real estate

CSS to postpone land sale

The Caja de Seguro Social (CSS) has suspended the sale of 17 hectares of land it owns in the neighborhood of Parque Lefevre because of questions concerning the property's zoning and the agency’s asking price.

The institution had scheduled a tender to sell the parcel at a base price of $59 a square meter.

According to experts from the real estate industry, the land has a value closer to $100 a square meter, far above the estimates on the property's value provided by the Contraloría and the Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas.

The zoning specifications for the property may also be incorrect, according to the Ministerio de Vivienda. That agency sent a report to the CSS warning that the land is zoned to prevent it from being used for a building or shopping center, and has a limit of 100 houses per hectare. These restrictions could significantly impact the value of the property to potential developers.

After receiving that report, the CSS decided to suspend the tendering process.

There could also be potential problems related to the dividing of the 17-hectare parcel from a connected 26-hectare plot of land.

The subdivision would mean that the 26-hectare property would be inaccessible after the project to expand the Corredor Sur is finished.

The CSS had reached an agreement in which the company developing the highway project promised to build an access road to the parcel. But the Ministerio de Obras Públicas opposed to the agreement because the company was limited to expanding the highway and couldn’t work elsewhere.