Revitalization of Rio de Janeiro’s Downtown is the Focus of Giancarlo Nicastro’s Panel at AMCHAM Event

The data presented by Nicastro was extracted from SiiLA's data analysis platform, Market Analytics. During the presentation, he revealed that the current vacancy rate in Rio de Janeiro, at 34%, has remained stable in recent years, following the peak of 36% observed in 2021, a period marked by the pandemic. The analysis covers all Class A+, A, and B office buildings in Rio de Janeiro.

Despite the market rent of properties remaining around R$ 68.43/m², asking rent from landlords have been declining in recent years, dropping from R$ 86.99/m² in 2020 to the current R$ 78.86/m². Even with the decrease in asking rent, the vacancy rate has not yet returned to 2020 levels, when it was 32.91%.

Another relevant data point presented was the variation in occupancy by the business sector of tenant companies in the central region between the second quarter of 2021 and the second quarter of 2024. The Insurance sector recorded the largest drop, with a 72.4% reduction in occupied space, while the Government and Administration sector saw the greatest growth, with a positive variation of 21.2%.

Two other major occupying sectors in Rio, Oil & Gas and Finance, also reduced their total occupied area by –1.33% and –2.76%, respectively.

The AMCHAM event featured participation from other prominent figures. Hilton Rejman, an executive at Brookfield, and Mara Rabelo, director at Canopus, participated in the opening debate panel alongside Giancarlo Nicastro, which was moderated by Marcelo Haddad, director of Rio Negócios.

The second panel of the morning, titled "Strategies and Opportunities in the Corporate Real Estate Market," was moderated by Michelle Novaes, CEO and Substitute Notary of the 15th Notary Office, and featured Liliane Dutra, CEO of Carrefour, Alberto Robalinho, Director of CBRE, and Rafaella Carvalho, Legal Director at Cyrela.

The third and final panel, titled "Challenges, Proposals, and Public Policies for City Centers," included Carlos Martins, President of the Advisory Council of CBIC, Thiago Ramos, Undersecretary of Urban Development for the City of Rio de Janeiro, Rafael Bussiere, Partner at Campos Mello Advogados, and was moderated by Luiz Claudio Cristofaro, Head of the Legal Committee at Amcham Rio and Partner at Chediak Advogados.