The Buenos Aires microcenter is going through a reconversion stage in which potential scenarios are mixed that go through the expectation of a reactivation of the demand for offices in the post-pandemic, together with the possibility that a part of the existing supply is converted into apartments for housing , boosted by the good access to services, entertainment and the proximity to houses of higher studies.
“Our macro and micro center, the one that we saw in quarantine as a desert of semi-empty buildings, uninhabited sidewalks and closed premises, from the return to the presence and tourism begin to awaken,” the representative of the Strategic Planning Council told Télam of the City of Buenos Aires (COPE), Hernán Iradi.
The specialist stated that “offices and work spaces are not only going to persist, but flourish” and that “it is the area that is having the hardest time to recover, but it is the one with the most potential.”
“Tourism hardly comes back, the first thing it does is walk Corrientes Street; if we encourage the surroundings to start to take color it will come in handy, it is a very strategic area,” he added.
Iradi also said that “projects to incorporate the residential world, given its magnificent infrastructure, are finding consensus” and that this “opens up opportunities because many units today are achieved up to 50% less than before the pandemic.”
He explained that “it is a great time to buy, offices are obtained for less than 1,200 dollars per square meter” when before the price in the downtown “was not less than 2,000 dollars”, so you can “get offices that can transform into housing “.
“There are offices that have been disused and others that it would be very smart to convert them into homes. In micro and macro centers it is a great opportunity to build a residential neighborhood,” said the specialist when describing one of the effects that the pandemic had on the work, due to the strong impulse that the home office received as well as the closure of businesses due to the economic crisis.
According to the latest report on class B offices from Cushman & Wakefield, in the third quarter of 2021 vacancies continued its upward trend, reaching 10.1%, which represents an increase of 44% compared to the same quarter of the last year.
“The submarkets with the largest available surface area are located in the downtown area (CBD) and are Microcentro with 31,773 m2, Puerto Madero with 25,197 m2 and Catalinas-Plaza Roma with 24,103 m2,” explained Carolina Wundes, market research analyst for Cushman & Wakefield.
In this context, the owners of many buildings in the area are modifying co-ownership regulations so that the apartments that are exclusively for office use can be marketed as housing.
In the middle of this year, the Buenos Aires legislator from the Frente de Todos Manuel Socías presented a bill called “Recovery Plan for the Buenos Aires Center” that aims to convert these offices into housing for the middle class.
Iradi considered that this requires incentives from the city government, among which he cited the possibility of establishing tax improvements, soft credits for reconversion and benefits in the ABL rate.
Also a “modification of the Rent Law that will attract investors and these incentives for micro and macro centers for commercial premises so that they can be converted”.
In the middle of this year, the Buenos Aires legislator of the Frente de Todos Manuel Socías presented a bill called “Recovery Plan of the Buenos Aires Center” that aims to convert these offices into housing for the middle class
For its part, the real estate platform Mudafy pointed out in a report that “the low prices of real estate motivate them to bet on the future of the area” and that “the experience of Puerto Madero could be replicated, an area that managed to modernize, revalue and position itself as one of the best places in the city to live and walk. “
According to Mudafy, currently the values of the units of two rooms -in specific areas- are marketed at around US $ 45,000, while a block building with approximately 50 units has a value that ranges from 1 to 2 million of dollars.
He analyzed that “this situation is unique and an opportunity never before given when considering the benefits, accesses and amenities that the microcenter has, which aims to renew itself as happened at the end of the last century with Puerto Madero.”
Matías Towers, commercial director of Mudafy, pointed out that “this situation opened the doors to a new possibility that can give life to the area that extends from Córdoba to Belgrano and Callao and turn it into a neighborhood with a more residential profile with a very different from the prepandemic. ” The real estate platform increased its offer by 27% in recent months in the neighborhoods of San Nicolás and the portion corresponding to Montserrat.
As of today, 63% of the microcenter corresponds to offices: more than 600 office plots per square kilometer, while the housing space is 20% with less than 200 plots per square kilometer.
The Secretariat of Urban Development in Buenos Aires understands that around 640 office developments located in the downtown area of Buenos Aires can be readapted as homes
In this context, the Secretariat of Urban Development in Buenos Aires understands that around 640 office developments located in the downtown area of Buenos Aires can be readapted as homes.
The benefits of the area could become the requirements of many when looking for their ideal home: interconnection (subway, bicycle lanes, Metrobus all within minutes), cultural, commercial and service offerings, and even proximity to the great universities of the city.
Also, these could be the requirements of tourists when looking for accommodation when visiting Buenos Aires, thus becoming an opportunity for investors, compared to units at historically low prices, which could be temporarily rented in dollars.
