SANTO DOMINGO.- According to Indhira Desangles, the commercial and corporate real estate market was "quite good in 2022, because it absorbed the properties of projects built in previous years," although she maintains that the start of new constructions in that niche was limited.
The expert in commercial and corporate real estate assures that during the past year this market was active enough, placing, reselling and renting the properties that had stopped moving, due to the pandemic.
When evaluating the developments during the past year for El Inmobiliario , Desangles assures, however, that in terms of new projects "there haven't been that many, but rather those that were under construction have been completed or are being completed.".
The experienced real estate advisor maintains that of the commercial plazas and corporate buildings delivered, there is less and less inventory available to rent and sell each day.
Although the construction sector declined significantly last year due to factors such as inflation and rising construction material costs, Desangles believes that in her market "there has been no slowdown, but rather continuous growth.".
Note that in the Class A corporate projects in the central industrial park, there are no major developments, but everything that is coming out is driven by sales, resales and rentals.
Looking ahead to 2023, he says that several commercial projects are planned for this year in Santiago, Punta Cana, and Santo Domingo North, East, and West, by established groups like Grupo Patio and Paseo, which have been growing steadily.
Industrial buildings
Desangles believes that the area where “new players” could arrive is in industrial warehouses, logistics parks, and free trade zones. “There has been tremendous growth there; as a country, we are very well established. All the free trade zone parks and warehouses are full; there is no availability.”.
In that sense, he encourages those who own land and have warehouse projects in the pipeline to start now because prices have even gone up.
“We are at pre-pandemic prices, because they had gone down a bit and now they have gone up, and as for the warehouses, they used to be rented for five dollars, now a good warehouse can no longer be obtained for less than 6 to 7 dollars per meter,” explains Desangles.
