In early July this year, in the last session before the parliamentary recess, the São Paulo City Council (CMSP) approved some bills that will impact the organization and urban structure of the city, opening space for new investments in the real estate sector.
These changes are directly related to the series of urban legislative changes initiated in 2023 jointly with the conclusion of the revision of the São Paulo Master Plan. In addition to corrections of some existing gaps in the Zoning Law approved in January 2024, bills related to the expansion of the Faria Lima Consortium Urban Operation (OUCFL) and the process of closing the Água Espraiada Urban Operation (OUCAE) stand out.
The OUCFL was launched in 1995 and established an improvement program for the area of influence known as the Faria Lima Region Road Complex. With the new change, the area known as "Faria Lima's hole" was included in the OUCFL perimeter, which allows for increased construction potential of the plots facing Avenida Faria Lima, between Rua Santa Columba and Rua Santa Justina, in the surroundings of Avenida Presidente Juscelino Kubitschek.
Currently, this region is characterized by low-rise buildings and empty spaces, with a maximum use coefficient of 2, that is, with the possibility of building up to twice the area of the land. After the Mayor's sanction, the maximum use coefficient in the region was raised to 4, making it possible to build up to four times the area of the land.
This increase in construction potential will be made possible by the issuance of Certificates of Additional Construction Potential (CEPACs), known as urban instruments that allow the densification and requalification of certain urban areas. CEPACs are securities issued by the City Council and traded in the market, allowing entrepreneurs to acquire additional construction potential for their projects.
In return, the amounts collected are directed to investments in urban improvements. That way each CEPAC is converted into a quantity of square meters of additional construction area and/or land for the purposes of benefits related to urban uses and parameters, as stipulated in the legislation.
Furthermore, the legislative amendment included in OUCFL’s investment program the favelas of Paraisópolis, Jardim Colombo, Porto Seguro, Real Parque and Panorama, located in areas classified as ZEIS (Special Social Interest Zones) by the Zoning Law. According to the sanctioned text, at least 35 per cent of the resources that will be collected within the scope of the OUCFL must be invested in its perimeter of coverage or in its expanded perimeter.
The Água Espraiada Urban Operation (OUCAE) was also included in the approval of new bills at the end of July 2024. Created in 2001, OUCAE aims to promote the restructuring of the region that includes part of Marginal Pinheiros, Avenida Chucri Zaidan, Avenida Jornalista Roberto Marinho as well as the area along the Jabaquara stream.
Following the enactment of the bill that was being processed in the City Council, the process of closing the operation will begin, triggering a set of measures to deplete the stock of additional construction potential applicable to the perimeter. At least 30 per cent of the funds raised from the sale of CEPACs under OUCAE will have to be invested in Social Interest Housing (HIS) in the region. The closure process is expected to last a maximum of five years.
The bills that gave rise to the legislative changes mentioned in this article were sanctioned on July 25 and came into force the following day with their publication in the Official Gazette of São Paulo. Despite this, all vetoes made by Mayor Ricardo Nunes must be evaluated by municipal deputies in August, in accordance with the CMSP’s Internal Regulations.
