José Domingo Espinar

About José Domingo Espinar:

José Domingo Espinar covers 7.1 km² on the eastern side of San Miguelito. It used to be much bigger: Law 21 of 2000 carved Rufina Alfaro and Arnulfo Arias out of it, and San Antonio, Cerro Viento and the golf-club side went with them. What is left borders Belisario Porras, where the Río Matías Hernández forms part of the line, as well as Amelia Denis de Icaza and Mateo Iturralde. Its front door is Avenida Domingo Díaz, the old Vía Tocumen, and Line 2 of the Metro runs elevated above it with three stations here: Cincuentenario, Villa Lucre and El Crisol, all open since April 2019. Feeder buses run from the stations into the inner streets of Villa Lucre and El Crisol. Villa Lucre also has its own exits to the Corredor Norte and towards Avenida José Agustín Arango in Juan Díaz, and the cable car planned for San Miguelito is designed to meet Line 2 at Cincuentenario.

Villa Lucre was planned as a whole. Alemán drew up the master plan with architect Antonio de León and built it through his housing company Inversiones Ventaviv, starting with simple single-storey houses for the social-interest market and moving to larger two-storey homes in later phases. Gated residenciales such as Mirador Hills, Bulevard Hills, Paseo Real and San Rafael added guard posts to their own streets. The main avenue carries the founder’s name, and many side streets end in cul-de-sacs where neighbours look after the green areas themselves. Inside the estate you will find the Colegio Pureza de María, the San Rafael parish church, supermarkets with 24-hour pharmacies, the Clínica San Judas Tadeo and the Hospital Dra. Susana Jones Cano, a Caja de Seguro Social hospital opened in 2002 with emergency, surgical and inpatient services.

El Crisol and La Pulida are a different kind of place. Houses are simpler, lots are smaller, and plenty of them have been extended upwards or split into separate units over the years. Residenciales such as Colinas de Nazareth and La Castellana sit within El Crisol, which is also where most of the corregimiento’s apartment complexes stand: Mystic Hill, Mystic Valley and Alta Terra, the last of these a short walk from El Crisol station. That station is also the closest stop to the Ciudad Deportiva Irving Saladino. About 44,000 people live in José Domingo Espinar, almost exactly as many as in 2010, so new homes here come from infill projects rather than new estates.

Many buyers are families moving up from an apartment who want a house with a yard, private schools nearby, a hospital in the neighbourhood and a quick run to the city. Price follows the history of the estate. The later two-storey phases of Villa Lucre and its gated residenciales sit at the top, the first-phase houses below them, and El Crisol and La Pulida are where the most affordable houses in the corregimiento change hands. One cost you will feel daily is traffic: since the Domingo Díaz was widened, getting in and out of Villa Lucre is slow on weekday mornings and evenings and on Saturdays.

Houses in José Domingo Espinar:

Villa Lucre lots vary a lot by phase, from around 200 m² to more than 700 m² on the largest plots. A typical resale is a remodelled three-bedroom house with a maid’s room and covered parking, while the bigger homes add a fourth or fifth bedroom, a terrace and sometimes a pool. Gated residenciales such as San Rafael sit at the upper end, and the Tierra Alta sector has houses on lots of around 300 m². In El Crisol and La Pulida you find two-bedroom houses on lots of around 180 m², four-bedroom family homes in Colinas de Nazareth and newer two-storey townhouses in small gated complexes such as Villa Sol. If you want houses for sale in El Crisol, compare what is actually built with what the plot was sold with, because many have been enlarged.

Apartments in José Domingo Espinar:

Apartments are newer here and cluster near the metro. Terrace Park, on Avenida Rafael E. Alemán in Villa Lucre, is a walled complex of one-, two- and three-bedroom units with a pool, gym and events room, a few minutes from the Villa Lucre station. Alta Terra, beside El Crisol station, runs from one-bedroom-plus-study units of 68 m² to three-bedroom flats of up to 116 m², with shops at street level and views over the city. Mystic Valley and Mystic Hill in El Crisol offer compact two- and three-bedroom units of 55 to 86 m², and Portoalegre adds another apartment complex in Villa Lucre. All of these are sold under propiedad horizontal: you own your unit plus a share of the common areas, and you pay a monthly cuota de mantenimiento. Ask whether the parking space is titled with the apartment or only assigned.

Rentals in José Domingo Espinar:

Long-term rentals here come in three shapes. There are two-bedroom apartments in the newer complexes of El Crisol, small one-bedroom units in houses that owners have divided, often with their own entrance, in El Crisol and La Pulida, and whole houses, such as the two-bedroom homes let in La Castellana. The metro is the main draw for tenants, since Line 2 connects to Line 1 at San Miguelito. In a PH complex, the reglamento sets the rules on pets, visitors and parking, so read it before you sign the lease.

New Developments in José Domingo Espinar:

New building in the corregimiento is almost all apartments. Terrace Park in Villa Lucre has been handing over units, and Mystic Valley in El Crisol has sold both off-plan and ready-to-move-in apartments. When you buy before completion, ask who holds your down payment until handover, get the delivery date and any penalty for delay written into the contract, and check how many parking spaces the unit carries and whether they come with their own title.

FAQ:

• Are Brisas del Golf and Samaria part of José Domingo Espinar?

  No. Brisas del Golf, Cerro Viento and San Antonio went to Rufina Alfaro when the corregimiento was split in 2000, and Samaria belongs to Belisario Porras. Villa Lucre, El Crisol and La Pulida are the core of José Domingo Espinar today. Adverts often use the nearest well-known name, so check the corregimiento on the property’s registry entry.

• How hard is it to get out of Villa Lucre at rush hour?

  The exits onto the Domingo Díaz back up on weekday mornings and evenings and on Saturdays. The exit to the Corredor Norte, a toll road, is the alternative, and feeder buses to the Cincuentenario and El Crisol stations let you leave the car at home. Drive the route at the hour you would commute before you decide on a street.

• Does the area flood?

  In heavy storms the Río Matías Hernández has risen high enough to put water in streets of Villa Lucre and El Crisol. Houses on low ground near the river or a quebrada are the ones to look at carefully. Ask the neighbours what happened in the last big storm and look at the house after heavy rain.

• The house has been extended. What should I check?

  Many houses here have gained a second floor, a maid’s room or a carport since the 1980s. Make sure the built area recorded in the Registro Público matches what you are buying, that the Municipio de San Miguelito approved the work, and that the property carries no mortgage or lien you have not agreed to take on. If the house is inside a gated residencial, ask for the reglamento and proof that the fees are up to date.

• Can a foreigner buy property in José Domingo Espinar?

  Yes. Titled urban property in Panama can be owned by foreigners with the same rights as Panamanians, and the deed is registered in your name. Use a Panamanian lawyer for the title study and to file the transfer.