Cristina Oteiza is the Commercial Director of Porta Norte. She studied Marketing with a minor in Psychology at Southern Methodist University in Texas, USA and Interior Design at Parsons The New School for Design, New York.

He was Marketing Manager at Agencia Feduro S.A. and worked in the interiors department of Mallol Arquitectos.

In this fourth episode we talk about Porta Norte Commercial Development. We explain our business model, the vocation of the first phases of the project, the types of real estate products you will find in Porta Norte and answer the most frequently asked questions from those interested in living in Porta Norte.

Listen to it or watch it on your preferred platform:

Links to the episode:

• Connect with Cristina Oteiza:

  • LinkedIn

Summary of issues:

• Porta Norte's business model.

• Phase one vocation.

• Commercial squares.

• Types of housing in Porta Norte.

• Lot sizes in Porta Norte.

• Preservation of local trees.

• Opening of the project to the public.

Transcript

Henry Faarup Humbert: Welcome to the Porta Norte Podcast. This is episode #4. My name is Henry Faarup, I'm General Manager of Porta Norte and I interview here the people who carry out the project, and all the hands that help us on a daily basis. Today we are with Cristina Oteiza.

Cristina Oteiza: How are you?

Henry Faarup Humbert: Cristina is the Commercial Director of Porta Norte. So today we are going to be talking a little bit about the commercial department. How we see the commercial vision of the project.

At the end of the day, we are looking to create an active life; urban, full of people on the streets, with lots of residents and lots of mixed use. The commercial department is in charge of communicating this, and making this vision materialise and become a reality.

So in this episode we're going to expand on this. Welcome Cristina.

Cristina Oteiza: Thank you.

Henry Faarup Humbert: How about you start by telling us a little bit about your strengths and what you have done in the past?

Cristina Oteiza: Well, the truth is that I studied marketing with a minor in psychology.

I started as Marketing Manager at FEDURO, a distribution company. I learned a lot, a school. However, I kept the tickle of architecture. I am fascinated by architecture. While I was there, I had the opportunity to study interior architecture for a year and I ended up working in the interior design department of Mallol. Then you (Henry) called me to work here. Let's say that this job brings together my two backgrounds: Marketing and Architecture. Now I'm marketing an urban planning project.

Henry Faarup Humbert: Since then, we have been working together on communicating and that is what we are doing today.

Cristina Oteiza: Exactly. The truth is that the project is a real eye-catcher. When you go there, you say: wow, why hasn't there been something like this in Panama? Why hasn't it been done before? I said: "It shouldn't be difficult to sell this because it's incredible. A lot of effort has been put into it. I can't find anyone who has been there who hasn't liked it. I can't find anyone who doesn't say it's incredible."

The challenge of communicating the project is that it is something that did not exist in Panama. In Panama there are no pavements to walk on, that's no secret.

That we are doing this in a different way, giving pedestrian priority and investing resources in burying the cables at the beginning, is something that is not known in Panama. That is the difficult part of communicating it. There are a lot of people who don't believe it. "No, you don't see that here" they say.

Henry Faarup Humbert: "Too good to be true" they also say.

Cristina Oteiza: On the one hand you say: "Hey, of course this is super easy to sell, if it's so good". But the difficult part here is to educate people about it.

First you have to show them that this exists. That it is possible and that it can be done. It is important that people go and learn about it. Especially those who have not had the opportunity to travel and see countries where this type of urbanism exists.

In the end, you are not just selling a project. We have realized that here it is like selling a city. This project works more like a mayor's office or a city hall, because there are different components within the Master Plan.

When [Henry and I] talked, one thing that really resonated with us was the issue of campus life. For those of you who haven't been able to go to one in the US: The campus is a place where you have all the resources close by. You can go to the gym, which is on campus. If you want to go to the supermarket, there is a little market on campus. If you need to go to the health centre, there is a health centre on campus. You walk to all these places. You have everything within a relatively small globe of land. So that's what we're trying to get across and that's what you don't have in Panama. The only place where it exists is in Casco Viejo.

