Santa Ana

About Santa Ana:

Santa Ana is one of the four barrios Panama City was divided into in 1915, alongside San Felipe, El Chorrillo and Calidonia, and it still borders all three. The barrio grew around the hermitage of Santa Ana, built outside the city walls in 1678 after Panama had been refounded at the foot of Cerro Ancón, and the church on its plaza is still one of the most important in the capital. Avenida Central crosses it from the Casco Antiguo, passes Parque de Santa Ana and ends at Plaza 5 de Mayo, where the Palacio Justo Arosemena, seat of the National Assembly, faces the square. The 5 de Mayo station on Metro Line 1 is just over the line in Calidonia, with entrances on Avenida 3 de Noviembre, and the Cinta Costera and the Mercado de Mariscos on Avenida Balboa are a short walk from the plaza.

For decades this was the country’s main shopping district, and Barrio Chino, Avenida B and Avenida Central drew shoppers from all over Panama and beyond. Barrio Chino was the first settlement of Panama’s Chinese community, and in 1850 the first Pacific station of the trans-isthmian railway opened on its edge, in the La Ciénaga sector. Commerce still sets the pace, from the stores and kiosks along Avenida Central to Calle Salsipuedes, a narrow lane of stalls selling everything from a single button upward. Parque de Santa Ana is the hinge between that commercial spine and the residential blocks behind it. Under its big trees, retirees, newspaper sellers and lottery vendors spend the day.

The building stock is mixed in a way the newer parts of the city are not. Wooden houses stand near Art Deco, eclectic and Hispanicist façades from the railway and Canal decades, public multifamily blocks and a growing number of restored houses. The UNESCO-listed perimeter of the Casco Antiguo already takes in the streets around the Iglesia de Santa Ana, and the municipality has proposed a buffer zone that would reach further into the corregimiento. Part of the stock is in poor shape: the municipality has repaired roofs, balconies and façades on multifamily buildings, and the housing ministry has ordered the demolition of at least one building that had deteriorated beyond use.

Santa Ana has lost close to half its population since 1990 and is now one of the least populated corregimientos in the capital. Long-time residents still live in the older buildings and in complexes such as Huerta Sandoval on Calle 24 Oeste. Alongside them are buyers and tenants of the newer apartments on Calle 15, the stretch developers call Santa Ana Patrimonial, who want the Casco Antiguo a few minutes away on foot. Gran Central will add four residential buildings and a hotel on Avenida Central, while the works on Avenida 3 de Noviembre, Avenida 5 de Mayo and Calle Estudiante are meant to make the whole area easier to walk.

Apartments in Santa Ana:

Apartments are the main thing to buy here, and they come in two very different forms. On Calle 15 and around Calle B, small buildings such as Casa Korsi offer one- to three-bedroom units, some with private rooftops and lifts. In the older multifamily buildings elsewhere in the corregimiento, everything depends on the building: the roof, the structure and the common areas matter as much as the floor area, and the price follows. Nearly all apartments for sale in Santa Ana are under the propiedad horizontal regime, so you buy the unit plus a share of the common parts, with a monthly cuota de mantenimiento and a reglamento that sets the rules on rentals, pets and short stays. Ask whether a parking space or storage unit is included and whether it is titled separately, because in the old street grid neither can be assumed.

Rentals in Santa Ana:

Long-term rentals follow the same split. Furnished one- and two-bedroom apartments in the newer Calle 15 buildings come up for rent, and their selling point is distance: the Casco Antiguo, the Cinta Costera and the 5 de Mayo Metro station are all on foot. At Gran Central, the La Central building is planned as 128 furnished studios and two-bedroom units, which will add a large block of rental stock to Avenida Central once it is delivered. In older buildings, check the wiring, the plumbing and the roof before you look at the rent. If you intend to sublet, read the reglamento first; in a PH it is that document, not the landlord, that decides whether short stays are allowed.

Historic Buildings in Santa Ana:

Old houses and whole buildings also come up for sale, and most only make sense for a buyer prepared to restore. The draw is the architecture: wooden houses, Art Deco and eclectic façades and early republican buildings along Avenida Central and toward Barrio Chino. The constraints come with it. Inside the protected perimeter around the church, façades, heights and materials are controlled and works need approval from the heritage authority, and the proposed buffer zone would carry similar rules further in. Some houses have been declared condemned and others have had occupants for years, so confirm the legal status of the structure and whether you will get vacant possession before you put a figure on the restoration.

New Developments in Santa Ana:

Gran Central is the project that will change Avenida Central most: four residential buildings, a hotel, more than 65 shops, cafés and restaurants and over 400 underground parking spaces, between the Casco Antiguo and Avenida Balboa. Site work has started and delivery is expected in 2029, with one- to three-bedroom apartments sold off plan. Each of the four buildings is marketed separately and takes its own line, so compare the reglamento and the rental rules of the specific building rather than the master plan. On a pre-construction purchase, check the developer’s record, make sure payments are tied to construction milestones, and find out how your deposits are protected until the unit is registered in your name.

Commercial Property in Santa Ana:

If Santa Ana is known for one kind of property, it is the street-level shop. Avenida Central, Avenida B and Barrio Chino still live from retail, and more than 70,000 people pass through the area around Plaza 5 de Mayo every day. Gran Central will add an open-air retail district of more than 65 units to the same avenue. Before you buy or lease a unit, confirm the permitted use, the signage rules inside the heritage area and how deliveries reach the pedestrian stretch.

FAQ:

• Is Santa Ana part of the Casco Antiguo?

  Partly. The UNESCO-listed perimeter covers the walled city in San Felipe and a few streets of Santa Ana around the church and its plaza. The rest of the corregimiento lies outside it, though the municipality has proposed a wider buffer zone. Find out which side of that line a property is on, because it decides what you may change on the façade.

• What should I check before buying an old building here?

  Start with the building itself: whether it has been declared condemned, the state of the roof and structure, and whether anyone lives in it. Then go to the Registro Público for the finca number, any liens or mortgages, and whether what is registered matches what is standing. For a heritage property, get the restrictions in writing before you commit to a works budget.

• Will an apartment come with parking?

  It depends on the building. In converted houses on the old grid, always ask and never assume; Gran Central, by contrast, is being built with more than 400 underground spaces. Where a space exists, check whether it has its own title or is assigned under the PH reglamento, since that changes what you are actually buying.

• Can a foreigner buy property in Santa Ana?

  Yes. Foreign buyers have the same ownership rights as Panamanians here, and the property is registered at the Registro Público in the buyer’s own name or a company’s. With an apartment you also take on the building’s reglamento and its monthly fee, so read both before you sign.

• How will the street works affect daily life?

  The municipality is reworking Avenida 3 de Noviembre, Avenida 5 de Mayo and Calle Estudiante with wider pavements, safer crossings, new lighting and, on 3 de Noviembre, bike lanes. Once finished, they should make the walk to the Cinta Costera and the Metro easier. While the works last, expect noise and diverted traffic, and if you are buying on one of those streets, ask about the schedule.