Brandon Donnelly — Daily insights for city builders. Published since 2013 by Toronto-based real estate developer Brandon Donnelly. — Page 140

Yesterday we visited the Arquipélago — Centro de Artes Contemporâneas in Ribeira Grande on the northern part of the island. Originally the Ribeira Grande Distillation Factory , the site dates back to the late 19th century. Construction on the original buildings began in 1893 and the first export of alcohol was reported in 1896. However, production was short lived.

In 1901, due to pressures from the Portuguese mainland, a protectionist measure was put in place capping alcohol production across the Azorean islands to 2 million liters per year — a drop from 10 million liters per year. The mainland simply couldn't compete with low-cost alcohol from the islands and so they complained. This crippled the local industry and the factory shut down shortly after .

Subsequent to this, the site was repurposed for tobacco drying and storage, and even served as military barracks for a period of time. Then in 2006, the property was purchased by the Azorean government and, using money from the EU's Regional Development Fund, it was remade into what is now fittingly referred to as a "factory of culture."

The architects for the project were João Mendes Ribeiro and Menos é Mais Arquitectos , and if you ever find yourself on São Miguel, I would highly recommend you visit the center. The architects did a wonderful job creating a cohesive dialogue between the old (constructed out of black volcanic basalt) and the new. It was recommended to me and now I'm recommending it to all of you.

The Monte Palace Hotel on São Miguel Island opened in 1989.

Perched up 500 or so meters above sea level, the hotel offered panoramic views of Lagoa das Sete Cidades. It had 88 rooms, two restaurants, a bar/nightclub, and a total construction area of approximately 13,104 m². Notably, it was the first luxury five-star hotel in the Azores. And in 1990 it was even awarded "Hotel of the Year" in Portugal.

Then, the place closed — just 18 months after its opening.

Today, it looks like this:

Supposedly the hotel failed for a number reasons. It was hard to get to. It lacked on-site amenities. It didn't, for example, have a pool. And the unpredictable (and often foggy) weather of the Azores made it so that a lot of the time you couldn't even see the main attraction, which was the view. The sponsors may have also overshot the market at the time.

In 2017, the abandoned property was finally listed for sale at €1.5 million. Level Constellation ended up buying it for an undisclosed amount at the end of the year. They are a Lisbon-based developer founded by Chinese entrepreneurs. The plan was/is to reopen another 5-star hotel, but that hasn't happened yet. Though there's certainly no lack of visitors to the property today!

I don't know how you address the weather thing, but nowadays there are many other 5-star hotels on the archipelago. Regardless, my bet is that the existing structure will end up being demolished. I mean, it's been abandoned and unmaintained for about 35 years.

One of the small things that I've noticed about the island of São Miguel is that most properties have their utility meters (for things like electricity and water) in small vitrines next to the street. Here are a few examples that I came across:

Utility meters aren't the sexiest of things. So if you have to have them on the street for quick readings, having them tidily installed in niches behind glass is, I guess, a better look. It also offers security.

But apparently the other reason this is done is to protect them from the weather. The Azores have a mild maritime climate characterized by high humidity and frequent rain. This, combined with the salt air, could corrode the equipment.

And so they lock them up in vitrines.