taken from :
http://www.cpnrenet.com/archives/1997/Dec01/inter.html
Commercial Property News December 1, 1997
International Investment Report
"As our neighbor to the south, Mexico naturally receives a lot of interest from
U.S. investors. While the country
continues to recover from the peso crisis in 1994, real estate investment opportunities
are beginning to present
themselves. Two traditional areas of investment in Mexico have been hotels and
maquiladora, or manufacturing.
Deloitte & Touche L.L.C. national director of real estate service Tim Cline, however,
suggested another area of
opportunity-the Mexican Resolution Trust Corp.
Mexico's Central Bank began its real estate loan sell-off in May. The loans have been
valued at $40 billion.
Valuacion y Venta de Activos S.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the bank, expects the sale
to take five years,
and began this year with a small group of 36 loans with principal balances of
approximately $20 million.
On the hotel side, the peso crisis caused a lot of changes in the ownership of properties,
and the banks wound up
with the majority of the ownership. An organization named FOBAPROA owns roughly $40
billion in assets,
although they are mostly mortgages and not real estate.
According to Cline, FOBAPROA owns the collective Sitar Co.*Oncor International properties
in Mexico, and
has initiated a hiring process to determine what company will help them package the
portfolio of mostly hospitality
properties. The organization also owns the predominantly hotel Camino Real Estate chain.
"(FOBAPROA) has
pulled back," said Cline. "I think they're going to return (properties) to
originating banks in some way. A lot of
eyes are on FOBAPROA." Some of the most popular areas for hotel construction include
Cancun, Porto
Vayarta, Los Cabos, Porto Pinyasco and Porto Loreto. "Mexico, at one time, was a huge
retirement option for
Americans and Canadians," remarked Cline. "That's probably going to take off. A
lot of that is happening in high
plains like in Guadalajara."
The maquiladora segment is doing extremely well in Mexico, with an increase of activity
among automobile
makers as well as the advent of new bus companies. "Maquiladora is booming. There is
a lot of activity from
American and foreign firms coming in and putting up factories and leasing
properties," said Cline. In Pachuca,
Anfora purchased a 713,930-square-foot facility from Prima Ceramica, while Stanley Works
bought 229,327
square feet in Chihuahua from Zenith Electronics Corp. A private developer bought a
106,423-square-foot site
from American Shizuki in Guadalajara, and Sumitomo Corp. Of America snagged 73,450 square
feet in
Queretaro from Dresser-Rand Co.
Mixed reviews plague the office market in Mexico. While Binswanger argues that office is
making a comeback in
Mexico City, Deloitte & Touche reports that there is a lot of office space available
in Mexico City. The only type
of office space that would be prudent to build would be Triple-A quality, as the majority
of the space available is
below investment grade. "A lot of people want to talk office buildings in Mexico
City, but not a lot is happening
right now," Cline said. "
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