Zona 9

About Zona 9:

Zona 9 runs from 1a calle in the north to the Bulevar Liberación in the south, and from the old railway avenue on its western side to Avenida La Reforma on the east. Zona 10 starts on the far side of the Reforma, Zona 4 lies to the north, Zona 13 begins south of the Bulevar Liberación, and Zona 14 meets it at the Obelisco. The grid is simple to read: 6a and 7a avenidas carry the traffic north and south, and 12 calle is Calle Montúfar, named for the liberal politician Lorenzo Montúfar. Transmetro Línea 13 uses both avenues, running south down 6a avenida through the Terminal, Industria, Tívoli and Montúfar stations and back north up 7a avenida through Plaza España, IGSS Zona 9, Seis 26 and Torre del Reformador. That loop ties the zone to the Centro Cívico in Zona 1 and to Avenida Hincapié and Las Américas in Zona 13.

Before the city numbered its zones, this was the Cantón Tívoli, a scatter of houses among cypress woods and small lagoons. Estrada Cabrera’s government renamed it Cantón de la Reforma in 1911, and it took back its old name after his fall in 1920. European immigrants built chalet-style houses here in the early 1900s, around ten of them by 1915, and the 1929 extension of 6a avenida south, christened Avenida George Washington, opened the cantón to new homes and public buildings. One lagoon lay where Plaza España is now; the last one to go became the site of the Parque de la Industria, built under President Ydígoras Fuentes in the early 1960s to show off the region’s industry. Centro Comercial Montúfar opened in 1968 as one of the city’s first open-air plazas, Plaza del Sol followed in 1970, and through the 1970s office blocks replaced the chalets while many residents moved elsewhere.

Some of the city’s best-known landmarks stand inside the zone. The Torre del Reformador, 71.85 metres of galvanised steel at 7a avenida and 2a calle, went up in 1935 for the centenary of Justo Rufino Barrios and still carries a bell and an aviation beacon at its tip. At 7a avenida and 12 calle, Plaza España keeps the Carlos III fountain, made in 1789 for the old Plaza Mayor and set up here in 1933; works begun in late 2016 removed the roundabout around it and turned it into a pedestrian square beside the La Cúpula centre and its theatre. Avenida La Reforma, laid out from 1892 as the Boulevard 30 de Junio, keeps its park-like median, its statues, with the García Granados monument at 2a calle in place since 1896, and a cycle lane added in 2013. On weekdays the zone works around its institutions: the Ministerio de Trabajo in the Torre Empresarial on 7a avenida, INDE a block north, the IGSS Hospital General de Enfermedades on 9a calle, the Spanish Embassy on 6a calle and the Barceló hotel on 7a avenida.

With so few residents, the housing market is small and almost entirely vertical. Furnished apartments let to executives, doctors and foreign staff make up much of it, and rents are often quoted in dollars with maintenance included. Buyers tend to be investors who want a flat to let, or firms and professionals buying an office or a consulting room. The most residential streets are in the south of the zone, between 12 calle, 6a avenida and the Bulevar Liberación. Cross the Reforma and you are in the Zona Viva of Zona 10, so restaurants and nightlife are a walk away without being under your window.

Apartments in Zona 9:

Most of the zone’s homes are in mid-rise and tower buildings. Torre Barcelona, at 6a avenida 6-47, was designed by Seis Arquitectos for the developer Decaterra and handed over in 2018; it has a social room, a coworking space, a gym and a children’s play area, and its flats start at two bedrooms and about 80 m², with larger units in the Barcelona condominium reaching almost 190 m². Cendana, at 5a avenida 8-06, has one-bedroom units from 38 m², two-bedroom flats of 54 to 62 m² and three-bedroom flats of 70 m², or up to 117 m² with a private garden, and some of its windows look over the Parque de la Industria. Along the Reforma, older buildings such as Cortijo Reforma and Condominio Reforma hold one- and two-bedroom flats, several of them used as small offices. When you compare apartments for sale in Zona 9, ask whether the price is in dollars or quetzales and whether taxes and deed costs are on top.