That's why part of the communication here is that this is "El Nuevo Casco Viejo". That's what people are most likely to associate with it.

Henry Faarup Humbert: "Associate" in the aspect that you can walk and that the architecture will be as it is. In the Old Town there are almost no pavements, no ramps for people with limited mobility and no trees. So Porta Norte is not exactly Casco Viejo. Naturally, we are very different.

An important clarification, as usually the slogan does not convey such a complex message, which we are conveying in podcasts like this one.

Cristina Oteiza: We are just using the slogan so that people have a reference and a starting point. The Old Town was built before the car existed. Today, even though we give priority to the pedestrian, the car is a reality and it will be given its space. What we are doing differently is that we are not giving it priority. The pedestrian has priority. You're going to see car parks, but the car parks are going to be hidden behind and all this kind of stuff. It's more like an Old Town, with modern urban planning.

...

Henry Faarup Humbert: Tell me about the business model of the project.

Cristina Oteiza: Our business model is that we develop the land and sell fully serviced lots within a Master Plan Community, so that real estate developers and other types of investors (health centres, shopping centres, cultural centres, sports centres, educational centres) can build on this serviced lot.

What does a serviced lot mean? - because this is already developer lingo - A serviced lot is a flat piece of land that already has access to a potable water system, a storm drainage system, a sanitary sewage system with a treatment plant, an underground electricity system, a fibre optic and telecommunications network and a gas network. The developers call this "plug and play".

Usually when a developer buys a lot, he has to set about servicing it. We take that headache away from developers.

Henry Faarup Humbert: Part of the headache that we took away is that we have already done the paperwork with all the institutions.

Taking a lot and bringing in all these services, burying and doing the paperwork, it's complicated and expensive.

Cristina Oteiza: In addition to the infrastructure we have just mentioned, we built: the pavements, the cycle lanes, the streets, the parks and the squares. All the public spaces in the project.

This is how a developer comes to me, buys a lot from me and develops a housing project, a commercial, institutional or educational centre. That is our business model.

Henry Faarup Humbert: We are building the entire horizontal and will soon be part of the vertical through partnerships with developers and bringing out our own products.

We will also develop the buildings that are adjacent to the plazas. In Panama, when we talk about commercial plazas, what usually comes to mind is a three-storey glass building with a car park in front, between the street and the building. That is not what we mean when we say "plazas".

Cristina Oteiza: These are the "street malls".

Henry Faarup Humbert: Yes, those are street malls.

When we talk about pedestrian squares or European-style squares, what we want you to imagine is Plaza Catedral, Plaza Herrera or Plaza Bolívar in Casco Viejo. The only difference between these plazas and the ones in Porta Norte is that we are going to make them even more pedestrian. The squares in Casco Viejo have cars passing around them. In our plazas, two sides of the buildings are attached to the plaza.

On the ground floor of the buildings in these squares, there will be chairs and tables from the bars or restaurants that will be located in the square. And people will be able to drink their beer or coffee in the square without fear of being run over by a car.

Cristina Oteiza: We have two types of customers: In marketing this is called "B to B" which means "Business to Business" and translates as business to business, or "B to C" which means "Business to Consumer" and translates as business to consumer. Our main client is the developer who is going to buy the lot from me, but we want the end client to be interested in the project as well. It is the latter who will ultimately buy from the developer and live in Porta Norte.

We are in an important part of the project. In your linkedin, you don't have to be General Manager of Porta Norte, but "Town Builder". You are the builder of a town or a city, in which we are currently looking for the best tenants for the different plots of this master plan.

There is planning similar to populating a shopping mall. The malls have a series of anchors that they have to accommodate. After that, they have to see where the food court, cinema and shops will be. The same goes for the Master Plan. We have certain areas where it is better to have residences, others where it is better to put a hospital because of its proximity to Via Panama Norte. Some lots are better for schools, shopping centres or sports centres. So we must look for the best location and populate the different elements that a city needs.

