Costa Rica Office Park Commands $127M

By Timea Papp

El Cafetal Corporate Center

CBRE brokered the sale of El Cafetal Corporate Center, a Class A office park in Heredia, Costa Rica. Mercado Valores, a Costa Rica-based real estate investment fund, acquired the property in a $127 million deal.

Located next to the Marriott Hotel in Belén, the first phase of El Cafetal Corporate Center broke ground in 2013 and encompasses four buildings totaling 456,519 square feet of office and 17,769 square feet of retail space, as well as 2,100 parking spaces.

LEED certification

Developed by Garnier & Garnier, the complex is LEED certified and features sustainable designs and building practices. Situated in an area with a Free Trade Zone Regime, the office park is home to notable tenants on long-term leases including Citi, 3M, Cargill and Deloitte.

Tim Gifford, managing director of CBRE Capital Advisors, Latin America, worked on behalf of the seller in the transaction. The deal represents the largest acquisition in dollar terms by a Costa Rican real estate fund to date.

“This was a great transaction for both the buyer and seller as El Cafetal is one of the few premier corporate office parks especially designed for large multinational corporations. In the past years, Costa Rica has been able to make a strong footprint of global foreign direct investment due to attractive market fundamentals coupled with a dollarized commercial real estate market. Costa Rica offers investors a risk-reward return premium not currently encountered in other Latin American markets,” said Gifford, in prepared remarks.

El Cafetal Corporate Center is in the country’s premier office location, as Heredia has the highest concentration of skilled workers and is home to some of the largest national and international corporations. The property is proximate to the Juan Santamaria International Airport and provides access to main highways, hospitals, hotels, banks, shopping venues and Heredia’s city center.

CBRE recently advised on the sale of a luxury resort in Panama, a further testament to the region’s growing popularity among investors. The majority interest in Trump Ocean Club Hotel traded in a $24.5 million deal.

Image courtesy of El Cafetal Corporate Center