Unassociated Document
FORM
6-K
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
Report
of Foreign Issuer
Pursuant
to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 of
the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
For
the
month of December, 2007
Commission
File Number: 001-33356
Gafisa
S.A.
(Translation
of registrant’s name into English)
Av.
Nações Unidas No. 4777, 9th floor
São
Paulo, SP, 05477-000
Federative
Republic of Brazil
(Address
of principal executive office)
Indicate
by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under
cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F:
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted
by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1):
Indicate
by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted
by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7):
Indicate
by check mark whether by furnishing the information contained in this Form,
the
Registrant is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant
to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934:
If
“Yes”
is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in
connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): N/A
Bairro
Novo Launches First Project
--
83% of Bairro Novo Cotia’s 1st
Phase Sold in First 10 Days --
São
Paulo, December 21, 2007
- Gafisa
S.A. (BOVESPA: GFSA3 - NYSE: GFA) today announced the successful launch of
Bairro Novo Cotia, the first residential project developed by Gafisa and
Odebrecht. The joint venture is targeted at the low affordable entry-level
(“AEL”) housing market in Brazil.
Bairro
Novo Cotia is being developed on a roughly 110-acre land parcel in the city
of
Cotia, located 45 minutes from the center of Sao Paulo. The project
will comprise 2,386 units and a potential sales value (PSV) of around R$170
million, and will be developed in five phases. The first phase of the
development, which has 464 units, was launched on December 8 and produced R$32
million of pre-sales. The units in the first phase should be delivered by
approximately December of 2008.
Bairro
Novo is focused on developing large scale standardized fully integrated
communities close to metropolitan areas. Bairro Novo has its own distinct
professional management team in place to develop, build and manage these
communities. Currently, Bairro Novo has a land bank with a potential sales
value
of R$1,030 million (Gafisa’s 50% stake represents R$515 million of potential
sales).
New
and
significant elements of Bairro Novo Cotia’s business model are the financing
options that Bairro Novo has developed in partnership with ABN AMRO. The target
customer for the Bairro Novo housing product has historically been underserved
in terms of mortgage and financing options for homebuyers, consequently Bairro
Novo is working with private and public institutions to meet this need, thereby
enabling a greater number of people to buy a home.
Highlights
-- Bairro Novo Cotia
|
·
|
Pre-sales
of 437 units, 272 apartments and 165 houses, totaling R$32
million
|
|
·
|
387
units booked as official sales: 236 apartments and 151 houses, R$
29
million in PSV
|
|
·
|
50
units in the process of putting together the necessary
paperwork
|
|
·
|
The
project is being developed in five phases with 83% of the first phase
sold
in ten days
|
|
·
|
Products
were developed for potential homeowners earning roughly 3.5 times
the
minimum wage on a monthly basis.
|
|
·
|
Special
mortgage terms were developed by ABN AMRO for Bairro Novo Cotia,
including:
|
|
·
|
90%
loan-to-value ratio
|
|
·
|
Borrowing
rate for potential homeowners of TR + 6.0% to
8.16%
|
|
·
|
Approximately
3,900 potential clients have registered with Bairro
Novo
|
|
·
|
Three
different products are available: a two-bedroom house, three-bedroom
house
and a two-bedroom apartment.
|
|
·
|
Average
price per units sold of around R$70
thousand.
|
|
·
|
Nearly
40 acres of green area are available in the
project.
|
The
Company
In
March
of 2007 Gafisa and Odebrecht formed a joint venture, Bairro Novo, to develop
planned neighborhoods focused on the low affordable entry-level segment, an
underserved market in Brazil with a large unmet demand. Through the combination
of accelerated construction cycle and innovative financing, Bairro Novo can
access a rapidly growing market. Bairro Novo expects to be the most complete,
modern model of mass housing development in Brazil.
The
projects will be standardized, ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 units per
development, and may be either vertical or horizontal. In order to achieve
economies of scale, Bairro Novo has designed three standard units that can
be
adapted to any project: two- and three-bedroom houses and two-bedroom apartments
ranging in size from 43 to 68 square meters.
