"The architectural project has been approved", indicated the Porto Chamber.

According to Lusa, the closure of Galerias Lumière (a commercial space) was made public in October 2019. At the time, tenants spoke of "real estate 'bullying'" by the Galleries' administration, which put pressure on them to leave the space.

In 2021, in a space with two floors, only a few tenants remained, including Livraria Poetria - classified as “having cultural interest - which would end up abandoning the location in the last quarter of that year, after several eviction orders and the municipality having approved the temporary transfer, for two years, of a property on Rua Sá de Noronha for a monthly rent of 50 euros.

In response to Lusa, the municipality said that the architectural project for the hotel to be installed at Galerias Lumière was approved on 20 May, with the respective specialty projects having already been submitted.

The municipality also indicates that changes were introduced to the architectural project presented, in this specific case in the "outer access space to Rua das Oliveiras of the collective container storage compartment, which also received a favourable opinion from the [extinct] DRCN (Regional Directorate of Culture from the north)”.

The project had already obtained a favourable opinion from the cultural heritage, after analysing a supplement with clarifications and corrections, particularly regarding the materials to be applied to the exterior of the building and the location of the HVAC system (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning).

According to information provided in November by the extinct DRCN, the amendment in question was entered into services on 29 September, having received, after analysis, a favourable opinion.

The final decision, DRCN then stressed, was the responsibility of the Porto City Council, as the licensing entity.

The Lumière Galleries are located in a general protection area of ​​the Materials Deposit of the ‘Fábrica das Devesas’.

After a first unfavourable opinion in January 2020, in May of that year the municipality ended up issuing a favourable opinion on the Request for Prior Information (PIP) for the hotel unit, whose project was changed to maintain the commercial gallery, connecting the two streets, at ground floor level, explained Porto City Council at the time.

At the same time, DRCN also gave the project the green light. After this opinion, on the Request for Prior Information [PIP] the architectural project was submitted in 2022, and it received a "favourable opinion subject to reformulations", on 25 August of that same year.

The last opinion, issued on 25 July 2023, conditioned approval of the project to clarifications and corrections, including the "accurate" identification of all materials to be maintained or applied, as well as their respective colours, throughout the exterior of the building that will be maintained "very close to the existing one".

The project should also "have a more comprehensive construction approach, which focuses in detail on the characterisation of the retractable roof of the lobby and homogenises all other coverings with a cobblestone coating." Finally, in the case of a hotel unit, which will correspond to an HVAC installation with a significant size of the external equipment to be installed, the DRCN considered it necessary to clarify its location and impact.

Located in the centre of Porto, Galerias Lumière also had its heyday in the 1980s, with the opening of two cinemas named “A” and “L” in honour of the French brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière. The rooms closed in 1997.

In 2012 and 2013, the company that owns the space, IMOCPCIS, SA, began restoration and revitalisation work on the stores and the central area and, in July 2014, the Galleries opened again to the public with a new project.

In 2019, tenants began to be contacted by the administration to abandon the space, as it was going to be sold to IDS Grupo to install a hotel there.