Santos Port Authority may have new headquarters in Guarujá; locations under evaluation

The APS president’s initial idea was to relocate the port administration to the historic Customs Building (Alexsander Ferraz/AT)

The Santos Port Authority (APS) is planning to build a new headquarters and does not rule out the possibility of constructing the facility in the Vicente de Carvalho District, in Guarujá. As reported by A Tribuna , this would contribute to the revitalization of that port area, which is already expected to benefit from the construction of the immersed tunnel.

The plan is to vacate the current headquarters, located on Conselheiro Rodrigues Alves Avenue, in the Macuco neighborhood of Santos, and move into completely new facilities that would also house other related government agencies, APS confirmed. However, details regarding the timeline and costs of the project have not yet been defined.

“Options are being studied daily, both on the Right Bank (Santos) and the Left Bank (Guarujá), so that we can make an announcement later this year, already with a construction timeline. It will be a proper headquarters, suitable for this important historical moment of the Port of Santos”, said APS President Anderson Pomini.

Visits to ports such as Antwerp, in Belgium, and Rotterdam, in the Netherlands — where Port Authorities are located closer to their respective port complexes — led Pomini to consider this possibility for Santos.

“As is done around the world, the goal is to bring together, in this new headquarters, at least a representation of all institutional services provided: Receita Federal (Federal Revenue Service), Polícia Federal (Federal Police), Vigiagro (Agricultural Surveillance), and Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency). It would be a headquarters with a helipad, featuring suitable and modern infrastructure for today’s needs”, said the APS president. “The greatness of the Port of Santos and what it represents for the country mean that management must seek and provide an adequate structure for its headquarters”, he added.

An alternative plan The intention to leave the current headquarters is not new. In August of last year, A Tribuna reported that the Port Authority had proposed to the Ministry of Ports and Airports (MPor) a relocation to the Customs Building, located in Praça da República, in Santos downtown .

At the time, the initiative, which originated in late 2023 under APS President Pomini, involved a property swap. The Port Authority would partner with the Municipality of Santos to offer another building to Receita Federal. The plan was to find premises that met the Customs Office’s needs and that were equipped with modern and digital infrastructure suitable for the Customs Authority.

The proposal did not move forward. In the same report, the Customs Office made it clear that it was not interested in relocating. To reinforce this stance, the building’s façade, dating back to 1934, underwent restoration, and in November, the Santos Customs Museum was inaugurated on-site.

Prime location The idea of the Santos Port Authority (APS) is for the current headquarters site — spanning 67,000 square meters in Macuco, within the Organized Port of Santos’ polygonal area — to be repurposed for cargo port activities.

The Port Authority is currently located in Macuco (Vanessa Rodrigues/AT)

The port’s administrator estimates a potential revenue of over R\$ 15 million per year from leasing or operating this space.