Infrastructure
will be an important component to Bairro Novo, as these developments will
generally be far from existing public infrastructure. Families targeted for
this
product will typically have a monthly income between 3 and 10 times the minimum
wage, and will require innovative financing products from both public and
private sources.
In
addition, Bairro Novo plans to provide maintenance services for the developments
to ensure that projects are socially and ecologically sustainable. The
neighborhoods are divided into smaller sections of approximately 500 units,
which will be part of an association responsible for preserving the common
areas
and standards of each development. Bairro Novo will remain on the board of
these
associations for a few years following the delivery of the units.
Since
no
company in Brazil has ever attempted to develop communities on such a large
scale that Bairro Novo will encounter there are a number of first mover
advantages and challenges. As a result, Bairro Novo Cotia will serve as an
important test pilot for this new model of housing development and should
provide Bairro Novo with important insights into issues such as land purchasing,
approval processes, construction methods, marketing strategies, and financing
options. The experience with this first successful launch in the city of Cotia
will shape the approach of future projects as Bairro Novo pursues this exciting
market opportunity.
For
additional information please access: http://www.bairronovo.net
Marketing
Strategy
Bairro
Novo’s marketing strategy has been created with careful consideration of the
characteristics of the region under development and fully tailored to local
customer characteristics.
Prior
to
the launch of Bairro Novo Cotia, approximately 2,100 potential costumers were
registered through various marketing methods. From the first day of sales to
the
date of this release, Bairro Novo Cotia has had approximately 3,900
visitors.
Financing
In
the
affordable entry-level segment of the housing market, it is critical to have
financing options that address consumers’ needs. Bairro Novo is working with
both Caixa Economica Federal and commercial banks to develop mortgage
solutions.
For
the
Cotia project, Bairro Novo partnered with ABN AMRO. Potential homebuyers were
offered interest rates between TR1
+ 6.00%
and TR + 8.16%, with the opportunity to reduce it by 0.50% for anyone who has
contributed to this FGTS2
for more
than three years. Homebuyers will make a down payment of 10% of the unit’s value
before delivery of the keys and then finance the remaining 90% with a mortgage.
Monthly installments in the Cotia development will be between R$385 and R$717
after the delivery of the unit.
Bairro
Novo will receive the 90% of the value upon delivery of the units. This will
be
highly advantageous to the projects’ cash flows as the capital requirements for
the 2nd
-
5th
phase
will be decreased by the collection of revenues from previous phases.
To
see a
chart of the cash flows, please visit:
http://www.mzcenter.com.br/Arquivos/94541.pdf.
About
Gafisa
Gafisa
is
one of Brazil’s leading homebuilding companies, focusing on residential markets.
Over the last 50 years, the company has been recognized as one of the foremost
professionally-managed homebuilders, having completed and sold more than 900
developments and constructed nearly ten million square meters, believed to
be
more than any other residential development company in Brazil. Gafisa is one
of
the best-known brands in the real estate development market, enjoying a
reputation among potential homebuyers, brokers, lenders, landowners and
competitors for quality, consistency and professionalism. More information
about
Gafisa can be found at www.gafisa.com.br
1
TR (Taxa
Referencial) - Brazilian Referencial Rate
2
FGTS
(Fundo de Garantia por Tempo de Servico) - Fund composed by resources that
come
from 8% of the payroll sheets of the companies. These resources may be used
for
residential financing
For
additional information:
Investor
Relations
Bruno
Teixeira
Phone:
+55 11 3025-9297
Fax:
+55
11 3025-9217
ir@gafisa.com.br
Media
Relations (US - Europe)
Megan
Hakes
Reputation
Partners
Phone:
+1
312 222 9299
Fax:
+1
312 222 9299
megan@reputationpartners.com
Media
Relations (Brazil)
Joana
Santos
Maquina
da Noticia
Phone:
+55 11 3147-7900
Fax:
+55
11 3147-7900
Joana.santos@maquina.inf.br