São Paulo state government expropriates former Ford land for subway project, thwarting plans for logistics park.

The government of the State of São Paulo has decided to expropriate the gigantic plot of land that housed the former Ford factory in São Bernardo do Campo. The site will be used to house the future facilities of Metro Line 20-Rosa.

The decision was issued through Resolution 075, from the Secretary of Investment Partnerships, published on October 28. The resolution designates the 227,000 square meter (m²) plot of land, equivalent to 28 soccer fields, in the Pauliceia neighborhood, as an area of ​​public utility.

The decision frustrated the American giant Prologis. The multinational planned to install a mega logistics park there, with total investments of R$ 33 billion over the decade, which has now become unfeasible, according to them.

"The company regrets the issuance of the declaration of public utility regarding the land previously occupied by Ford, preventing the continuation of the project to implement a modern logistics and technology hub in the region," it stated in a note.

Prologis added that, in recent months, it has maintained a technical dialogue with the Metro team, seeking alternatives that would reconcile the expansion of the metro network in the region and the viability of the logistics project. "The joint analyses resulted in proposals that would allow the coexistence of the two operations within the same site," it added.

Ford sold the site in 2019 when it decided to leave Brazil and divested several assets. Prologis bought the land in 2024 for R$ 850 million (a value that covers an area larger than that declared as public utility). At the time, the area belonged to two real estate funds, SJ AU Logística, which held 75%, and another from BTG Pactual, with the remaining 25%.