5 photos from the developer
Preselling
Aurum
Costa del Este, Panama City
from $349k to $460k
- Unit types
- 2
- Smallest unit
- 83 m²
- Bedrooms
- 2–3
- Status
- Preselling
- Area
- Costa del Este
Aurum has no permit, no title position and no location advantage that the tower next door cannot also claim. What distinguishes it is its developer, in both directions. Empresas Bern has built in Panama since 1978, and its own portfolio names Torres Miramar (1996), Parque del Mar I in Costa del Este (2010), Playa Bonita Residences (2014) and the LEED Gold Plaza del Este (2016). The same group lost an arbitration on 24 May 2024, before a tribunal of the Centro de Conciliación y Arbitraje de Panamá, over Town Center Costa del Este, the mall Aurum's own marketing lists as a neighbourhood amenity. Damages and costs were reported between roughly $77.7 million and $82.6 million depending on the outlet, with La Estrella de Panamá's breakdown putting $41.3 million of it on construction deficiencies and $19.8 million on deficient project administration. The tribunal also found the group had built a hotel without shareholder authorisation, awarded that site and its improvements to Town Center outright, and rejected Bern's own $61.1 million counterclaim. Bern calls the award void for procedural defects and filed an annulment action with the Supreme Court in July 2024. In July 2026 it said the judicial process was still running with no final decision, and that the entities involved have no relationship to its current operations. It is still the file to hand your attorney before you sign anything.
Aurum prices and floor plans
| Unit | Beds | Baths | Size | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 rec / 2 ba — models C, D, E, H (83 m²) and A, B (88.26 m²) | 2 | 2 | 83 m² | $349k |
| 3 rec / 2 ba — models F, G | 3 | 2 | 100 m² | $460k |
Where Aurum actually is
Aurum sits one block back from Avenida Paseo del Mar, the bayfront avenue and boardwalk, on a lot that faces a park rather than the water. That setback matters more than it sounds. The tower is 32 levels, of which 21 are residential, five are parking and five are amenity decks, so it is short by current Costa del Este standards, where Bioma runs to around 60 storeys and Paramount to 63. A park frontage and a one-block gap to the bay are pleasant today and are not protected. What a mid-level unit looks at in 2032 depends on what gets built on the blocks between here and the water, so ask which of those lots are still undeveloped and what their zoning allows before you pay a premium for a high floor. Town Center, the district's main mall and the subject of the developer's arbitration, is a short drive. The only live listing we found that states a street puts Aurum on Calle Rio Mar. That is a single source, so treat the exact lot as unconfirmed until you see the plano.
What’s included at Aurum
- Open terrace
- Events room
- Pool
- Children's playground
- Spa
- Gym
- Green areas
- Cinema
Who Aurum suits — and who it doesn’t
Buyers who want a modest, low-overhead tower rather than an amenity megaproject, and who are willing to do real diligence on a developer with an open legal file. The unit mix is domestic in scale and narrow: 83 m² and 88.26 m² two-bedrooms make up three quarters of the 166 apartments, 100 m² three-bedrooms the rest, one parking space each. That fits a couple, a small family, or a professional working in the district's corporate towers. The quoted maintenance fee of $2.50 per m² per month is well under Bioma's $3.25 to $3.50 in the same district, which compounds over any real holding period. It suits investors less well. There is no studio or one-bedroom stock here, nothing sized for short-term letting, and no rental programme we could find.
The delivery date is not settled. Broker listings split roughly evenly between late 2028 and late 2029, and Empresas Bern's own project page returned a 2027 estimate alongside content belonging to a different tower, so it could not break the tie. The developer's current sales material describes roughly a three-year build from a 2026 pre-sale, which points at 2029 rather than 2028, but that is an inference from a build duration and not a date anyone has committed to in writing. Get the schedule and the delay clause in the same sitting.
Half the prices still advertised for Aurum are stale, and the cheap ones are the dead ones. Prime Real Estate, Van Hoorde Realty and Punta Pacífica Realty have all advertised the 83 m² floor plan from $311,250, and a live Encuentra24 listing asked $323,000 for one. The developer's own price for that plan is $348,600 as of 3 July 2026. Anyone quoting you $311,250 is working from a page that has not been updated in months, and the gap is about 12 percent. Prices moved 7.7 percent on the two-bedroom and 7.0 percent on the three-bedroom between April and July 2026 alone, so a listing does not have to be old to be wrong.
Independent asking-price evidence is thin. Encuentra24 carried one live Aurum listing when we checked, and two others that appear in its search results no longer resolve. Compre o Alquile blocked our requests outright, so we did not check it and are not claiming to have. Thin portal inventory is normal this early in pre-sale, and it also means there is no resale market to price a unit against yet.