Rentals in Zona 9:

Furnished one- and two-bedroom apartments are the core of the rental market, set up for people here on a work contract. At the small end you find studios of around 30 m² let furnished to foreigners; near Plaza España, ground-floor flats of 90 to 100 m² come with covered parking, a water cistern and a garita. On the Reforma, high-floor one-bedroom units are let furnished with views over the city, and Torre Barcelona and Cendana both have units for rent with their amenities included. Before you sign for apartments for rent in Zona 9, work out which Transmetro platform you will use: buses run south on 6a avenida and north on 7a, so the nearest stop depends on where you are heading.

Houses in Zona 9:

Houses are scarce, and most of those that reach the market are sold or let for business. They sit on the main corridors with street frontage, run from about 150 to 400 m² built, and are offered for offices, clinics or showrooms as often as for living in. A family house is still possible in the residential south of the zone near the Bulevar Liberación, though few come up. If you look at houses for sale in Zona 9, ask what use the municipality has approved for the lot, because a house already licensed as an office is valued differently from one that is still a home.

Land and Lots in Zona 9:

Empty land is rare, and what appears is usually a commercial parcel on one of the avenues, priced by the vara. A recent example on 7a avenida covered more than 3,700 m² with a 45-metre frontage, offered as an investment site. Zona 9 sits close to La Aurora, so before you price a lot for a building, ask Aeronáutica Civil for the height limit at its exact coordinates. Then check the use and density the municipal Plan de Ordenamiento Territorial allows, since a lot’s value here comes from what you can put on it.

New Developments in Zona 9:

Recent building in the zone has leaned toward compact units and offices. Off-plan apartments are on sale in a private community of two buildings, from one-bedroom units of about 54 m² to three-bedroom flats of 142 m². On the office side, Ascend, at 13 calle 05-31, is a new building with entrances from Calle Montúfar and 13 calle and offices from around 35 m², while Nova Reformador sells offices from about 47 m² near the Reforma and 2a calle. If you buy new developments in Zona 9 off plan, get the construction licence, the delivery date and the payment schedule in writing.

Offices and Commercial Space in Zona 9:

Offices are the zone’s main product. Plaza del Sol, at 12 calle 2-04, still leases offices above its shops, and Centro Comercial Montúfar sits across the street on the same corridor. On the Reforma, buildings such as Reforma Montúfar and Aristos Reforma offer floors and suites with lifts and security, and Torre Cristal adds smaller units for sale. Street-front premises of several hundred square metres come up on the main avenues, and whole houses are let for commercial use. For a clinic or any business that receives the public, ask how many parking spaces come with the unit and where visitors will leave their cars.

FAQ:

• How is Zona 9 different from Zona 10 across the Reforma?

  The Avenida La Reforma is the border. Zona 10 holds the Zona Viva, between the Reforma and 6a avenida from 10a to 16 calle, and had about nine times as many residents as Zona 9 in 2018. Zona 9 is a working zone of ministries, the IGSS hospital, offices and hotels, with a much smaller stock of homes. A flat on the Zona 9 side gives you the Zona Viva across the median without living in the middle of it.

• Can I live in Zona 9 without a car?

  More easily than in most zones. Transmetro Línea 13 has eight stations here, four southbound on 6a avenida and four northbound on 7a, and it runs to the Centro Cívico in Zona 1 and down to Las Américas in Zona 13. Offices, the IGSS hospital, Plaza España and the Zona Viva are all within walking distance of one another.

• What should I check before buying an office or a flat in an older building?

  Many buildings here date from the 1970s office boom, and units have been switched between home and office use more than once. Start with the finca at the property registry and the condominium rules, which decide whether your unit can be a home, an office or a clinic. Ask for proof that maintenance fees are paid up and how the building gets its water, since many rely on a cistern. You can request your IUSI payment slip at the Mini Muni at Plaza España, 7a avenida 12-39.

• Does the Parque de la Industria affect the flats around it?

  It can. The park hosts trade fairs, job fairs and large concerts, and on those days traffic and parking around 8a calle fill up. If a flat looks over the park, as some units in Cendana do, check the events calendar and visit on an event night before you decide.

• Is Zona 9 better for buying or for renting?

  For living, renting is the norm: most of the residential offer is furnished flats on work-length leases. Buying makes most sense if you want a unit to let to that same market, or an office or consulting room in a zone where offices are the main business.