Real Estate Developer

Who we are

Vanguard Properties, today the largest real estate developer in Portugal, was founded in 2017 as a company established by a European family office, headed by Luso-Swiss investor Claude Berda, and José Cardoso Botelho, entrepreneur with a vast experience in Portugal’s real state sector.

Resulting from this partnership is a group which is financially secure, has an unusually high capacity for investment, and a thorough knowledge of the local market and its players. 

Its real estate development experience and a flexible and rapid decision making process, are other factors that make this company one of the most credible and dynamic in the sector.

Focusing on innovation and standards of the highest quality, Vanguard Properties mainly operates in the residential and tourism segments, with a vision enshrined in an integrated lifestyle philosophy, where every detail counts.

Projects with the Vanguard hallmark extend far beyond the expected, they promote a lifestyle in which all aspects, from architecture to interior design, including the pieces of art in shared areas, all converge to the same result: to offer a unique way of life, while at the same time, providing buyers with a handsome investment.   

So, as to secure its reputation as a developer of the highest standards, Vanguard Properties boasts a highly qualified team made up with more than 60 specialized collaborators, working at every step of the process, from searching out real estate opportunities, to marketing and selling the properties.

The group currently has 22 urban and tourist projects in its portfolio, spread over upmarket locations in Lisbon, Oeiras, Algarve and Comporta. Covering a total above ground Gross Building Area (GBA) of around 1.027.781 sqm, in an investment worth more than € 1.215 million.

Vanguard Properties was elected Vice-President of the Portuguese Association of Real Estate Developers and Investors (APPII) (mandate 2021-2024). APPII was incorporated in 1991, and is the national entity representing real estate developers and investors, both national and international, in Portugal, with a volume of investment representing every year 15% of the national GDP.

Vanguard Properties maintains privileged banking relationships with several banks, namely Millennium BCP, Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Novo Banco, Montepio, Banco BPI and Bankinter. The group is audited by PKF Portugal. 

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Founder

Claude Berda

Claude Berda - Vanguard Properties

Claude Berda is the founder and ex-Chairman of the AB Group (now Mediawan Thematics), one of the largest companies in the production and broadcasting of audiovisual content in France and which he sold in 2017. From 2003, Claude Berda began to invest in real estate in Switzerland, where today he is the largest private player. More than 200 office and residential assets make up his portfolio which include the Quartier l’Etange in Geneva, the largest Swiss property development, and Urban Project S.A., a development company that manages over 100 projects and around 50,000 rental contracts in the country which generate rents of over CHF 950 M (€893 M) (2,700 buildings).

Claude Berda visited Portugal for the first time in the 1970s, but it was in 2015 on a whistle-stop visit when he met José Cardoso Botelho that he decided to invest heavily in Portugal, rapidly achieving the position of the main overseas investor in the real estate sector.

More recently, his son Alexandre Berda joined the Vanguard Properties team thereby ensuring the continuation of the Berda family’s link with Portugal for many years to come. 

I’ve been to various parts of the world and Portugal continues to amaze me. It is a fantastic country because of the quality of life, climate, security and the way people think and live”.

Claude Berda

CEO

José Cardoso Botelho

JCB 2

José Cardoso Botelho has been an entrepreneur and investor since 1988. Influenced by his father who was also a developer in the real estate, he began visiting development sites from an early age and quickly developed an interest in the activity, but most of all it is the sheer joy of completing projects which still moves him to this day. An expert in Portugal’s real estate market, José Cardoso Botelho has enjoyed a multifaceted business trajectory over which he was liked to areas as diverse as construction and real estate (development and investment), software, medical equipment, leisure, fashion and financial investment in countries like Switzerland, Germany, Russia and Angola.

He met Claude Berda in 2015. Their personal empathy and shared ideas on the potential of the Portuguese real estate market led them to quickly make the decision to set up a company that is behind Vanguard Properties of which he is CEO today.

Our credibility rests on a thorough knowledge of the sector and market as well as a strong investment capacity, not to mention a huge determination to exceed expectations."

José Cardoso Botelho


TIMELINE

  • 2016
  • 2017
  • 2018
  • 2019
  • 2020
  • 2021
  • 2022
  • 2023
2016 (1)

Beginning of real estate investments by José Cardoso Botelho and Claude Berda

2016 (2)

Terraços do Monte – Acquisition

Terraços do Monte
2016 (3)

Lapa One – Acquisition

Lapa One
2016 (4)

Castilho 203 – Acquisition

Castilho 203
2017 (1)

Brand creation

2017 (2)

Inauguration of the Tivoli Forum office

Vanguard Properties
2018 (1)

Bayline – Acquisition

Bayline
2018 (2)

White Shell – Commercial launch

White Shell
2018 (3)

Castilho 203 – Commercial launch

Castilho 203
2018 (4)

A’Tower – Commercial launch

A'Tower
2018 (5)

The Shore Residences – Acquisition

The Shore Residences
2018 (6)

Riverbank – Acquisition

RiverBankTejo
2018 (7)

Launch of the under-10 and under-11 tennis program, Vanguard Stars

Vanguard Stars
2019 (1)

Terras da Comporta (Dunas e Torres) – Acquisition

Comporta
2019 (2)

Muda Reserve – Acquisition

Muda Reserve
2019 (3)

Infinity – Beginning of construction

Infinity
2019 (4)

Lisboète – Acquisition

2020 (1)

Support of medical and hospital supplies to the municipalities of Grândola and Alcácer do Sal

Comporta
2020 (2)

Vanguard Properties makes donation to '42 Lisboa', a computer programming school

42 Lisboa
2020 (3)

Support and participation in the study on remote work, "Home Sweet Office"

Lar Doce Escritório
2020 (4)

Vanguard Properties wins 4 awards at the "SIL Real Estate Awards" with the Castilho 203 and White Shell projects

Prémios SIL
2021 (1)

Foz do Tejo - Launch

Alto do Farol
2021 (2)

White Shell – Opening

White Shell
2021 (3)

Magazine "PORTICO" by Vanguard Properties - Launch

PORTICO
2021 (4)

Vanguard elected to the Vice-Presidency of the Portuguese Association of Real Estate Developers and Investors

APPII
2021 (5)

Claude Berda, Chairman of Vanguard Properties, becomes a Portuguese citizen

Notícia
2022 (1)

Investment in Kōzōwood

Kōzōwood
2022 (2)

Vanguard Properties brand celebrates five years

Vanguard 5555
2022 (3)

White Shell Beach Villas wins best tourism project award

White Shell
2022 (4)

2022 edition of Vanguard Stars reaches record number

Vanguard Stars
2022 (5)

Vanguard Properties and CUF project proximity clinic in Comporta

CUF
2023 (1)

Investment in Ecosteel

Ecosteel
2023 (2)

Muda Reserve – Start of construction of Casas da Aldeia

Muda Reserve
2023 (3)

Infinity – Opening

Infinity
2023 (4)

Vanguard Properties develops cultural and artistic hubs in "Terras da Comporta" - Memorandum of Understanding

Comporta
2023 (5)

Vanguard Properties and Brave Generation Academy create innovative school in Comporta - Memorandum of Understanding

Comporta
2023 (6)

Vanguard Properties buys 50% of Bamer from Grupo Higher

Bamer
2023 (7)

Vanguard Properties sign contract to acquire COVIPOR from Saint-Gobain

Covipor
2023 (8)

Dunas Golf Course among the world's golfing elite - Winner of several international awards

Dunas Golf Course