L&RP inaugurates first Panama Pacifico buildings
December 6, 2009
The Visitor/El Visitante
London & Regional Panama (L&RP), the master developer of Panama Pacifico in the former Howard Air Force Base opposite the capital on the Panama Canal, has inaugurated and turned over the first buildings in one of the seven areas which make up this master-planned, multi-use, new community.
The new buildings are “flex warehouses”, with a cost of $64 million, and were finished in record time by a team of over 700 Panamanian workers and consultants. Just over a year ago, L&RP celebrated the ground-breaking ceremony of the project and today they have completed 21,000 square meters of construction and have set construction records with the infrastructure base that has been set in the former military zone.
The new buildings have filled up quickly, to an 85% occupancy level. Some six companies are beginning operations in the “flex warehouses” already, among them the Spanish company Yermont Enterprises and the Finnish company Wartsila.
“The innovative concept of divisible warehouses offers companies the flexibility to distribute their space more efficiently and to the needs of their business,” said L&RP General Manager Henry Kardonski, “Today, we can all appreciate how the Panama Pacifico project is bringing new standards of quality to Panama as well as the region, there is no project like this. These standards are what reign and will reign in Panama Pacifico.”
Companies continue to show interest in establishing their regional and global operating headquarters in Panama Pacifico, not just for the high standards of construction and operation, but also because of the benefits provided through law, establishing the area as a special economic zone and providing a optimized processing of visas for members of upper management moving to the country.
Dr. Miguel A. Clare, Administrator of the Agency of the Special Economic Area of Panama Pacifico (AAEEPP) noted, “We should feel proud as Panamanians because this is the first public/private project in Latin America of this magnitude”. Dr. Clare added that agreements have been signed with several companies from a variety of industries including hi-tech, logistics, maritime, hotels, financial services, restaurants and educational institutions.
The next step at Panama Pacifico will be the inauguration of the first buildings at the International Business Park and the much-awaited pre-sale of the first residential community at the Town Center, as well as the first two buildings of the logistics park, called the PanAmerica Coprorate Center, custom-fit to the needs of 3PL Panamericana and OSALA, two large companies backed with Venezuelan capital.