Mérida, Yuc.- With the exponential growth that Mérida has registered in the last three years, more and more Expats are in the search for real estate investment opportunities (especially in the downtown area of the Yucatecan capital).
“And many of these foreigners are planning to transform these properties into hosting centers”, announced Héctor Navarrete Medina, president of the Mexican Association of Hotels of Yucatan (AMHY).
Navarrete Medina indicated that investors want to reactivate these properties and make them profitable, so they are contacting the owners to get information and know if they are available for rent or sale, and then, remodel, and turn them into travelling accomodations.
Aerial view of Merida’s Centro shows lack of trees and green spaces. (PHOTO: LightHawk)
“We are not talking only of old houses located on the so-called “first square” of the histoiric center, but foreign investors are showing interest in properties located in the north and south of the city. However, this is not considered as a competitive threat to the local hotel industry. It is just a way of giving good use to some abandoned houses or empty lots across the city”, Navarrete Medina stated.
On the other hand, Mérida’s Director of Urban Development, Aref Karam Espósitos, reported that until September 2017, 24 hotel construction licenses were authorized, of which 17 are new hosting establishments that will provide a total of 1,534 rooms, and 7 are already existing hotels that will be expanded or remodeled, which will incorporate 332 new rooms.
Karam Espósitos also said that there are eight hotels which have obtained the land use permit or are in the process of obtaining a building permit.
