Zona 2

About Zona 2:

Zona 2 is the first zone north of the Centro Histórico. It starts at 1a calle, where zona 1 ends, runs north to 19 calle, and stretches from El Sauce and Finca El Zapote in the west to Ciudad Nueva in the east. Ravines close it in on most sides: across the one behind El Zapote lies El Amparo in zona 7, the Las Vacas river ravine at the far end of the finca separates it from the municipality of Chinautla, and to the east it meets zona 6 at La Parroquia. Calle Martí crosses the zone from Avenida Simeón Cañas to 13 avenida in zona 6 and serves as its commercial strip, with fast food, car parts, furniture stores, gyms, bank branches and petrol stations. Transmetro Line 2, opened on 23 January 2016, runs from San Sebastián in zona 1, where you change to Line 1, to Simeón Cañas, Hipódromo del Norte, San José de la Montaña and Jocotenango, with a bus every 8 to 12 minutes.

Before it was a zone it was a village. In 1821 Jocotenango covered five blocks around its plaza, where Parque Jocotenango is today. From 1879, under Justo Rufino Barrios, a racecourse went up to the north and a broad avenue was cut through the village, taking much of its common land; by 1900 that avenue had garden strips, benches and French-style chalets belonging to landowners and agricultural exporters, and it is now Avenida Simeón Cañas. Calle Martí opened on 9 February 1903 as a boulevard named after Manuel Estrada Cabrera, became Calle Nueva after his overthrow in 1920 and took the Cuban poet’s name in 1953. Ciudad Nueva followed in 1946 on the old potreros de Corona, developed by Bernardina Pérez de Rodríguez y Cía. under the engineer Luis Schlesinger Carrera with paved streets, real drainage and three parks, and when the city was divided into zones in 1952 the old village and its surroundings became number 2.

Homes here share the streets with institutions and industry. The Tribunal Supremo Electoral has its headquarters on 6a avenida, and on Finca El Zapote the Cervecería Centro Americana has been brewing since 1884, close to the central campus of the Universidad Mariano Gálvez; the university also uses the former Hospital Latinoamericano behind 7a avenida. On 7a avenida, a block north of Calle Martí, stands the parish church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción, and devotion to the Virgin of the Assumption is where the Feria de Jocotenango comes from. The racecourse closed when racing moved to La Aurora, and its grounds now hold a baseball diamond, Parque Minerva and the relief map. In Ciudad Nueva, Avenida Independencia, today’s 11 avenida, was a social dividing line from the start, with garden mansions on one side and houses on serial lots on the other.

Much of what matters here lies underground. Streams that come down from the centre run in pipes beneath the streets and empty into the ravines, and a three-metre-wide collector runs parallel to Calle Martí. On 29 May 2010, after three days of rain, a sinkhole 21 metres across and 30 metres deep opened at 11 avenida A and 6 calle in Ciudad Nueva and swallowed a three-storey house; a relief well was later added to the collector that comes from zona 3, passes the brewery and follows 6 calle down to the Las Vacas river. Compared with zona 1 and its offices and street trade, Zona 2 is a residential zone, and its lots in Ciudad Nueva run much deeper than those of zona 6 next door. Many families have lived in Ciudad Nueva, Barrio Moderno, El Sauce and Jocotenango for generations, while the apartment buildings of the past decade have brought in students and young couples, and longtime neighbours now say the piped water does not stretch far enough.

Houses in Zona 2:

Lots are long and most houses have a few decades behind them. In Ciudad Nueva one house stands on a lot of 10.5 by 40 metres with 350 square metres built, and another, on two levels outside the garita, sits on 8.6 by 25. El Zapote has three-level, four-bedroom houses inside gated condominiums as well as small houses on lots of 9 by 12.5. On 6a avenida, near the Tribunal Supremo Electoral, a ten-room house on a 13-by-40 lot is offered for offices or a small hotel, and around Parque Jocotenango some houses come up for sale to be remodelled. Houses for sale in Zona 2 cost noticeably less than comparable houses in zonas 10, 14 or 15. If you are buying for an office, have the Municipalidad confirm that the use is allowed on that block before you run the numbers.

Apartments in Zona 2:

Towers came late to Zona 2. Vertical El Zapote, on 3a avenida inside Finca El Zapote, has 254 apartments in three models of one, two and three bedrooms, with a rooftop, gym, coworking room, barbecue area and a plaza between its towers; one-bedroom units measure 37 to 40 square metres and three-bedroom units 72 to 78. In Ciudad Nueva you will find the DUO building on 12 avenida A and other blocks with three-bedroom flats of 63 to 77 square metres, and the Edificio Roque has penthouses of 175 square metres. When you compare apartments in Zona 2, ask whether the building has its own cistern or well and how many hours a day mains water really arrives.

Rentals in Zona 2:

The Universidad Mariano Gálvez drives much of the demand. Student rooms are let in El Zapote, some furnished and some for women only, and small flats a short walk from campus are advertised with maintenance included. Vertical El Zapote lets furnished one-bedroom units and unfurnished three-bedroom ones, Ciudad Nueva has three-bedroom flats in apartment buildings, and Barrio Moderno offers one-bedroom flats at modest rents. Read each advert carefully: some rents include VAT and building maintenance, others leave them out.

New Developments in Zona 2:

Over the past decade developers have turned to Zona 2 for apartment buildings, much as they did in zona 4. Vertical El Zapote is still selling, with the price spread over monthly instalments. Before you reserve in any new building here, ask for the municipal construction licence and a written delivery date, and find out how the developer has handled water supply and the drainage connection, the two issues that worry neighbours most.

FAQ:

• Is it safe to buy in Ciudad Nueva after the 2010 sinkhole?

  The 2010 hole opened over a municipal collector, and that line now has a relief well. What you can check is the house itself: look for cracks in walls and in the pavement outside, ask how the property connects to the drainage, and ask the Municipalidad whether the block lies in a risk area. Then take the finca number to the property registry and make sure the area, the owner and any annotations match what the seller is offering, especially on lots that run to the edge of a ravine.

• Can I use a house on 6a or 7a avenida as an office?

  Plenty of houses near the Tribunal Supremo Electoral are already sold with that in mind. The city’s Plan de Ordenamiento Territorial decides which uses each block allows and how much parking they need, so ask the Municipalidad before you buy for a change of use. A bank lends against what is registered, so check that the built area on the finca matches the house in front of you.

• How do I get to the centre without a car?

  Transmetro Line 2 links Jocotenango, San José de la Montaña, Hipódromo del Norte and Simeón Cañas with San Sebastián in zona 1, where it connects to Line 1. It runs from 5:30 on weekdays and from 6:30 on Sundays. From Ciudad Nueva or the far end of El Zapote you will still walk or take a bus to reach the nearest stop, so time the trip before you choose a street.

• Who rents in Zona 2?

  Students and staff of the Universidad Mariano Gálvez rent rooms and small flats in El Zapote and around 7a avenida. Couples and small households take one- to three-bedroom units in the newer towers, and families look for three-bedroom flats in Ciudad Nueva. If you are buying to let, the distance to the campus matters more than the view.

• What happens during the Feria de Jocotenango?

  Each August the fair fills Avenida Simeón Cañas and the Hipódromo del Norte with rides and food stalls from ten in the morning to ten at night; in 2026 it ran from 8 to 16 August. If the house you like is on Simeón Cañas or 7a avenida, see it during the fair as well as in an ordinary week, so you know what parking and noise look like at both times.