Auction of Latin America´s first skyscraper does not arouse interest in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The public auction of the historic ‘A Noite’ building, located in the port area of Rio de Janeiro and considered the first skyscraper erected in Latin America, was held this Friday without any bids being submitted for the historic property, reported the Brazilian Ministry of Economy.

Announced by the Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, in July last year and postponed several times for various reasons, “the auction was held, and no interested parties presented themselves,” the ministerial portfolio, responsible for the privatization of the building, informed Efe.

Last year, Bolsonaro wrote on his Twitter profile that the auction would be “one more wheel in the countless actions to reduce public spending and waste of the taxpayer’s money” and also indicated that the building, owned by the federal government, was valued at R$90 million (about US$16.5 million).

At 102 meters high and 22 floors, the ‘A Noite’ building was in 1929 the first skyscraper – a building more than one hundred meters tall – inaugurated in Latin America. Still, it did not retain the status of “the tallest” for long because a few days later, in the same year, the Martinelli Building in São Paulo, with a projected height of 119 meters and thirty floors, was inaugurated – even though only the first 12 floors were occupied and the full height was only attained in 1934.

The building, which also had Rio de Janeiro’s first observation deck, was designed by French architect Joseph Giré, the creator of the iconic Copacabana Palace Hotel, together with Brazilian architect Elisario Bahiana.

Since its creation, the building housed the National Radio, which operated in the then capital Rio de Janeiro. Until 2012 it was occupied by Empresa Brasil Comunicação (EBC), the state-owned company that manages public media, including the radio station.

The name A Noite (the night) was given in reference to the now defunct evening newspaper of the same name, which had its headquarters in the building.

In the nineteen forties and fifties, the building received in its auditorium a large number of people who accompanied the live radio transmissions of musical programs featuring the main performers of the time.

In the privatization project, which will have to be taken up again with a new auction, the Federal Heritage Secretariat suggests that the building can be used for residential or tourist purposes, taking advantage of the excellent unobstructed view of Guanabara Bay and the remodeling of the city’s port area.

Source: efe