Ciudad del Saber

About Ciudad del Saber:

Ciudad del Saber has a clearer edge than most neighbourhoods in the city, because it is a defined estate: the 120 hectares of Fort Clayton that Decree Law 6 of 10 February 1998 placed with the Fundación Ciudad del Saber, with the formal handover of the base on 30 November 1999. On the ground, the campus meets the residential streets of Clayton, where the US Embassy and Embassy Club sit, and on its forest side it runs into Camino de Cruces National Park through the Dr. Rodrigo Tarté Biological Reserve, more than 20 hectares of protected woodland. Avenida Omar Torrijos Herrera links it south past Corozal to Albrook. Inside, Avenida Arnoldo Cano Arosemena carries the apartment buildings that buyers ask about. Agents use “Clayton” and “Ciudad del Saber” for the same addresses, so go by the finca number rather than the advert.

What the place does sets the tone of the market. UNICEF opened its regional office for Latin America and the Caribbean in building 102 in 2002, the first United Nations agency to base itself here, and in 2006 the campus was confirmed as the UN Inter-Agency Hub for the region. Today it holds 18 UN agencies and programmes, close to 40 international organisations and NGOs, more than 80 technology companies and about 30 academic institutions, with Florida State University and the Isthmus school of architecture and design as its founding universities. The foundation itself works from building 104 on Calle Luis Bonilla, a converted barracks. La Plaza, the campus centre, has restaurants, cafés, a bank, a pharmacy, a clinic and a bookshop, and the foundation’s lodging complex on Calle Carlos Lara has 96 rooms in four blocks for students and visiting staff.

The old post was not bulldozed. Of the 243 buildings the foundation received, more than 130 were kept and adapted, and the master plan holds 60 per cent of the campus as green space. The commander’s residence of 1922 is now the House Museum, two Mission Style houses built in 1934 and 1935 for senior officers stand on Avenida Arnoldo Cano Arosemena, and the former barracks around Parque Los Lagos, on Calle Jacinto Palacios Cobos, have been restored. The parks, the dog park and the playgrounds are open to everyone, which means weekend visitors. Large events such as the Panama Jazz Festival in January bring crowds, and with 3,000 free parking spaces on campus, so do the cars.

Getting in and out is easy without a car. The campus transport terminal runs a direct bus to the Albrook terminal, where Line 1 of the metro starts, and the Miraflores–Albrook and Chilibre–Forestal–Albrook routes also stop here. The people who live here are mostly linked to the campus: UN and NGO staff, faculty, researchers, executives from the technology firms and families who want forest at the end of the street without leaving the city. Anyone renting on the estate itself should keep the 2027 contract date in mind when signing a long lease.

Apartments for sale in Ciudad del Saber:

Sales are almost all apartments in a handful of PH buildings. Canal View has two towers, A and B, with 68 units over seven floors, in one-, two- and three-bedroom layouts, opposite the park and with the Canal in view from the upper floors. Clayton Tower is three-bedroom units of 170 to 195 square metres, with a maid’s room and two covered parking spaces. Asking prices per square metre here sit below Embassy Club, in neighbouring Clayton. You buy your unit as its own finca plus a share of the common areas under the PH regime, pay a monthly cuota de mantenimiento, and live by the building’s reglamento, which sets the rules on renting out, pets and short stays. Check whether the parking spaces and any depósito are separate fincas or simply assigned, because here they are part of what you are paying for.

Apartments for rent in Ciudad del Saber:

Leases here run for a year or more, and units come either with white goods or fully furnished. In Canal View the usual offer is a two-bedroom flat of around 145 square metres or a three-bedroom of about 180, while Clayton Tower lets larger three-bedroom units; both have a pool, an elevator and security. Tenants are staff of the international organisations, academics and executives who want to walk to work and keep the city a short drive away. For a stay of days or weeks, the foundation’s lodging complex is the usual answer, since most building rules do not favour short lets.

Houses in Ciudad del Saber:

The foundation took over 180 houses with the base, and the houses on the estate are leased, not sold. They are Canal-era homes, let both to people who work on campus and to outside tenants. Before you sign, ask who the landlord is, how long the lease runs and what happens to it if the foundation’s contract with the State changes after 2027. If a house is offered for sale as “Ciudad del Saber”, check the finca: it may lie in Clayton outside the estate.

Frequently asked questions:

• Where does Ciudad del Saber begin and end?

  It is the 120-hectare estate of the former Fort Clayton run by the Fundación Ciudad del Saber, with the residential streets of Clayton on one side and Camino de Cruces National Park on the other. The name is used loosely for buildings nearby, so the registered finca and its plano are the only reliable test of where a property sits.

• Can I buy a house inside Ciudad del Saber?

  No. The houses on the estate are part of what the foundation manages under its contract with the State, and they are let on lease. If you want to own a house with a former Canal Zone address, look at Clayton, Corozal or Los Ríos; in Ciudad del Saber ownership means an apartment in one of the PH buildings.

• What does the PH fee cover in Canal View or Clayton Tower?

  The cuota de mantenimiento pays for security, cleaning, the pool, the elevators, insurance on the common areas and the reserve fund, so it moves with the size of your unit and the building’s amenities. Ask for the latest budget, the reglamento and a paz y salvo from the administration before you sign, and find out whether any special assessment for repairs has been approved.

• Can a foreigner buy an apartment here?

  Yes. Foreign buyers have the same rights as Panamanians over a titled PH unit, and the purchase is recorded in the Registro Público in the same way. A Panamanian lawyer normally runs the title search and checks that the unit, its parking and its depósito are free of liens.

• Can I live here without a car?

  Yes. The campus terminal has a direct bus to Albrook, where you change to the metro, and La Plaza covers the daily errands. For the big supermarket run or a school outside the campus, plan on a taxi or a car.