availability of office stock. Belo Horizonte’s office market is operating with limited space even amid strong demand. A comparison between annual net absorption and new supply shows a recurring deficit that helps explain the city’s historically low vacancy rate.
With total GLA of 219,000 sq m, Class A and A+ buildings in Belo Horizonte have a vacancy rate of just 5.45%, a historically low level that fell as far as 3.38% in 2024. In addition to Edifício Beyond, around 9,000 sq m of new supply is expected to be delivered in Belvedere by the end of the year.
The lease agreement
Because the occupancy requires adaptation works to accommodate TRF6’s operations, the agreement was structured as a built-to-suit lease. The adapted facilities include layout, furniture, equipment and building systems, with an initial estimated cost of approximately R$60.22 million. The institution will pay R$906,300 per month to amortize these works.
The Preliminary Technical Study that supported the lease identified inadequacies in the institutions’ current space. The approximately 25,800 sq m currently occupied by the Federal Court Section of Minas Gerais is shared by the two institutions. The document argues that each institution would require at least 20,000 sq m to accommodate its staff.
According to the study, public properties and the possibility of constructing a purpose-built headquarters were also evaluated before the lease was signed. However, the implementation period for either option would have been longer than the institution’s immediate space requirement.
Base rent is R$2.243 million per month for a 15-year term. Including the amount related to the adaptation works, the total monthly payment by the court will reach R$3.15 million. Over the full term, total payments are expected to reach approximately R$567 million, excluding the IPCA inflation adjustments also provided for in the contract.
