What's up and coming in Medellin real estate? Go East.
I have this conversation with buyers a lot.. "Yeah I really like
Poblado, but are there any other areas that you think are up and
coming?". Up and coming is really a matter of taste. Sabaneta is up
and coming, Laureles has been under renewal for some years, Bello could
be considered up and coming, even El Centro could get interesting in the
mid to longer term to time frames. But if what you want is to follow the
money in Medellin at the moment, the answer is to go East.
First a bit of history. Poblado, back in the pre-urbanization period of
Medellin (pre 1940s/1950s) used to be where the rich kids from El Centro
would go to spend the summer with grandparents, friends etc. Poblado was
dotted with agriculture owned by the wealthy farmers of the day and
when rapid development came in the 80s and 90, many of those farmers moved up and over the mountains to the East. The decision to locate the
international airport Jose Maria Cordoba (JMC) 45 minutes outside Medellin in Rionegro in 1985, further put the "Oriente" on the map of Medellin. And so the
townships of Rionegro, Llanogrande, El Retiro toward La Ceja grew to
support the development of fincas (both productive farm and recreational
farms) at the time.
As Poblado has become saturated over the last 10 years, growth towards the East has exploded. Today there are dozens of suburban development projects both high and low density, commercial and medical centers, malls and planned entertainment and nightlife venues for the area between Poblado and Rionegro. To support the growth, the largest underground tunnel project in Latin
America is underway to connect Poblado directly with Rionegro which will also reduce the travel time to their airport from 45 to less than 15 minutes.
The Oriente has a lot to offer from a unique, cooler micro-climate than
Medellin, to a truly "country" look and feel, yet just minutes from the
city. For many wealthy locals, the fincas to East are exactly that -
getaways from the hustle and bustle of the City to the roads less
traveled. The development and expansion of Avianca airport services,
the new Rionegro free trade zone and other commercial ventures means more business in the Rionegro area as well.
This will naturally lead to more housing demand and Casacol has a vested interest in our newest project, the Olive Hotel and Spa that we are developing with the M+ architecture and marketing group in Medellin.
Of the dozens and dozens of new projects being developed in the Las Palmas/Rionegro corridor, I get more excited about Olive development than any other. Tower 1 will feature larger 2 and 3 bedroom apartments in the 70-150 meter size range and will be optimized for residents and long term rentals. Tower 2 will feature aparments in the 40-75 meter range and will consist of the "hotel" portion of the project. Tower 3 will consist of a truly world class spa that we feel is missing from the local market in Medellin and will provide real differentiation from other projects in the area. We will post more info on Olive in the coming months as the project comes to fruition.
Bottom line, if you're looking for truly up and coming, you will need to
"go East". And anyone who resides in Medellin for part or all of the year
will attest to the attractiveness that the charming countryside, new and classic restaurants, as well as new developments have to offer.
Myself or a Casacol team member is always available to assist with your property search in Medellin or the fast developing "oriente", don't hesitate to drop me/us a line.