We could not locate a public construction permit or Registro Público filing for this lot. That is normal at pre-sale and it still means early buyers are relying on the developer's own paperwork rather than a public record. The $2.50 per m² maintenance quote is an estimate for a building that does not exist, and no reglamento de copropiedad, the registered co-ownership rules that will govern the fee, exists yet to hold anyone to it.
This is not a short-term-rental play and the developer does not pretend it is. There is no studio or one-bedroom stock, the furniture package is sold separately rather than delivered turnkey, and there is no rental programme attached. Expected long-term rents are $1,650 to $1,950 on the two-bedroom and $2,200 to $2,400 on the three-bedroom, which against a $348,600 entry price is a gross yield in the region of 6 percent before maintenance, vacancy and management. If you want nightly-rate income in this district, Generation Tower is licensed for it and this is not.
The residency-deposit incentive that Bern offers on several of its other towers is specifically not available here. On Nogal and the Westin a $300,000 deposit earns 4 percent across the build. On Aurum it does not. If that arrangement is part of why you are looking at this developer, it does not apply to this building.
And the developer is carrying an arbitration award against it for construction and administration failures on a project two minutes away, under annulment appeal since July 2024, with Bern saying in July 2026 that the process was still running with no final decision.
Before you buy at Aurum
Status is pre-sale. One RE/MAX listing gives the reservation deposit as $5,000 with a payment plan spread across construction. That came from a single broker page, so confirm it with the developer rather than budgeting against it. Title status is unknown and we have not checked it, because there is nothing yet to check. Costa del Este as a district is titled and verified against the Registro Público by our reviewer on 4 August 2026, and finished units here are held under the horizontal property regime of Ley 284 de 2022, meaning your own finca number plus an undivided share of the common elements. Aurum has no finca yet. What you would be buying is a promesa de compraventa, a purchase promise, against a building that does not exist. Four things for your attorney. Pull the construction permit and the plano for the lot once they are filed. Confirm which Empresas Bern entity is the selling party, and whether that entity is among those named in the Town Center arbitration, because Bern said in July 2026 that the entities involved have no relationship to its current operations. Read the deposit-forfeiture and delivery-delay clauses closely, given that public sources disagree by two years on the schedule. And ask for the draft reglamento de copropiedad before you accept any maintenance figure.
FAQ
What does an apartment at Aurum actually cost?
As of 3 July 2026 the developer's prices start at $348,600 for the 83 to 88 m² two-bedroom and $460,000 for the 100 m² three-bedroom. That is roughly $3,961 per m² on the entry plan and $4,600 on the three-bedroom.
Those numbers are higher than most of what is still advertised online, and the advertised numbers are the stale ones. Prime Real Estate, Van Hoorde Realty and Punta Pacífica Realty have all published the 83 m² plan from $311,250, and a live Encuentra24 listing asked $323,000. Acierto Panamá's $348,600 was the only public figure that matched the developer, and it is now the floor rather than the ceiling of what is published. Prices rose 7.7 percent on the two-bedroom and 7.0 percent on the three-bedroom between April and July 2026.
For context in the same district, Bioma runs $4,180 to $5,262 per m², so Aurum is still the cheaper entry per square metre of the two.
Is there any room to negotiate at Aurum?
There has been, modestly. The clearest example we have is unit 18A, an 88 m² two-bedroom, agreed on 28 April 2026 at $339,800 against a list price of $344,000 at that time. That is a discount of about 1.2 percent off that day's list, or roughly 2.5 percent below where comparable stock was being asked.
Two things follow from it. Discounts here are in the low single digits rather than the 10 to 15 percent some buyers expect from pre-construction, and list prices have risen since that deal closed, so a 2026 negotiation is not a benchmark for a 2027 one. Treat it as evidence that the developer will move a little, not as a target.
What will an Aurum apartment rent for?
The developer estimates $1,650 to $1,950 a month for the two-bedroom and $2,200 to $2,400 for the three-bedroom, on long-term leases. Against the $348,600 entry price that is a gross yield of roughly 5.7 to 6.7 percent before maintenance, vacancy, management and tax.
Those are the developer's own projections and nobody has tested them on this building, which does not exist yet. What supports them is the district: Costa del Este houses roughly 20,000 people working for multinationals, and Arcadia, the tower next door, runs at about 90 percent occupancy on the developer's account. What undercuts them is that Aurum has no short-term rental licence and no rental programme, so you are competing for corporate tenants on an ordinary lease like every other landlord in the district.
What is the payment plan at Aurum?
$5,000 to reserve, 15 percent at contract signing, a further 10 percent at month 12 and 5 percent at month 24, with the balance due at delivery against roughly a three-year build. That commits about 30 percent of the price before handover.
