San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
TIJUANA’S TALLEST-EVER TOWER NEARS COMPLETION
The Sayan Campestre complex will include 103 luxury condos with prices typically not seen in the city
Tijuana’s newest condo tower is so exclusive, most San Diegans can’t afford it. Construction on Tijuana’s largest-ever building Sayan Campestre, at 404 feet, is close to completion after 21⁄2 years. Perhaps more remarkable than its height is its price tag, with condos reaching $1.35 million.
For that price, buyers will get a considerable number of amenities, including a restaurant and bar only for residents. They also will get 24-hour security, which includes an extensive camera network and a system where guests need to register ahead of a visit.
Sayan Campestre is one of five major condo projects opening in the Mexican city this year, totaling around 330 residential units.
Tijuana has been awash in new condos since about 2016 when developers returned with gusto after years of little to no residential construction. The building has led to a major transformation of the
city’s skyline, which only had a handful of buildings taller than 10 stories just 20 years ago. Developers and buyers have not shied away from the city, even as high crime and murder numbers dominate much of the discussion around Tijuana.
The $40 million, 34-story Sayan complex is arguably one of the most ambitious projects since the building boom began. It required considerable manpower — roughly 500 workers a day — and meant looking outside of Tijuana for help.
Developer Sayan, based in Nayarit, shipped in workers from all over Mexico — primarily Puebla, Acapulco and Chiapas — and is paying their rent in East Tijuana.
Sayan estimates the tower will be completed in May, with the first residents moving in around June. Most of the condos have already sold, but there are 23 units available that vary in price. Two bedrooms at 1,646 square feet run for around $495,000, and three bedrooms — 1,872 to 2,411 square feet — cost $595,000 to $775,000.
The most expensive are 3,896-square-feet units that cost $1.35 million and come with three bedrooms, and an extra smaller room for a housekeeper. Many of the more expensive units have elevators that go directly to individual condos from the lobby.
Design director Karen Lagos said last week that the beauty of the project is residents don’t need to leave if they don’t want to. There is a bar and restaurant that is only for residents, a salon, two-story gym, a clubhouse for private events, pet yard, daycare for children, a private clubhouse for events and outdoor common areas.
Lagos was raised in Tijuana and said she loves the city but admits life at Sayan Campestre seems like a different world from the busy Mexican city just outside its doors.
“You feel like you are somewhere else,” she said.
All condos face the exclusive Club Campestre golf course, creating a view of green space in the dense city. Owning a condo in the Sayan tower does not mean automatic access to the golf course, but the developer said most of the people who have bought condos are already members.
Views in higher units, and from the 21st-floor pool and spa area, stretch all the way to San Diego with Cabrillo
National Monument and downtown visible on a clear day.
Javier Michel Payan Mendez, a manager with Tijuana-based financial firm Unifin Financiera, said it’s possible that only 2 percent of residents could afford to live in Sayan Campestre. But, he said it is worth noting that the economy in Tijuana is doing well, and there are cheaper options for workers there.
Unemployment in Baja California was 2.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019, one of the lowest in Mexico, said the country’s national statistics institute. Growth has come from Tijuana’s large manufacturing sector and American businesses relocating there. Tijuana’s workforce expanded to 745,976 by the end of 2019, said the Baja Californiabased Centro Metropolitano de Información
Económica y Empresarial, up 14 percent since the end of 2015.
Mendez, a former Tijuana economic promotion director, said the new businesses have brought with them affluent people who are looking for what places like Sayan Campestre have to offer.
Prices for condos in Tijuana this year range from $130,000 to more than $400,000, but it is possible future developments could have more price options. Compared to past years, there are not as many condos opening this year. But, there are many more projects in the pipeline.
Two of the biggest upcoming projects are Landmark, previously called Bajalta, which has plans for 580 condos, and nearby Plaza Toreo with 456 condos.
Sergio Gonzalez, a business developer for real estate company Probien, said the future of both residential and office development looks bright because many Mexican developers are flocking to Tijuana.
He said developers from Mexico City, Monterrey and other places are struggling with red tape and political issues in areas they have worked for years, making Tijuana seem like a great place to make projects happen.
Despite some perception of foreigners buying up all the property, Americans are a small part of the market. They make up 2 percent to 10 percent of the residential buyers, depending on who you ask.
The construction of Sayan Campestre unseats the Newcity Diamond Tower as the tallest building in the city by about 70 feet. The Diamond Tower was constructed in 2008 and is part of the Newcity development, which will have a new medical plaza opening soon that is 387 feet and will become the second tallest building in the city.
For 26 years, the tallest buildings in the city were the two skyscrapers of the Grand Hotel Tijuana, at 295 feet.