Henry Faarup Humbert: We seek to create a virtuous circle where residential and commercial developers add value to each other.

So that we can have this campus life, where a resident can fetch bread from the cafeteria below his residence. At the same time he can walk his child to school nearby, and if he has an older child he can go to the university by bike or scooter. Where also his wife works in an office in Porta Norte and they can take a lunch break together, fetch their dog and go down to the river to play. This is creating a dynamic street life, and this is what our country lacks.

Cristina Oteiza: We want the different components to benefit from each other.

That is what we are actively looking for. In addition to looking for residential developers, we want all the different components of a city (health centres, shopping centres, cultural centres, sports centres, educational centres) to become the anchors of the project.

Henry Faarup Humbert: That's right.

During the life of the project there have been different visions and commercial strategies. We did a lot of earthworks. More than one million cubic metres of earthworks and that took us about four years.

In the middle of all that, the pandemic came and during all these years, when we talked to people and showed them the graphic material of what the project was going to look like, they were left with the question, "Will they come to expect what everyone is saying?" and the nice thing is that for the last four months, we can now take them to the project and invite them to walk the pavements, see the trees, see the lights and the painted streets.

Cristina Oteiza: The truth is that the project is at a very nice stage. It is very different to try to sell a project that does not exist and that you have to imagine, to a project that you can already walk. And you can feel that it is super easy and safe to walk on the wide sidewalks, use the bike path and see the trees growing.

The truth is that when the trees were raised it was a very nice moment in the project. We are in a very emotional stage and when people go to the project, they get excited.

Henry Faarup Humbert: We have two crucial elements for the project, which are urbanism and nature. Regarding nature: we have the Maria Preta River which is 2.2 kilometres long and the butterfly stream which is 1.8 kilometres longer. When people go to the river and walk the paths, the truth is spectacular and we are keeping them completely intact.

The second part is the urban planning, but naturally, people couldn't feel it. We could show them the renderings and everything. We even made a simulation in virtual reality to be able to transmit the idea - which was spectacular and that's exactly what we built - but now it is built. The nature part already existed and the urban planning part now is that it exists and that people can actually perceive it.

Cristina Oteiza: As you say, in the end, one could still see urban planning in virtual reality, but it is very different to feel it and walk it.

The truth is that a lot of effort has been put into urban planning. Before they were built, we had a prototyping site where a section of street was made in which thousands of materials were tested to see which were the best pavements, paving stones and materials for the bicycle lanes. In order to make the best decision. The amount of love that has gone into the final product is incredible.

Henry Faarup Humbert: You can live.

Cristina Oteiza: It is very, very exciting. As you said, before, all the investment was buried and people didn't see it, now the construction is a very beautiful part of the project that you can walk, live and feel.

...

Henry Faarup Humbert: We launched a social media survey to answer the most frequently asked questions about the project. We will try to answer them at high speed. So, without getting too long. Let's go through them one by one:

Will there be individual housing projects?

There will be individual property projects. Single-family houses. Detached, that is part of what is foreseen in the project.

Are they going to have flats or houses?

Cristina Oteiza: In fact, we are going to have both. In the end it depends on what the developer wants to build, but we are going to have all kinds of housing.

Henry Faarup Humbert: Will phase one have housing or just commercial?

Cristina Oteiza: Phase one has a more commercial vocation, but this does not mean that there will be no housing there. The ground floors will simply have a more commercial vocation. As it is a phase with high traffic due to its access to Vía Panamá Norte. But that does not mean that there will be no residences in the first phase.

Henry Faarup Humbert: Are there promoters developing projects?

Yes. We can't disclose right now because they want to keep their anonymity, so that when they bring out the project it will be a surprise, a boom. We are going to help them. There are already a couple who are developing the designs and schematic concepts. There are some very good developers and we hope that soon we can be revealing and communicating them to you. We'll be releasing them to the waiting list first, so sign up.

When does the construction of buildings, residences or townhouses start?

