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Properties: The Buenos Aires neighborhood that was an industrial hub and is now chosen to live - La Nacion Propiedades
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Propiedades: el barrio porteño que era un polo industrial y ahora es elegido para vivir
Es una de las zonas urbanas que en los últimos años empezó a atraer las miradas de los desarrolladores; crece con la llegada de emprendimientos y nuevos comercios
www.lanacion.com.ar
December 26, 2023
It is one of the urban areas that in recent years began to attract the attention of developers; grows with the arrival of ventures and new businesses.
Tour of Buenos Aires neighborhoods. Montes de Oca Avenue. Solar Towers
Neighbors like to say that Barracas is a box of memories or a machine for creating postcards. Perhaps that is the most faithful definition of one of the oldest areas of Buenos Aires, which still preserves in its streets the air of the important industrial hub that it once was. The story began with warehouses located on the left bank of the Riachuelo, which were built at the end of the 18th century to store hides, the “barracas.”
The history of the neighborhood
In those years, Barracas was not an inhabited area and stood out for its strategic location: a port and a Marine Arsenal operated there to avoid possible foreign invasions. With the passage of time and the closure of some slaughterhouses that polluted the area, it was transformed into a neighborhood of country houses and mansions , where families with political and social influence resided, located mainly on Larga Street, current Montes de Oca Avenue, the main artery. main of the area.The Church of Santa Felicitas, one of the iconic buildings of Barracas, is located on Isabel La Católica street, between Pinzón and Brandsen, and hides a tragic story within its walls. The young and beautiful Felicitas Guerrero married Martín de Alzaga, 50, at the age of 18. She had two children who died as children and was widowed. Years later, she was the victim of a femicide and her parents, in her memory, built the grandiose temple in 1875, which combines clearly eclectic elements with Gothic reminiscences. It is the only Church in Buenos Aires where there are statues representing lay people. On one of the lands in front, the current Plaza Colombia was built, inaugurated in 1937.
The church of Santa Felicitas, in Barracas
From then on, there were demolitions, new works and projects to change the face of the area. Today, many things mix in the streets of Barracas: the presence of industry with architectural landmarks, new residential buildings with old houses , public parks, hospitals and schools with commercial premises of all kinds. It is a neighborhood that reveals its identity, but is also in a constant process of change.
“Its current development had to do with the expulsion of a lot of activities from the center. San Telmo was displacing the offices because it was filled with businesses of all kinds oriented to tourism and Barracas received everything permanent. As a result, it began to flourish. This has to do with something that we always say: when just one thing happens in a neighborhood, that place does not grow, on the other hand, when everything happens, you cannot stop it," says Álvaro García Resta, Secretary of Urban Development of the City. from Buenos Aires.
On Montes de Oca Avenue, new buildings coexist with old constructions that are very well preserved.
The kick of change
One of the milestones that sought to promote the growth of the neighborhood was the creation of the Design District, an initiative sanctioned by the Buenos Aires Legislature in 2013 to promote the development of industries from the sectors linked to that area as a factor of competitiveness in the economy. However, the developers who are betting on the area emphasize that, although the plan managed to attract public and private investments, it remained halfway and did not reach the level of the Technological District, in the neighboring neighborhood of Parque Patricios.
Metropolitan Design Center
Tour of Buenos Aires neighborhoods. Montes de Oca Avenue. Barracks
The former Águila chocolate factory houses a supermarket
A bit like what happens in other neighborhoods, in Barracas the residential and commercial are integrated. A network of homes, organizations, neighborhood clubs and wine shops are intertwined with newer brand stores and impressive real estate projects, which are increasingly landing in the area. The Torres Solares development is an example: it has 220 units and was one of the first important developments in the neighborhood. The change that is seen in its streets has to do, in part, with the private initiative that years ago was interested in acquiring deactivated factories to recover them.
Torres Solares, the pioneer in Barracas
Another case is the Molina Ciudad building with 360 lofts of between 50 and 160 m², with duplex units with their own terraces on the upper floors, which was built where the Alpargatas textile company previously operated (built in 1926 and completed in 1951 after several expansions). ), on Regimiento de Patricios avenue a few blocks from the Boca field. The Dujovne-Hirsch studio preserved the factory architecture of the building, the structure of the front and the central patio to give the apartments and their amenities an industrial air.
