Banco de Portugal buys one Lisbon building instead of two, cutting investment to 225 million euros

A single building replaces two

The Banco de Portugal (BdP) and the insurer Fidelidade formalised an amendment to the promise-to-purchase contract for the bank's future headquarters at Entrecampos in Lisbon, signed in the week of 26 October 2026. The original deal, agreed in May 2025 under former governor Mário Centeno, covered two buildings known as A2 and A3, with an initial payment of 192 million euros. The amended contract concentrates the purchase on one larger building, A1, at an acquisition price of 165.09 million euros, while the bank keeps an auditorium in A3 that staff will reach from outside. The building offers about 27,000 square metres of gross construction area, and the deposit already paid to Fidelidade stays at about 57 million euros, according to Expresso.

The bank published its communiqué on Thursday, 29 October, and in it said that the change will allow the project to be optimised in terms of location, security and investment.

“This change will allow the project to be optimised in terms of location, security and investment, without compromising the objectives set for 2025.”

Observador reports that the switch removes about 5,000 square metres of gross area, roughly half of it usable office space, while an estimated 35 million euros in savings is expected against the first contract. Público gives the total savings as a range of 35 to 40 million euros.

Costs and timetable

The bank's global investment estimate is 225 million euros, including fit-out and furnishing costs. Notícias ao Minuto and Observador put the original estimate at about 260 million euros, while Público cites 255 to 265 million euros for the first version. The bank says a significant part of the sum will be funded from the sale of its own real estate. Savings on running costs from consolidating four Lisbon locations are put at more than 10 million euros a year by SAPO and at around 10 million by Público.

Acquisition, original contract191.99

Acquisition, amended contract165.09

Global investment, original contract260

Global investment, amended contract225

Acquisition, original contract

191.99 million euros

Acquisition, amended contract

165.09 million euros

Global investment, original contract

260 million euros

Global investment, amended contract

225 million euros

Data from the article text

Delivery of the building has slipped. The handover was previously due by the end of 2027 but is now set for the end of the first half of 2028, after which the bank expects about two years of fit-out work. The bank plans to move its staff in by the end of June 2030. The Museu do Dinheiro and the cash and public-service counters stay in the Baixa building, which the bank keeps in full.

Socialists demand answers

Carlos Pereira, a Socialist deputy, told reporters that the PS finds the solution worse and opaque. He said the bank's board is the same one that backed Centeno's plan with a consensus, and asked what the board now thinks of the new solution. He argued that the new option costs more per square metre and does not bring all services into the same space.

“We went from transparency to opacity.”

The PS asked Governor Álvaro Santos Pereira to explain the changes, and says it may request a parliamentary hearing if no explanation comes before the end of the budget process. Carlos Pereira said the governor has had three months to answer a request the PS parliamentary group made on 11 July, and demanded that all the documentation be sent.

Timeline of the deal

The sequence runs from the May 2025 contract to the planned move in June 2030. The chart places the signing, the PS request, the amendment and the announced dates side by side. The amendment was formalised in the week of 26 October and announced on 29 October. The handover is due in June 2028 and the staff move in June 2030.