Cristina Oteiza: We are in fact delivering lots. Last week we delivered. These months we will be delivering the phase one lots and the developers have 18 months to start building their lots. So let's say, in the next 18 months they will be launching housing projects.

Henry Faarup Humbert: Will Porta Norte be accessible to the public?

Yes, Porta Norte is full of public spaces and we invite everyone not to come and enjoy, but to come and have a beer. Have a coffee. It's the same concept of Casco Viejo, everyone can't just come and enjoy. They are going to enjoy the rivers, the paths, all the pavements, all the public spaces. So it's a resounding "Yes."

Are there cycle lanes and approximately how many kilometres are there?

Cristina Oteiza: Yes, there are going to be bicycle lanes. In fact, we have 8.2 kilometres of cycle lanes in Porta Norte. Dedicated cycle lanes separated from cars, and separated from pedestrians as well.

It is divided in this way: We have cycleway space, then we have a space in street furniture, which creates like a barrier from the free pavement. So the pedestrian should not get into the bike lane and the bicycle should not get into the bike lane. We have 8 kilometres of dedicated bicycle lane in Porta Norte. In addition, on the side streets where there is no dedicated cycle lane, you can also use the bicycle. So watch out, there are more. But dedicated, 8 kilometres of cycle lane.

Henry Faarup Humbert: The cycleway is made of asphalt which for people who ride bicycles, they know the value of asphalt because you don't have joints. Because you're on wheels, it's super fluid and comfortable. You don't have the "pad. pad. pad. pad. pad. pad." that concrete has. So that's going to be super comfortable, not just for bicycles, but micro-mobility in general. Which are: scooters, skateboards, scooter, skateboard, and all the kind of mobility that may exist in the future. So it's going to be super cool.

Did you preserve any trees in the area?

Well, obviously we have preserved hundreds of trees in the area. All the natural springs are preserved. Yes, we have done earthworks and, of course, to be earthworks, you have to cut down a couple of trees and we have replanted a lot of trees in phase one. In our planting plan, to date we have planted about three hundred and fifty trees. All with a specific design, to provide shade to all pedestrians, in the rivers and natural waterways we are also planting much more. In addition to this we are incorporating a much greater diversity of trees and tree species into the project to increase the biodiversity of the area. What does this mean? There are many native trees or some non-native trees that have been in Panama for a long time, that were not in the project and we have planted them in the sidewalks in the median and around the river. We are attracting almost all the fruit species that grow in Panama so that people can take the fruit from the trees and grow it in their garden, grow it in one of the parks and people can eat what is growing right there in the project.

So in this way, we want to attract many animals to come and also the children to enjoy and eat, and we want to fatten them all up a little bit more with the fruits of the project.

Cristina Oteiza: Yes, that is, there is going to be a nursery and everything...

Henry Faarup Humbert: There is going to be a nursery where we are going to grow and sow the seeds. We are going to take the seeds that come out of the trees and we are going to grow them in the nursery, so that we can plant them in future phases. Because we are going to need trees endlessly, because we are going to be planting and we have a gigantic planting plan. So we want to be self-sufficient in tree planting. That's why we are going to have our own nursery and that's why we are planting around seventy species in this first phase. By the time the seeds of those trees come out, which a couple have already come out, we're going to grab them and propagate them in our nursery and plant the future phase and even in phase one. So, that's our plan to increase the biodiversity of the project.

How big is the project?

Cristina Oteiza: The project is actually 262. We have a plot to the north, which is 100 hectares, and another plot to the south, which is 162 hectares. This is five times the size of the old town, because you have an idea. That is the size of the project.

Henry Faarup Humbert: The southern parcel alone is five times. Including the hundred hectares above, it's eight times the size of Casco Viejo.

How big are the lots?

Cristina Oteiza: The batches really vary greatly in size. So there is something for all tastes and flavours. The smallest, between phase and phase two, at least, is 1,400 square metres. And we sell these plots of hectares. So ask around and depending on your ambitions, we have lots for you.

