FIRE Tenants: Who Are They?

For a deeper understanding of the real estate market, delving into the data and analyses of occupiers is indispensable. FIRE is the English acronym that encompasses companies engaged in Finance, Insurance, Real Estate, and Legal services, collectively occupying 3 million square meters of office space in Brazil.

Currently, data from Market Analytics, SiiLA's data intelligence platform, reveals that companies in the financial sector occupy over 2 million square meters of office space nationwide, constituting around 20% of the total occupied area. The Insurance sector occupies 495,561 square meters, followed by the real estate and construction sectors, with 342,113 square meters.

SiiLA's data unveils that this occupancy trend extends beyond Brazil. In Mexico, the cluster of companies falling under the FIRE sector accounts for 26% of the country's office spaces. In Brazil, the occupancy rate is similar, surpassing 28%.

Who and where are they?

In São Paulo business centers, also known as CBD (Central Business Districts), are the regions that host the highest concentration of FIRE sector companies. Only in São Paulo’s CBD encompass 47.76% of these types of companies throughout Brazil, occupying a total of over 1.3 million square meters.

The high-end developments (A+ and A classes) represent 932,569 square meters of occupied area, and the B class developments total 760,250 square meters. The three prominent regions – Faria Lima, Paulista, and Juscelino Kubitschek (JK) – together concentrate 511,358 square meters, encompassing A+, A, and B properties.

At the top of the list of tenants is Banco do Brasil, with more than 283,000 square meters. Besides leading in the FIRE category, the financial institution occupies the most spaces in developments across the country. Among various commercial assets that count Banco do Brasil as their tenant, one of them is The One, a Class A+ property in the Faria Lima region. Covering 12,223 square meters of private area and delivered in 2012, this asset has a 57.46% ownership share held by Real Estate Investment Funds (FIIs), comprising 44.29% from FII The One Rio Bravo (ONEF11) and 13.17% from FII Pátria Edifícios Corporativos (PATC11).

In the insurance sector, Prevent Senior leads with 96,421 square meters. For instance, the Celebration I property in Vila Olímpia is entirely occupied by the insurance company. Classified as Class B, this asset encompasses 5,171 square meters of private area and is 100% owned by the RBRP11 fund.

While the real estate sector may not occupy a massive space in terms of square meters, when compared to the other sectors within FIRE, it represents a significant part of the real estate ecosystem. From July 2022 to June 2023, only in the city of São Paulo, this sector generated R$ 36.9 billion, according to the SECOVI-SP Real Estate Market Research. Speaking specifically about occupied office area, Savoy leads the list.

Representing the legal sector, the renowned law firm Mattos Filho tops the segment's ranking, with, among other locations, space in Miss Silvia Morizono, a Class A+ property right in Faria Lima.