Commercial real estate is alive and well in Chile. The University of Tampa group visited the corporate offices of CBRE. From the 35th floor of their office building we saw vast clusters of high-rises. Business is booming. New construction underway is pre-sold, and vacancy rates are at an all time low of 3 percent! The challenge? Land in high demand areas is almost all gone.
Construction standards and regulations are stringent. After all, Chile has among the greatest amount of seismic activity in the world. I found it interesting that buildings are customized to meet individual corporate needs. I found it extremely unusual that the Chilean government uses a parallel currency — the UF — to control the effects of inflation on the Peso and to manage risk, both in the commercial and housing markets.
Commercial interest rates are low and foreign investment flows freely into the country. Chile has a lenient immigration policy, allowing the flow of people and resources to build a modern country.
We were collectively impressed by their professionalism, work-ethic and business etiquette. I think Chile will be a major player in the big emerging markets.