by Astrid Chang 
The urban growth of Bella Vista in the last few years has increased significantly thanks to the construction of new vertical properties as well as second use properties, in addition to the available supply of second use homes, along with lots, offices and commercial properties.
According to Carlos Gordón, an associate researcher at the Urban Risk Center (Florida State University’s urban research center), the development of real estate projects in this area has been oriented towards the construction of apartments of 20 stories or more in three sectors: El Cangrejo, Obarrio and Bella Vista, in the vicinity of Urraca Park. These projects have been focused on taking advantage of the central location of the district, the diversity of services and the availability of quality public spaces.
The current characteristics of this supply, according to the researcher, are mainly above the price covered by the prime interest, with new and redevelopment projects ranging from $112,000 to over a million dollars. The supply is focused on projects between 40 to 200 m2 and the average value per m2 in new apartments he asserts that today is around $2,300 dollars.
With respect to second use properties, Compreoalquile in its latest market report in Panama City for June 2022 recorded that in the Bella Vista area, both apartments and second hand houses, the average per m2 is around $1,850 dollars.
Investment
The real estate advisor, Luis Raul Bravo of Activentas Real Estate comments that those who wish to invest in Bella Vista is a good option taking into account that it is an area of great appreciation in both land and apartments.
For Bravo, the location is the main attraction since it is close to the Panama subway, shopping malls, hospitals, parks, restaurants and much more. Added to this is the high traffic of people in this area and the view that this location offers towards modern buildings as well as Casco Viejo.
“Foreign investors are looking for front front line apartments, that is, those facing the sea. On the other hand, we see that today despite the circumstances we are living in social and economic terms, the reality is that people are willing to invest in this area, as well as in others,” he says.
Architecture and positioning
For Gordón, Bella Vista is a township that maintains in its architectural heritage several examples of modernist and Bellavist architecture that give uniqueness to its urban landscape. The urban layout, the availability of public spaces.
For the researcher, the testimony of the uniqueness of the architecture of this area is seen in the inclusion of some emblematic buildings by Tejeira-Davis in the ‘Guide to Architecture and Landscape of Panama’ (2007), among which are the IL Maduro building (1949), the Hotel El Panama (1951), the Esses building (1963), the Grimaldo building (1972), the Banco Nacional building (1979) and the Asturias Condominium (1984).
He considers that this site has positioned itself as one of the favorites for residences and businesses due to several factors, starting with its central location and the residential offer, striking for its architecture; the proximity and diversity of services, businesses and offices, which make it an ideal place to live and work, and the availability of public space and walkability that it still maintains, even though it has been lost with the construction of parking lots in front of the commercial premises, buildings and residences.
