Although the rehabilitation real estate from historic centres in Mexico it could generate a greater economic benefit for the cities in which they are located, there are obstacles to advancing in this regard, mainly overpricing, lack of regulation and orderly gentrification, indicated representatives of the Mexican Association of Real Estate Professionals (AMPI). .
At a press conference, when presenting the X Symposium of Historic centres: Architecture, Culture and Innovation, AMPI representatives indicated that, given these obstacles, it is desirable that areas surrounding these sites begin to renew their offer real estate because there is a potential to recover properties that are in a state of abandonment with accessible investments.
“The remodeling (of historic centres) requires a reasonable investment to recover them, depending on their size, to improve the image of these historic centres… But the cost of land in those spaces is high; they are being converted, but not for affordable housing,” explained Florencia Estrada Lázaro, president of AMPI.
Currently, Mexico has registered with UNESCO 35 sites that are considered World Heritage Sites, among which are more than 10 historic centers.
For Christian Montull Pérez Cancio, director of the X Symposium of Historic centres: Architecture, Culture and Innovation, the real estate abandonment in these sites is mainly due to the following factors:
- ill-founded inheritances.
- High real estate values.
- Messy gentrification.
Regarding the last point, Pérez Cancio noted that in several cities there is total disorganization in terms of housing in their historic centressince no preference is given to the rehabilitation of the second squares or areas surrounding them.
“It is important that society, government and associations such as AMPI work in coordination to try to organize the issue of gentrification a bit, which is the basis of a good historic center,” said the director.
Likewise, Pérez Cancio highlighted the example of cities such as Mérida, Yucatán, or Mazatlán, Sinaloa, which have rehabilitated their historic centres; however, he stressed that this has been done based on a land use plan, which is lacking in many entities in the country.
“We have seen cities like Mérida and Mazatlán that have historic centres that have recovered impressively and all of this has been based on the new territorial ordering, which has worked very well for them and has generated quite an interesting surplus value in their cities,” said Pérez Cancio.
The director added that, usually, the historic centres they present an oversupply of spaces that has considerably raised the costs of real estate found in these areas and that have the potential to be rehabilitated.
“Historic properties require a fairly high investment, but that slows down the purchase… We are trying to make people aware through the Association to know what the real values of these properties are, so that they are not overvalued, so that the historic center is truly organized and, therefore, we have a better offer of services,” said the manager, specifically pointing out the situation in Guanajuato, Guanajuato.
According to Pérez Cancio, in the city of Guanajuato there are more than 100 estate abandoned in alleys in the area of its historic center.
The X Symposium of Historic Centers: Architecture, Culture and Innovation, will be held in person in the Guanajuato capital, on March 23, 24 and 25, 2022.