The spectacular entrance hall of the Molina Ciudad building
The exterior of the building preserved the original structure of the Alpargatas factory
The spacious lofts recovered a valuable urban heritage
On 100 Montes de Oca Avenue, the former building that housed the Bagley cookie factory was also converted into homes. The brand was initially located in downtown Buenos Aires, but moved its headquarters to Barracas in 1892. The construction gained ground until it occupied the entire block. It stopped operating in 2004, when it passed into the hands of the multinational Danone, which decided to move to the city of Villa Mercedes, in San Luis. Since 2005, the firm Copelle SA and the Lopatin Arquitectos studio refunctionalized the space, where the Moca Building is now located. It has five floors with 224 apartments of different types and a strong combo of amenities that include a spa, gym and swimming pools. On the ground floor, there are a series of commercial premises and in the basement, two levels of garages. Moca 2 is being developed on the same land.
“It is a key place in Barracas because it is four blocks from Constitución, where you have the train, subway and Metrobus and six from Puerto Madero , with very close universities and its gastronomic hub,” says Daniel Mintzer, CEO of G&D Developers, in charge of the project. “We are betting on two axes: that the building has the greatest number of amenities and that it offers an affordable price, in the order of US$1,300 or US$1,700/m², with financing with a 30% advance and 24 fixed installments in dollars. We have competitive values in what is available: a one-bedroom apartment starts at US$47,400; a two-bedroom apartment starts at US$72,300 and a three-bedroom apartment starts at US$126,900,” he says.
The building has a design with rounded tips and amenities
Curved balconies with expansive views
And just meters from the border between Barracas and San Telmo, more precisely in Piedras 1684, a new project is being built that fuses classical architecture with contemporary architecture, preserving the façade of a house from the last century. There are five floors with one, two and three-bedroom units from 25 m² to 87 m², all with open views. The value of the square meter starts from US$1,330 to US$2,395, and the prices of the apartments are between US$55,000 and US$140,600.
Render of the Piedras 1684 project
The building preserves the old façade of a house and is complemented by the modern construction of five floors high.
One of the departments of Piedras 1684
He defines Barracas as “a traditional neighborhood of the city with a very loyal audience,” which increasingly attracts more people, from families to young people looking for their first home. “More than five years ago it exploded. You go through Montes de Oca and today you cannot rent a place. Each thing that is started generates a virtuous circle of the new. Suddenly it is a neighborhood where you have everything and it is strategically well located in the city,” he highlights and assures that “it does not stop growing.” “On the block where we are building there are three buildings, ours and two more being launched,” he adds.
Currently, the value of a square meter in Barracas is US$1,943, according to the Real Estate Monitor carried out by Daniel Bryn, owner of Invertiré Real Estate. In 2021 the average value was around US$2,154/m², in 2020 US$2,389/m² was paid, almost US$100 less than the US$2,482/m² that it cost in 2019. Prices, as happened in all neighborhoods, were going up. downwards and properties being challenged due to low demand and high stock in sales.
In the neighborhood there are several green spaces, such as Plaza Colombia
The commercial and gastronomic offer is expanded in the area
Developers choose the area for its growth and connectivity
A neighborhood where today its inhabitants find all kinds of services
What is the reason for the growth of Barracas? For Mintzer, it has to do with the increase in prices in other areas, for example there is a US$1000 difference with respect to the value of the square meter in Palermo and more than US$3000 with respect to Puerto Madero (US$5668/m²). “There was a spill coming from there. Dam 1 and Barracas are at the same distance from the City and for eight blocks you find a high price difference,” he indicates. The second point, he highlights, is “the area's own development.” “People move, nicer buildings are built, the area gets better, schools, health centers, shops, bars arrive. We are now in a virtuous, positive upward cycle,” he says.
In addition, he maintains that the neighborhood has a strong traditional local component that generates a combination between “sheds and new buildings with a link of beautiful architecture,” which has a particular charm that people usually look for. Finally, he explains: “What everyone wants today is to live in a place close to access, but where on their block you can breathe a quiet, neighborhood air. That happens in Barracas.”
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