Itaú leases 91,400 m² at Esther Towers in historic deal

Itaú Unibanco signed an agreement to lease the entire Esther Towers complex in São Paulo. The contract covers two towers totaling 91,400 square metres of office space, equivalent to 12 football fields. The transaction is the largest corporate lease in the history of the Brazilian real estate market.

Brokerage firms CBRE, representing property developer Eztec, and Binswanger Brazil, representing Itaú Unibanco, brokered the deal. The transaction surpasses the previous speculative record set by Banco do Brasil in 2013, which involved 86,000 square metres at Green Towers in Brasília. A single lease by Itaú also matches the average quarterly leasing volume across the entire city of São Paulo, which stands at around 90,000 square metres.

The transaction will reduce the office vacancy rate in the Chucri Zaidan district from 13.5% to 12%. Had the towers opened without a tenant, local vacancy would have climbed to 22%. Across São Paulo, general corporate vacancy stands at 15%, while triple-A rated buildings post 9.8%, and prime corridors like Paulista, Faria Lima, and JK register vacancy rates between 5% and 9%.

CBRE noted that São Paulo is scheduled to receive 180,000 square metres of new office supply next year, though roughly half is already pre-leased. The firm projects a broader scarcity of large corporate floor plates starting in 2027, driven by local zoning rules that limit the construction of mega-towers.