5 photos from the developer
Preselling
Centro Obarrio
Obarrio, Panama City
from $150k to $624k
- Unit types
- 9
- Smallest unit
- 27 m²
- Bedrooms
- 1–5
- Status
- Preselling
- Area
- Obarrio
Centro Obarrio is sold on an Airbnb licence, in the one Panama City neighbourhood where the licence is rarely the thing that stops you. Obarrio is dense with towers whose own co-ownership rules ban short letting outright, so plenty of owners here hold a legal right they cannot actually exercise inside their own building. A tower purpose-built with the permit and the house rules pointing the same way is a genuinely different product, and that is what this one claims to be.
The rest of the pitch is unusually concrete for a Panamanian pre-sale. Residences run from 26.51 m² studios to a 121.55 m² five-bedroom lock-off, all delivered furnished and equipped by Mallol, with prices published per floor plan rather than as a "from" figure. The lock-off layouts are the interesting part: one apartment that splits into two or three independently lettable units, so a 46.60 m² loft can be run as a loft or as a studio plus a one-bedroom depending on the week. The developer publishes a full return model with nightly rates and net income by unit type, which almost nobody does, and it is internally consistent with its own price list. We have run the arithmetic on it below rather than repeating the headline.
What we could not do is verify the licence. Get the authorisation number and the co-ownership rules before you treat the rental income as real, because in this neighbourhood the second document matters as much as the first.
Centro Obarrio prices and floor plans
| Unit | Beds | Baths | Size | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deluxe Studio (26.51–39.09 m²) | 1 | 1 | 27 m² | $150k |
| Loft — two-storey (model C) | 1 | 2 | 47 m² | $193k |
| One Bedroom Residence (47.06–62.54 m²) | 1 | 2 | 47 m² | $221k |
| Two Bedroom Residence (59.46–80.32 m²) | 2 | 2 | 59 m² | $256k |
| Two Bedroom Lock-off | 2 | 2 | 85 m² | $404k |
| Three Bedroom Residence (89.58–95.22 m²) | 3 | 3 | 90 m² | $412k |
| Four Bedroom Residence (91.08–117.97 m²) | 4 | 3 | 91 m² | $428k |
| Three Bedroom Lock-off | 3 | 3 | 93 m² | $432k |
| Four / Five Bedroom Lock-off | 5 | 4 | 122 m² | $624k |
Where Centro Obarrio actually is
Centro Obarrio sits in the middle of Panama City's financial district, steps from Calle 50 and within walking distance of Soho City Center, the banks, and the restaurant and nightlife cluster along 60th East Street. The developer's own map places it between Calle 50 and 60th East, with the CAF Latin American development bank headquarters, Sortis Hotel and Makoto among the immediate landmarks. Casco Viejo and the Panama Canal sit to the west, Hospiten Paitilla to the south.
That address is the product. Obarrio is where regional headquarters, multinational banks and investment firms concentrate, which is why the building is aimed at short-stay corporate visitors rather than tourists. Guests here are in town for meetings at the towers two streets over. Demand is steadier than tourist demand and it moves with the corporate calendar, not the dry season. Our Obarrio area page covers the district's costs and title position.
Two practical notes. The building runs a city shuttle and valet parking, which matters more in Obarrio than the amenity list suggests, because street parking is genuinely difficult and the walkable radius, while real, stops at the edge of the financial core. And the lower floors of the surrounding blocks are commercial, so the immediate streets empty out in the evening in a way the daytime visit will not show you.
What’s included at Centro Obarrio
- Rooftop pool and bar
- Firepit lounges
- Spa
- Fitness centre
- Zen garden
- Co-working space
- ON AIR podcast studio
- Atelier art studio
- Chef's kitchen
- Private cinema
- Outdoor cinema
- Event salon
- Happy Land kids' club
- Paws park and dog wash
- Cycle hub
- City shuttle
- 24-hour concierge
- Valet parking
- Delivered furnished and equipped
Who Centro Obarrio suits — and who it doesn’t
Investors buying the short-stay licence as much as the apartment, who want a furnished, turnkey unit that can be handed to a management operator on day one, and who will actually demand both the ATP authorisation and the building's co-ownership rules before signing. The lock-off layouts suit that buyer particularly well, because they let you run one apartment as two or three separate lettings and change the configuration as demand shifts, which is optionality no conventional floor plan gives you.
