Some visitors heading to the World Cup in June are paying more than $100,000 a week to rent luxury homes in Rio de Janeiro for the monthlong event, sending property owners scrambling to list
The three-story, glass-walled villa in Rio de Janeiro that owner Arif Noor, a former fashion executive, is renting for $150,000 a week. Jonny Gitti
Former fashion executive Arif Noor's three-story, glass-walled villa sticks out of a mountainside in Rio de Janeiro that is so steep its terraces appear to float above the sea. A vertical garden of tropical flora rises from a spa on the ground floor. On a recent sunny morning a Brazilian actress/model dropped in for a photo shoot.
The five-bedroom, eight bathroom house can be yours during the World Cup—for $150,000 a week.
Soccer's crowning event, a monthlong tournament that kicks off June 12, will take place in 12 host cities across Brazil. The country's Ministry of Tourism estimates 3.1 million Brazilian and foreign tourists will flock to the games and FIFA Fan Fests. Rio is projected to be the top destination, with 554,000 visitors.
With the World Cup approaching, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is expected to receive more than 500,000 tourists. Some property owners are renting out their homes to visiting fans with asking prices as much as $150,000 per week. Photo: Jonny Gitti.
Mr. Noor's ground-floor spa with a vertical garden of tropical flora. Jonny Gitti
That has homeowners and landlords looking to score. Some luxury residences in Rio have been booked for hundreds of thousands of dollars for the month of the tournament, local real-estate agents say.
The biggest World Cup deal negotiated so far by WhereInRio, the luxury real-estate agency that manages Mr. Noor's place, is about 1.5 million reais, or $677,000, for a three-story penthouse in Ipanema for the month, said agency owner Frederic Cockenpot. He declined to name the renter or property owner, noting that discretion is key to doing business with the jet set.
Mr. Cockenpot will say that on his list of World Cup patrons is an African head of state and his 30-person staff. Otherwise, he said, his company targets corporate clients because they are more likely to book the whole month.
The living/dining area of Mr. Noor's home offers water views. Jonny Gitti
Word of the lucrative deals has set off a scramble among property owners hoping to lure wealthy soccer fans willing to pay big bucks.
"Every day, I get 10 to 15 people calling with homes to rent out," said Sven dos Santos, 33 years old, a German expatriate whose real-estate company, Agencia Heidelberg, manages about 180 rental properties in Rio.
Among his inventory is a 3,443-square-foot, three-bedroom penthouse in the fabled Copacabana neighborhood. Located a block from the beach with a view of the ocean, it boasts a breezy living room and a wide veranda with a hot tub. He said the apartment has been rented for most of the tournament, but he still has one week available for $12,205.
The high demand also has lifted prices down the line and has spurred some questionable competition. Some youth hostels are charging $100 a night or more for just a bunk bed. And rental websites are loaded with less-than-luxurious properties miles from popular tourist areas. Those accommodations include campgrounds, love motels and homes in the city's many poverty-stricken favelas.
A view of Rio's Maracanã stadium, from Corcovado mountain. Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
As a result, many regular tourists and business travelers have been chased away. Now, with the Cup fast approaching, some properties aren't getting takers and agents say rates for house rentals are falling.
So are hotel fares. Back in January, hotels in Rio were charging an average of $650 a room for the night of July 13, when the city is set to host the final match of the Cup. By May, that price had fallen 41%, according to lodging price-comparison website Trivago.
The exceptions to the falling prices are the superluxury digs, real-estate agents say. Owners of these properties can afford to hold out for lucrative deals.
Mr. Noor is one such owner. He sold a previous home in Los Angeles to actor Ashton Kutcher for $8.46 million, according to public records. He said he bought the Rio home to rent out part of the time. But beyond the fee, Mr. Noor said he wants to be sure renters appreciate the property. "I've turned down a lot of offers," he said. "If you have a unique house, you need a unique person."
He purchased the villa in Rio's exclusive Joá district in late 2012, then redesigned and decorated it himself. The result is a modern but warm combination of metal, wood, glass and open space.
This three-bedroom penthouse in the Copacabana neighborhood rents for $12,205 a week during games. Agencia Heidelberg
The process was costly and slow. Mr. Noor said it took him more than six months to get a container of imported furnishings through Brazil's customs. Finding reliable construction workers also was difficult, as Rio races to prepare for the World Cup as well as for the 2016 summer Olympics.
Even now, his renters—like many guests elsewhere—will have to face inconveniences outside their grand homes. The mountain road connecting Mr. Noor's home to Rio's beaches, restaurants and night life, for example, is bumpy and full of potholes. The 6-mile drive to Leblon or Ipanema is time-consuming in heavy traffic, and passes beneath one of the city's biggest favelas.
Such problems, and the contrast of the affluence amid poverty, have led thousands of Brazilians to take to the streets against the World Cup, which they view as coming at the expense of public investment in badly needed infrastructure, aid and services.
For well-heeled visitors, a long list of amenities have been added to some deals. WhereInRio will arrange commutes to events by helicopter, and it is offering services such as yacht charters, dog walkers and spa pampering.
Mr. Cockenpot said his agency faced an additional challenge in its Rio properties this year: finding enough backup power generators. Brazil's worst drought in decades has shrunk the nation's hydroelectric reservoirs. The government says it won't have to ration energy, but the possibility is something for which Mr. Cockenpot has to make provisions.
"The Russians, in particular, are very demanding," he said. "In Brazil it's hard enough to find a property on a similar level to the French Riviera, so they won't understand if there is a blackout, too."
Write to Paul Kiernan at [email protected]
Source: http://online.wsj.com
