Gran Central has officially broken ground. Here’s a look at the people who joined us to celebrate and what comes next for the project.
On Wednesday, 19 August, we broke ground on Gran Central. August in Panama does not owe anyone a dry morning, and we got one anyway — clear sky over Avenida Central, a good crowd, and a hectare of ground that has been waiting a long time for this.
We are grateful to everyone who came out. Mayor Mayer Mizrachi and Representante Kira Ponce were both there, as was Ing. Luis Carballeda of the municipality, along with our financial partners at Banco General and Banco Mercantil. So were our neighbors — the people who live and work on this stretch of the avenue and who will live alongside the construction for the next several years. Their presence mattered more than the speeches did.
Photo: Alcalde Mizrachi, Representante Kira Poce, Ing. Municipal Caballeda and friends.
What happens next is a year of work that goes downward. The perimeter of the one-hectare site will be ringed with pilings driven 10 to 2
5 meters into the ground. Those pilings do two jobs at once: they are the foundation the buildings will stand on, and they are the retaining wall that holds back the surrounding grade so we can excavate the basement — a 400-car garage under the entire site. For most of the coming twelve months the visible progress will be rigs, fencing, and concrete going where no one will ever see it again. It is the least photogenic phase of the project and the one every other phase depends on.We will keep posting photos as it goes. If you are in the historic district, come by Avenida Central and have a look — the site is easy to find, and it is going to change every month from here.
Photo: Punta Pacifica Realty