5-Level Building in Casco Antiguo — $1,500,000

This five-level building sits on Avenida A at Calle 13 Oeste, in the heart of San Felipe — Panama City's Casco Antiguo — just steps from Plaza Herrera and Casa Casco. With a ground-floor commercial space, four residential levels, and a rooftop with views of Cerro Ancón and Panama Bay, it totals 894.77 sqm of area, ready to remodel. The asking price is $1,500,000; a full-building lease at $7,000 a month is also being considered.

The RMH2-C2 zoning is one of the most flexible in Casco Antiguo: it allows residential, commercial, office, educational, and cultural use, opening up a wide range of business models on the same structure. Level 000 (ground floor) measures 106.27 sqm, and each of the four upper levels (100 through 500) adds 157.70 sqm — a rectangular footprint of roughly 150 sqm per floor, running east to west.

The business plan calls for a $600,000 investment to remodel the entire building and generate long-term rental income. Casco Viejo is Panama City's most visited tourist district, with rising demand and an exceptional growth outlook — which makes a mixed commercial strategy the most profitable path for this property.

The ground floor would be leased as street-level retail. Levels PB+1, PB+2, and PB+3 would be remodeled with high-end finishes into one- and two-bedroom apartments, built for short-term rental through platforms like Airbnb or Booking.com. Level PB+4 and the rooftop would become a premium commercial space — ideal for a restaurant with a rooftop bar and spectacular views of Cerro Ancón, Panama Bay, and the rooftops of Casco Viejo.

Investments within the Historical Monumental Complex recognized by Panama's National Historic Heritage Directorate, with a minimum investment of $50,000 excluding land, qualify for a tax incentive package rarely matched anywhere else in the country. Banks offer preferential rates up to 3% below market on loans for restoring, building, rebuilding, or purchasing real estate in Casco Antiguo and adjacent areas, and that same preference applies to commercial and residential mortgages.

The strongest tax benefit is the property tax exemption: 10 years on the land and 30 years on improvements made to the property. On top of that, company profits are exempt from income tax for the first 5 years of commercial activity, and during the following 5 years, losses incurred in the 3 fiscal years after they occurred may be deducted as an expense.

The incentives aren't limited to the owner: a tenant of a building constructed, restored, or rebuilt strictly for residential use can deduct rent expenses from their income tax declaration for 5 years from the issuance of the occupancy permit. An owner who builds, restores, or rebuilds property in Casco Antiguo — in whole or in part — is exempt from income tax on income from commercial activity, sale, or transfer of the property for 10 years, and anyone operating public-use spaces such as parking lots gets that same 10-year exemption on that activity.

A natural or legal person who allocates fourth-order buildings, vacant lots, or structures — in whole or in part — to vehicle parking use, provided they comply with Casco Antiguo's regulatory manual, is exempt from income tax on that activity for 10 years, counted from the occupancy permit date.

San Felipe, with the metro minutes away, the Cinta Costera as its mobility backbone, and the Biomuseo right next door, has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997 — the city was rebuilt in 1673 after the original Panama City, 13 kilometers away, was destroyed by the pirate Henry Morgan. Few properties in the country combine such an aggressive tax incentive framework with steadily rising tourist demand the way this 894.77 sqm building does, priced at $1,500,000 and ready to become Casco Viejo's next hospitality project.