Estrada de Cacilhas runs alongside the picturesque Guia Hill Municipal Park, a leafy green ‘lung’ and the highest point of Macau at 94 meters above sea level, popular for family strolls and daily exercise routines.
Perched on this road, which doubles as the Grand Prix circuit every November, are a number of older low rise residential properties, all with wonderful views of the city and outer harbour.
The most notable properties start with the 5-storey walk-up on Rampa do Padre Vasconcelos, with its little road leading up to the park. Then the Chong Tou San Chong apartments, also walk-ups, with their kitchen windows that back on to the park. Two smart detached houses standing glamorously in lovely gardens on a hilly knoll, belong to two of Dr Stanley Ho’s wives.
Then come the three blocks of Baguio Court, followed by Ching Bik Court, Seaview Garden and the well-known Hoi Fu Garden on Rotunda de S. João Bosco. The 40-storey reddish-coloured Phoenix Terrace – at one time the tallest residential property in Macau – acts as an imposing full stop to this strip of properties.
Today, the ever-hungry developers have turned their attention to plots along Estrada de Cacilhas that have been vacant for many years. Carved out of the hill and still under construction is One Guia Hill, a luxury residential development. Further along is the soon-to-be-unveiled, “M Residences” at 83 Estrada de Cacilhas. Both these properties promise to give a welcome face-lift to the ‘strip’ and will provide much needed housing for locals and expats alike.
Like much of Macau, property prices in this area have more than quadrupled over the past eight years. One apartment in Baguio Court was purchased in 2006 for HK$1.7 million, and sold last year for HK$6.9 million. In Rampa do Padre Vasconcelos, a third-floor walk-up was bought in the mid-90s for HK$400,000 and sold un-renovated in 2011 for HK$5 million. One of the two top floors in Phoenix Terrace was sold for HK$6.3 million in 2008; today it’s valued at over HK$25 million. These days, just one car park in any of these buildings mentioned, will cost in excess of HK$2 million.
There are a number of advantages to homes in this heritage area. It has a gentle ‘old Macau’ feel about it, where the pace of life seems less frenetic. And just as in the old days, it’s a great place, particularly now the weather is cooler, for getting around on foot, and cutting through the myriad of little back streets that run like veins towards Senado Square and the centre of town.