Local bank financing is available at delivery on about 30 percent down, and the developer reports approval rates near 95 percent for foreign buyers. Developer financing covers up to 50 percent for five years after completion. Budget separately for deed registration of about $2,500 at completion.
Note that the $300,000 residency-deposit arrangement earning 4 percent, which Bern offers on Nogal and the Westin, is not offered on Aurum.
When will Aurum be delivered?
Public sources disagree by two years. RE/MAX and Prime Real Estate listings say late 2028. Encuentra24, The Agency Panama and Van Hoorde Realty say late 2029. Empresas Bern's own project page returned a 2027 estimate mixed in with content belonging to a different tower, so it did not settle the question.
The developer's current material describes roughly a three-year build, which from a 2026 pre-sale points at 2029. That is an inference from a duration rather than a committed date. Get the schedule in writing from the developer and read the delay clause in the same sitting.
Who develops Aurum, and does the developer have legal problems I should know about?
Empresas Bern, a Panamanian group founded in 1978 whose own portfolio includes Torres Miramar (1996), Parque del Mar I in Costa del Este (2010), Playa Bonita Residences (2014) and Plaza del Este (2016). It also lost an arbitration on 24 May 2024 before a Centro de Conciliación y Arbitraje de Panamá tribunal over Town Center Costa del Este, with damages and costs reported between roughly $77.7 million and $82.6 million across La Prensa and La Estrella de Panamá. The tribunal also rejected Bern's own $61.1 million counterclaim. Bern has called the award void for procedural defects and filed an annulment action with Panama's Supreme Court in July 2024. In July 2026 Bern said the judicial process was continuing with no final decision, and that the entities involved are separate from its current operations. Ask which Bern entity signs your contract.
Can I check Aurum's price on the Panamanian property portals?
Only thinly, and what is there is out of date. On Encuentra24 we found one live Aurum listing, an 83 m² unit asking $323,000 through Sosa Real Estate, which is about 7 percent below the developer's current price for that plan. Two further Aurum listings that appear in Encuentra24 search results no longer resolve to a page. Compre o Alquile blocked our requests outright, so we did not check it and are not claiming to have.
Thin portal inventory is normal this early in pre-sale, and it also means there is no resale market to price a unit against yet.
How big is Aurum and what units does it have?
32 levels: 21 residential, five parking, five amenity. 166 apartments, eight per typical residential floor. Three floor plans: 83 m² two-bedrooms (models C, D, E and H, 83 units, half the building), 88.26 m² two-bedrooms (models A and B, 42 units), and 100 m² three-bedrooms (models F and G, 41 units). One parking space per unit. There is no studio or one-bedroom stock.
What is the maintenance fee at Aurum?
Listings quote $2.50 per m² per month, roughly $208 on an 83 m² unit and $250 on a 100 m². Some listings say it covers water and administration. That sits below Bioma's $3.25 to $3.50 per m² in the same district, which is consistent with Aurum carrying far less amenity area per unit. It is still a developer estimate for a building that has not been built, and the reglamento de copropiedad, the registered co-ownership rules that will actually govern the fee, does not exist yet.
Is Aurum titled property?
No, and we have checked nothing at the Registro Público for this lot, because there is nothing there yet. Aurum sells pre-construction under a promesa de compraventa, a purchase promise, rather than a deed. Costa del Este as a district is titled and our reviewer confirmed that on 4 August 2026, and completed units here are held under the horizontal property regime of Ley 284 de 2022, with their own finca number plus a share of the common elements. Neither fact applies to your unit until the building exists and is registered.
Does Aurum have a sea view?
It is one block back from Avenida Paseo del Mar, the bayfront avenue, and the lot faces a park rather than the water. Some upper units will see the bay over what stands in front of them today. At 32 levels Aurum is short for this district, where Bioma runs to around 60 storeys and Paramount to 63, so a taller neighbour can take that outlook away later. Ask what the lots between Aurum and the water are zoned for before paying a premium for a high floor. The bay itself has a documented contamination problem and is not swimmable, so it is a view here in any case.
What amenities does Aurum include?
Five levels of them. Ground level carries a zen garden and terrace plus green areas. Higher amenity decks carry a fitness centre, a pilates and yoga studio, sauna and spa, a cinema, a kids club and game room, a padel court and a pickleball court, a pool with solarium and jacuzzi, a BBQ area, and a rooftop skyline terrace. Listed building services include concierge, a package room, EV charging, a bicycle and scooter station, pet areas and Wi-Fi in common areas. On the Spanish listings, salón de fiestas is an events room and parque para niños a children's playground.
Furniture is not included. The package is sold separately rather than delivered turnkey, which is a meaningful difference from Bern's short-let towers.
