The Bonus-Kleffer consortium was the winner of the Multipurpose Cultural Equipment concession auction, in the region where the former Canecão concert hall was located, in Botafogo, south of Rio. The group presented a proposal of BRL 4.35 million, about seven times higher than the BRL 625 thousand defined by the notice as the minimum grant value. The concession period will be 30 years, with an estimated value of mandatory investments of R$ 180 million. The National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) was responsible for structuring the auction.
The project modeled by the bank provides for the construction of a cultural complex comprising a venue for shows with a minimum capacity of 3,000 spectators, an exhibition gallery measuring at least 320 square meters and a rehearsal room with a minimum area of 270 square meters. The fourth space in the complex will be Espaço Ziraldo, with a minimum area of 430 square meters, intended for exhibitions and presentations. This equipment will be shared between the winner of the auction – which will exploit it commercially – and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ).
“The new management of the bank wants to expand the structuring of projects with universities and other federal institutions of higher education”, said the director of the BNDES, Nelson Barbosa. “In the case of UFRJ, the operation combines asset recovery with improvement in its services. Projects like this can improve and modernize our schools, including the installation of solutions such as distributed solar energy generation systems”.
The counterparts involve the construction of a university restaurant with capacity for 2,000 meals a day and an academic building for around 4,000 students, in addition to the creation of public spaces with trees in the surroundings.
UFRJ will be entitled annually to 50 days of use of the Multipurpose Cultural Equipment, 90 of the gallery for exhibitions and the rehearsal room and 275 of Espaço Ziraldo. After the concession period, all these cultural undertakings will pass to the university.
“We were very happy with the outcome of the auction. BNDES was a great partner in the process. We are now starting to recover the UFRJ campus. A new infrastructure will be created, a change in the geography of Praia Vermelha and that will be fantastic”, celebrated UFRJ’s acting dean, Carlos Frederico Leão Rocha.
