Bairro Novo Launches First Project
21 Dezember 2007 - 11:02PM
PR Newswire (US)
-- 83% of Bairro Novo Cotia's 1st Phase Sold in First 10 Days --
SAO PAULO, Brazil, Dec. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Gafisa S.A.
(BOVESPA: GFSA3 - NYSE: GFA) today announced the successful launch
of Bairro Novo Cotia, the first residential project developed by
Gafisa and Odebrecht. The joint venture is targeted at the low
affordable entry-level ("AEL") housing market in Brazil. Bairro
Novo Cotia is being developed on a roughly 110-acre land parcel in
the city of Cotia, located 45 minutes from the center of Sao Paulo.
The project will comprise 2,386 units and a potential sales value
(PSV) of around R$170 million, and will be developed in five
phases. The first phase of the development, which has 464 units,
was launched on December 8 and produced R$32 million of pre-sales.
The units in the first phase should be delivered by approximately
December of 2008. Bairro Novo is focused on developing large scale
standardized fully integrated communities close to metropolitan
areas. Bairro Novo has its own distinct professional management
team in place to develop, build and manage these communities.
Currently, Bairro Novo has a land bank with a potential sales value
of R$1,030 million (Gafisa's 50% stake represents R$515 million of
potential sales). New and significant elements of Bairro Novo
Cotia's business model are the financing options that Bairro Novo
has developed in partnership with ABN AMRO. The target customer for
the Bairro Novo housing product has historically been underserved
in terms of mortgage and financing options for homebuyers;
consequently Bairro Novo is working with private and public
institutions to meet this need, thereby enabling a greater number
of people to buy a home. Highlights -- Bairro Novo Cotia --
Pre-sales of 437 units, 272 apartments and 165 houses, totaling
R$32 million -- 387 units booked as official sales: 236 apartments
and 151 houses, R$29 million in PSV -- 50 units in the process of
putting together the necessary paperwork -- The project is being
developed in five phases with 83% of the first phase sold in ten
days -- Products were developed for potential homeowners earning
roughly 3.5 times the minimum wage on a monthly basis. -- Special
mortgage terms were developed by ABN AMRO for Bairro Novo Cotia,
including: -- 90% loan-to-value ratio -- Borrowing rate for
potential homeowners of TR + 6.0% to 8.16% -- 25 year term --
Approximately 3,900 potential clients have registered with Bairro
Novo -- Three different products are available: a two-bedroom
house, three- bedroom house and a two-bedroom apartment. -- Average
price per units sold of around R$70 thousand. -- Nearly 40 acres of
green area are available in the project. The Company In March of
2007 Gafisa and Odebrecht formed a joint venture, Bairro Novo, to
develop planned neighborhoods focused on the low affordable
entry-level segment, an underserved market in Brazil with a large
unmet demand. Through the combination of accelerated construction
cycle and innovative financing, Bairro Novo can access a rapidly
growing market. Bairro Novo expects to be the most complete, modern
model of mass housing development in Brazil. The projects will be
standardized, ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 units per development,
and may be either vertical or horizontal. In order to achieve
economies of scale, Bairro Novo has designed three standard units
that can be adapted to any project: two- and three-bedroom houses
and two-bedroom apartments ranging in size from 43 to 68 square
meters. Infrastructure will be an important component to Bairro
Novo, as these developments will generally be far from existing
public infrastructure. Families targeted for this product will
typically have a monthly income between 3 and 10 times the minimum
wage, and will require innovative financing products from both
public and private sources. In addition, Bairro Novo plans to
provide maintenance services for the developments to ensure that
projects are socially and ecologically sustainable. The
neighborhoods are divided into smaller sections of approximately
500 units, which will be part of an association responsible for
preserving the common areas and standards of each development.
Bairro Novo will remain on the board of these associations for a
few years following the delivery of the units. Since no company in
Brazil has ever attempted to develop communities on such a large
scale that Bairro Novo will encounter there are a number of first
mover advantages and challenges. As a result, Bairro Novo Cotia
will serve as an important test pilot for this new model of housing
development and should provide Bairro Novo with important insights
into issues such as land purchasing, approval processes,
construction methods, marketing strategies, and financing options.
The experience with this first successful launch in the city of
Cotia will shape the approach of future projects as Bairro Novo
pursues this exciting market opportunity. For additional
information please access: http://www.bairronovo.net/ Marketing
Strategy Bairro Novo's marketing strategy has been created with
careful consideration of the characteristics of the region under
development and fully tailored to local customer characteristics.
Prior to the launch of Bairro Novo Cotia, approximately 2,100
potential costumers were registered through various marketing
methods. From the first day of sales to the date of this release,
Bairro Novo Cotia has had approximately 3,900 visitors. Financing
In the affordable entry-level segment of the housing market, it is
critical to have financing options that address consumers' needs.
Bairro Novo is working with both Caixa Economica Federal and
commercial banks to develop mortgage solutions. For the Cotia
project, Bairro Novo partnered with ABN AMRO. Potential homebuyers
were offered interest rates between TR(1) + 6.00% and TR + 8.16%,
with the opportunity to reduce it by 0.50% for anyone who has
contributed to this FGTS(2) for more than three years. Homebuyers
will make a down payment of 10% of the unit's value before delivery
of the keys and then finance the remaining 90% with a mortgage.
Monthly installments in the Cotia development will be between R$385
and R$717 after the delivery of the unit. Bairro Novo will receive
the 90% of the value upon delivery of the units. This will be
highly advantageous to the projects' cash flows as the capital
requirements for the 2nd - 5th phase will be decreased by the
collection of revenues from previous phases. To see a chart of the
cash flows, please visit:
http://www.mzcenter.com.br/Arquivos/94541.pdf. About Gafisa Gafisa
is one of Brazil's leading homebuilding companies, focusing on
residential markets. Over the last 50 years, the company has been
recognized as one of the foremost professionally-managed
homebuilders, having completed and sold more than 900 developments
and constructed nearly ten million square meters, believed to be
more than any other residential development company in Brazil.
Gafisa is one of the best-known brands in the real estate
development market, enjoying a reputation among potential
homebuyers, brokers, lenders, landowners and competitors for
quality, consistency and professionalism. More information about
Gafisa can be found at http://www.gafisa.com.br/ For additional
information: Investor Relations Bruno Teixeira Phone: +55 11
3025-9297 Fax: +55 11 3025-9217 Media Relations (US - Europe) Megan
Hakes Reputation Partners Phone: +1 312 222 9299 Fax: +1 312 222
9299 Media Relations (Brazil) Joana Santos Maquina da Noticia
Phone: +55 11 3147-7900 Fax: +55 11 3147-7900 (1) TR (Taxa
Referencial) - Brazilian Referencial Rate (2) FGTS (Fundo de
Garantia por Tempo de Servico) - Fund composed by resources that
come from 8% of the payroll sheets of the companies. These
resources may be used for residential financing DATASOURCE: Gafisa
S.A. CONTACT: Gafisa Investor Relations, Bruno Teixeira,
+011-55-11-3025-9297, Fax: +011-55-11-3025-9217, ; or Media
Relations, US - Europe, Megan Hakes, Reputation Partners,
+1-312-222-9299, Fax: +1-312-222-9299, ; Media Relations (Brazil),
Joana Santos, Maquina da Noticia, +011-55-11-3147-7900, Fax:
+011-55-11-3147-7900, , both for Gafisa Web site:
http://www.gafisa.com.br/ http://www.bairronovo.net/
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