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luxury propertIes put puerto rIco In new global map
High-end properties is the only segment that has experienced “substantial” price increases this year
Juan A. Hernández, The Weekly Journal
The Corcoran Group announced last week another milestone in the firm’s expansion with the launching of Corcoran Puerto Rico, its newest affiliate and its official entrance to the Puerto Rico’s real estate market.
“Continuing to create more opportunities for all of our affiliated agents and clients is at the center of this growth, and I have no doubt that this new talented team will bring the Corcoran brand to the region in a strong and exciting way,” said Pamela Liebman, president and CEO of the Corcoran
Group. The new Corcoran affiliate is the product of an alliance with local Gramercy Real Estate Group, led by Puerto Rican entrepreneur Blanca H. López.
“We are thrilled to put Puerto Rico on the map with this new endeavor as Corcoran Puerto Rico.
This is such a prime opportunity for growth, particularly given the current booming real estate here on the island,” said López during the inauguration of Corcoran Puerto Rico new offices.
Luxury Properties Are A Hot Item
A former Corcoran affiliated agent in New York, López has specialized in high-end home sales and rentals and reported $50 million in sales this year.
Questioned about how significant the luxury segment can be for the real estate market in Puerto Rico, López said properties in this segment have experienced “substantial” price increases this year
“Demand for these properties has increased substantially, that is why prices go up. And given the high demand for these properties, inventory is running low,” López said.
According to the real estate broker, average prices for luxury properties around the Condado beach area range between $1,400 to $1,500 per square-foot, depending on their location and characteristics. If the property is on the beach and inside high-end resorts such as the Saint Regis in Río Grande or the Dorado Beach Resort in Dorado, prices can reach $3,000 per square foot. Corcoran Puerto Rico currently has in its inventory a 10,880 square-foot home in Guaynabo with a price tag of $7.7 million. Also, they have a condo in the
In fact, Condado area with an asking price of $4.2 million. “Property prices in Puerto Rico compete favorably Average prices for with prices in cities like San luxury properties Francisco and Hong Kong,” around the Condado added the real estate broker. beach area range Also influencing this segment between $1,400 to of the real estate market $1,500 per square- in Puerto Rico are the tax foot. incentives offered by acts 20, 22 and 60. “Relocating has become easier nowadays. You can now work remotely; Puerto Rico’s [geographic] location and its relation to the US, the climate, the vibrant culture… are also incentives for a family to relocate,” argued López. But, are prospective buyers looking for primary housing or a second home?
Property prices in Puerto Rico compete favorably with prices in cities like San Francisco and Hong Kong.
- Blanca H. López, entrepreneur
According to López, both types of buyers are interested in coming to Puerto Rico. “Many are buying second homes or vacation homes, but there are also clients interested in buying a home to take advantage of what Puerto Rico has to offer,” said López.
Aside from the real estate sales division, Corcoran Puerto Rico will also have a Sales and Marketing division and a Professional Consulting Department. The latter two concentrating in services for the development of new construction projects, including price setting, marketing strategies and construction project management. “We think it is important to be with every project from the beginning in order to develop a strategic plan covering all aspects,”López said.
opinion
Eduardo Hilera, M.P.S.
Emergency Management and Homeland Security Expert COVID Has Broken the Chain and Limited Supplies
The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals defines supply chain management as: “… the planning and management of all activities involved in sourcing and procurement, conversion, and all logistics management activities. Importantly, it also includes coordination and collaboration with channel partners, which can be suppliers, intermediaries, third party service providers, and customers. In essence, supply chain management integrates supply and demand management within and across companies.”
To sum it up, the supply chain is basically everything that needs to happen for us to get anything that we need. Supply chain disruptions caused by the effects of the COVID pandemic have brought the concept to the forefront of reporting and conversation, forcing us to face the realities of the complex set of factors that bring our food to our tables and cars to our driveways.
If you are a parent Christmas shopping for your children right now, you may have noticed that you are having a hard time finding a popular gaming console or the latest tablet. This phenomenon may seem small or insignificant, but it represents a larger challenge facing the world during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Puerto Rico, as well as many other areas in the United States, natural and man-made disasters of different kinds are common. The Caribbean sees regular hurricanes, California and Oregon see regular wildfires, Texas and other southern states have even seen freezing storms in recent years. Yet, many times, we are caught ill-prepared for these disasters and emergencies until it is too late, and we end up lacking supplies we know in advance we need.
We saw supply chain disruptions four years ago in Puerto Rico, when after Hurricane Maria the island experienced a shortage in bottled water, largely due to a logistics and supply chain mishap. Puerto Rico had no shortage of actual water, or of the plastics needed to make containers. The problem was the operational ability of the plants that bottled the water, and the distribution network that could get it to people throughout the island.
At the beginning of the pandemic, paper towel and toilet paper were nowhere to be found and baking products like yeast and flour were scarce. As the pandemic approaches its third year, the products that we place value on have changed, and as the global economy struggles to normalize, interruptions in the processes that bring us many of the goods we use daily have caused disruptions across many sectors—from food production, to clothing, to computers and cellphones, to vehicles.
Some of us are so used to having easy access to the products we use and buy that we forget the production process—endless hours of work, time, and effort that goes into every single object we purchase. We forget that there are raw materials like cotton and wool that go into the production of our clothing, that transporting packaged foods across the world is extremely costly, and that the products that we use from computers to cell phones to clothes are manufactured in factories, where employees and companies are impacted by the very same problems that are impacting the end consumers of those products.
Important sectors such as the motor vehicle industry have scarce inventory because new vehicles fresh off the production line are stuck in warehouses because they are missing one or two essential parts.
Corporations have tried to pivot to keep from collapsing as they lack necessary materials for their products. Some gigantic corporations have sought vertical integration of their supply chains, purchasing their own shipping vessels and as a result, the control of distribution routes for the products and services they sell. But solutions like these cannot be adopted by every company in every sector, nor should they.
As we consider ways to prevent crises like the COVID-19 pandemic from disrupting the global supply chain in the future, we need to ensure that local supply chains are protected, and global supply chains diversified, so we’re not caught without essential products, and to ensure we are not a burden to our own supply ecosystem.
