Interview with Paulo Martins, founder and CEO of Ponto Urbano. The building process, some projects and the company’s main objectives are some of the issues addressed by the entrepreneur.
He likes to “create and master” the projects he is involved in and believes that “there is no one who lives the work with more love than Ponto Urbano”. Paulo Martins is the founder and CEO of the company and makes a point of following every stage, from the project to handing over the keys.
Based in Aveiro, Ponto Urbano is today a benchmark in the real estate market. With its main focus on the city of Aveiro, it also has buildings elsewhere in the district and in Portugal.
Guided by the motto “Quality Projects, Buildings for life”, Ponto Urbano’s strong commitment to quality construction is aimed at “making people happy”. This is the mission of those who want to leave a legacy based on offering sustainable solutions, privileged locations, projects with the future in mind and the quality of life of those who will enjoy them.
What does the company bring to the real estate market?
Ponto Urbano is led by someone who takes great pleasure in developing and executing projects. My team and I like to do things in a different way, with unquestionable quality and to feel the respect of all those involved, be they suppliers or clients.
We like our partners to feel that at Ponto Urbano we take our work very seriously. In other words, the main objective isn’t financial, it’s to exceed dreams and have a brand that gives people more than what they’re looking for.
How does the Ponto Urbano slogan materialize?
“Precision in the project” because we are very precise. A good project helps a job to be carried out with more quality, more performance and more respect for the environment.
The project has to be very well thought out.
Then on site, when we’re actually doing it, we have to make sure that what we’ve designed and thought about brings us quality and differentiation. Rather than the slogan “Quality Projects, Buildings for life”, I like to say that on the ground we exceed the project. In other words, when we’re on the ground, we’re able to make improvements to what was initially planned, both in terms of materials and the details of certain construction solutions.
A recurring statement about the company is that the houses really do have quality.
Absolutely!
It’s not the first time that people have entered the houses and been thrilled. They weren’t expecting such a high level of quality. This happens because we give everything to make people happy. We really respect the client’s investment.
Part of success comes from prime locations. How important are they?
Location is fundamental if we want to make buildings that enhance the value of our property and where people feel that their money is being put to good use.
A well-located building with a good solar orientation not only gains in value, but also in energy balance and quality of life.
In Aveiro, Ponto Urbano is the first company to build in the Foz de Prata enterprise. What does that mean in concrete terms?
Ethula was a good opportunity in an excellent location.
At Ponto Urbano we even have more striking buildings with more revolutionary architecture, such as Maximum or Puro Golden. However, Ethula is in an area of Aveiro that is going to be very dynamic and will be a unique allotment in the city and the region.
We decided to take part of this enterprise because it was an attractive business model, since the licensing processes had already been approved and the requirements for construction were guaranteed.
The construction of the Ethula building will follow the same quality standards as all our buildings.
Ponto Urbano has more projects in the district and in the country. What are the plans for expansion in the short/medium term?
Every day we get people knocking on our door offering old properties and plots of land in different locations. At Ponto Urbano, I believe we have made a very wise choice about the projects and where we build them.
Aveiro is our epicenter. It’s natural that we have a higher percentage of work done here.
But we also build in other places. In Praia da Vagueira we have Difference, where we offer a quality of construction like Vagueira has never had, on a par with the best we’ve done.
In Ílhavo, in the city center, we built the Garden building and, in Praia da Barra, Lux. In Espinho, a city of reference, we built 24Ponto33, also in a privileged location.
We also have work in Porto, which is the second largest city in the country and has a high level of demand and now we’ve arrived at São João da Madeira. This is definitely one of the most important cities in the Center-North of Portugal and is a strong brand in the country. São João da Madeira is a city of entrepreneurial people with a lot of business dynamics. I’m a self-confessed admirer of it.
Today, sustainability is a hot topic. How does Ponto Urbano deal with this challenge?
Our concern extends from the construction process to the solutions and materials we apply. We are very careful with the choice of materials, very careful with waste and with the way we carry out our processes. The goal is to have as little environmental impact as possible.
What should someone looking for a house to live in or invest need to know about Ponto Urbano?
It sounds bad to be self-praising, but I think there’s no one who lives their work with more love than Ponto Urbano does. The land is ours, the projects are ours, the construction is ours. We build for others as if it were for ourselves.
There’s a lot of care, a lot of commitment, a lot of dedication and a lot of precision. We want people to feel that they’ve made a good investment.
How do you define Ponto Urbano?
Ponto Urbano is like a daughter. I like her very much, I treat her very well and I want her to be very healthy. This means having quality human resources, financial sustainability, developing projects of excellent quality and having an unquestionable position in the market. This sometimes leads me to lose hours of sleep, because we like to be among the best.
We may not be the strongest economically, but those who are experts in this area usually buy from Ponto Urbano.
Our suppliers and business partners know that we are very strict and that we comply with everything that is required, because when we need them we like them to be available and to give us the best they have.
We have always felt an obligation to deliver high quality buildings, because our name and the name of our partners are at stake.
This is reflected in the value of our brand, our projects, which have always been very well received, and there are many more to come.
Ponto Urbano is a team.