Tijuana Builders Set Pioneering Green Goal
 Sandra Dibble - San Diego Union-Tribune
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November 17, 2009
| | Mario Gonzalez, builder, (from left); Carlos Jaramillo, the building's director; Ramon Guillot, architect; Miguel Granados, builder; and Cesar Leal, builder, stood in Via Corporativo, a new commercial space in Tijuana. Above them is the structure's light and air shaft. The project is set to be inaugurated in spring. (David Maung/UT) | |
There are taller buildings in Tijuana. And far more colorful ones. But in a corner of the city’s Rio Zone, the developers of a 14-story office building are striving for a different kind of distinction: becoming the first certified “green” structure in northwest Mexico.
Via Corporativo, a high-end corporate office building made of steel and concrete, has skylights, open-air bridges, a vast central “air-and-light” chamber, and an aluminum skin that filters out ultraviolet rays. The aim is to minimize the building’s environmental impact and meet stringent certification standards developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Set to open next spring, Via Corporativo has been creating a buzz in Tijuana’s business and architectural circles, stirring hope for the city’s future even as its residents struggle with economic recession. The developers are confident they will attract clients willing to pay the extra cost for a green building with its own rainwater collector and Brazilian cumaru wood paneling certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
“Build it, and they will come, that’s our philosophy,” said Carlos Jaramillo, the building’s director and vice president of Green Nevada Capital, the Nevada-based corporation financing the $21 million construction. “There are no spaces of this kind in Tijuana.”
With nearly 83,000 square feet of office space in the building located a five-minute drive from the San Ysidro border crossing, the idea, Jaramillo said, is to offer amenities that top corporate firms might expect in any large metropolitan city: security, indoor parking, a business center, a restaurant, a bar, shops, a rooftop track and a day-care center. Plans also call for an art gallery to showcase Tijuana artists.
San Diego has 45 buildings certified under the green building rating system known as LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Mexico has three: in Mexico City, Ciudad Juarez and San Luis Potosi. Only Mexico City’s HSBC Bank tower is gold-certified, the second-highest score of four possible ratings, compared with 16 in San Diego.
Via Corporativo’s owners are aiming for gold certification with points awarded for qualities such as location, use of natural light, water efficiency and building materials. The evaluation by the U.S.-based Green Building Certification Institute takes months and involves review of design and construction documents, and submitting to a final evaluation once the building is occupied.
“We want to set a different standard; things are sometimes done here just to get by and that’s it,” said Ramon Guillot Lapiedra, 36, the project’s lead architect who has his own Tijuana design firm, Estudio ARG. “If you see this building, it could be any place in San Diego and be beautiful there, too.”
The international border, which is visible from the building’s rooftop terrace, has been an important element in conceiving, designing and carrying out the project. Guillot is a 1991 graduate of San Diego’s Mira Mesa High School, and he studied architecture in Tijuana and Mexico City at the Iberoamerican University. The Tijuana-based builder, SEICA, is headed by a three partners with similar binational credentials.
“We’re really influenced by San Diego,” said Cesar Leal, 37, SEICA’s sales director, who attended elementary school at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in San Ysidro.
“The border is my life,” said Jaramillo, 34, a Tijuana native who studied international business at San Diego State University. “We need to build this kind of infrastructure so corporate centers come to the city.”
Jaramillo said they have generated interest from potential occupants, but have not signed any contracts. With monthly rents ranging from $1.85 to $2.40 per square foot, the cost is higher than other high-end office space in Tijuana, where top rents are close $1.35 per square foot monthly, utilities not included. In San Diego, where the price includes utilities, top office space rents range from $2.50 to $3 per square foot.
The builders of Via Corporativo say its design will lead to considerable savings in electricity and water bills. The design invites natural ventilation and lighting, minimizing the need for electricity, and the restrooms will use recycled water.
“Tijuana is not a sustainable city, it has many problems of all kinds, and a building like this is not going to change it,” said Rodolfo Argote, dean of the school of architecture at the Iberoamerican University in Tijuana. “But it sets an example, and shows people what can be done.”
For Tijuana’s Economic Development Corp., DEITAC, the building “represents a message of confidence by investors willing to put resources in our city at difficult times,” said President Gerardo Brizuela. “This is a building that Tijuana and Baja California deserve.” |
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Puerto Vallarta Real Estate | November 2009 
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