How long have you been building?

Well, the project was acquired in 2014. And we started construction in 2017.

Are all lots residential?

No, our lots are mixed use. Mixed use. So, again, what we want is to have all kinds of buildings in Porta Norte: residential, hospitals, schools, universities, shopping centres, everything.

How does the architecture code work?

The actual architecture code is to maintain the ideals of walkability of the project. We are working on simplifying the architectural code a little bit more, but basically it is based on having a maximum height. We have a maximum height of ground floor plus five and some ground floor plus two, that is, six-storey buildings or three-storey buildings. It also focuses a lot on the issue of not having parking bays in front of the buildings, so that you can't walk in front of them and the car parks are hidden behind the building. It is more a matter of keeping this colonial architecture, which is really the one that has proven to be a bit more "friendly" for a walkable urbanism.

Basically, once the developer buys, there are certain steps to follow: before he has to submit the plans to the municipality, he has to pass us certain sheets that we ask for, in other words, he is not going to do double work, he simply has to pass them to us before we approve them. From there, there are several meetings that have to take place. We are going to have a town architect, which is the one that regulates this type of thing. In fact, we have some architects who are already pre-approved. So if you use it, you don't have to go through this filter because they already know the rules of the project, they speak the same language as us.

It is not difficult. It sounds perhaps more intimidating than it is, but basically it's guiding them to this new language of new urbanism that there is no new urbanism in Panama.

Henry Faarup Humbert: How is the project affected by the COVID-19 pandemic?

Cristina Oteiza: Well, actually the pandemic affected us in terms of construction since it stopped for a year. But actually in terms of demand: demand increased because of the type of product we offer. Now all of them are outdoors. Now restaurants need a terrace, a space and basically, that is what we are going to do.

When the fortieth beat opened, and people were able to go out to the parks to exercise. Then, the coastal strip filled up, the causeway filled up. The parks filled up and people realised that there was a gap in the market, that there was no public space in Panama to go and enjoy.

So, all in all, the pandemic has helped us in that sense, to make people realise that what we offer is more necessary than they think and that it is needed in Panama. People have realised that there is a lack of public space in Panama.

Henry Faarup Humbert: I love the project. I want to know more and I want to visit you. How do I do it?

Cristina Oteiza: We now, as we already mentioned that the project is ready, well, almost ready for people to visit. We want to activate it and in fact we are looking to do: events in Porta Norte, "Sundays in Porta Norte". We want to do the little market, fairs, we want to see if we can make a dog park, we want the children to come. So, soon we're going to be putting out some little markets, some events in Porta Norte, so that everyone who wants to visit it can go and get to know it.

Well, the other question is, why do they call it Ciudad Porta Norte?

Henry Faarup Humbert: Ciudad Porta Norte is to convey the idea that we are not a project of little house, little house, little houses, 100% residential. It is a project where people go to live and lead their whole lifestyle. Where they can play, work, enjoy, walk and do everything. Fulfilling all your basic needs within five minutes walking distance. We call it Ciudad Porta Norte to convey this idea that this is a complete city.

Cristina Oteiza: Something to add to this is that, as you said, it is not a project of little houses, little houses, little houses, little houses, and it doesn't have a wall with a sentry box. It is open so that everybody can come and not only the residents of Porta Norte can enjoy Porta Norte, but also the residents of the area, the residents of the city can come to Porta Norte freely and can also enjoy the public spaces that are in the project.

Well, we have already answered all the questions and we would love to answer all the doubts you may have.

Henry Faarup Humbert: So if you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to send them to us through our social media. We will be very happy to answer them. You can also write to us at info@portanorte.com. You can write to me personally at henryjames@grupocolonias.com.

Cristina Oteiza: And you can write to me at cristinaoteiza@grupocolonias.com.

Henry Faarup Humbert: So welcome to learn more about the project, hopefully you can visit again. Super important that you come and visit and you're more than welcome. And if you have dogs, bring them along.