It suits owners who spend part of the year in Panama and want the apartment earning while they are elsewhere. It suits buyers who want a financial-district address at a studio entry price rather than a Punta Pacífica or Costa del Este ticket. And it suits anyone who wants the whole fit-out included rather than furnishing a rental themselves, since Mallol's packages are delivered with the unit.
It suits full-time family occupancy less well, and anyone uncomfortable holding an unverified permit as the basis of their return should read the section below before going further.
The licence is the investment case and we could not verify it. Obarrio sits inside the distrito de Panamá, where article 21 of Ley 80 de 2012 (Gaceta Oficial 27159-A, 8 November 2012) prohibits any rental under 45 days without a permiso de alojamiento público turístico from the Autoridad de Turismo de Panamá, with fines from $5,000 to $50,000 that also reach whoever advertises the listing. The developer's material describes the apartments as Airbnb-licensed and a broker listing repeats it. Every statement traces back to the seller, and we found no public register to check it against. Ask for the authorisation number and verify it with the ATP yourself.
In Obarrio the building's own rules are the bigger obstacle, and they are a separate document. This district carries some of the strictest de facto short-let restrictions in Panama City, because so many towers prohibit or cap nightly letting in their reglamento de copropiedad, the registered co-ownership rules. A national permit does not override house rules. Read the draft reglamento before it is registered, confirm it permits short-stay letting explicitly, and confirm what majority would be required to change that later. An owners' meeting can vote your business model away in a building where most residents live there full time.
Run the developer's return model rather than accepting it. The published figures assume 70 percent occupancy and are stated as net of management, HOA and utilities. Take the deluxe studio: a $100 average daily rate at 70 percent occupancy is $25,550 of gross annual revenue, and the model reports $17,028 net, which means roughly 33 percent is absorbed by all costs combined. Management alone commonly runs 20 to 25 percent of gross on a serviced short-let, before HOA, utilities, insurance, replacement of furnishings and void periods. The model is internally consistent with the price list, and it is optimistic on costs. Ask what management fee is actually contracted, and rebuild the number at 60 percent occupancy before you commit.
Returns are quoted as 9 to 11 percent and the model shows up to 14.7 percent. The higher figure belongs to the lock-off loft, and it only holds if you actually operate it as two units at a $160 blended rate. That is a more active business than a single furnished let. If you want one tenant and a quiet life, the same building's conventional plans return closer to the bottom of the range and there are cheaper ways to buy a long-let apartment in this district.
Delivery, deposit terms and the total unit count are not established. The material we have prices units and models the returns without publishing a completion date, a payment schedule, an HOA rate or a floor count. Unit numbers in the availability list run to at least the 18th floor. All of that has to come from the developer in writing before a deposit.
Small units carry a resale narrowing. A 26.51 m² studio in a financial district resells to another investor rather than to an owner-occupier, and this building will hold a lot of them. If short-let rules tighten, that pool thins at exactly the moment you would want to exit. Anyone who wants a Panama City apartment without that exposure should look at a conventional residential tower instead, and our Obarrio area page sets out what else the district holds.
Before you buy at Centro Obarrio
Prices, as of the July 2026 availability list. Deluxe studios of 26.51 to 39.09 m² from $149,781; the two-storey 46.60 m² loft from $193,390; one-bedrooms of 47.06 to 62.54 m² from $221,182; two-bedrooms of 59.46 to 80.32 m² from $255,678; three-bedrooms of 89.58 to 95.22 m² from $412,068; four-bedrooms of 91.08 to 117.97 m² from $428,076. The lock-off formats price separately: 84.96 m² two-bedroom from $404,337, 93.23 m² three-bedroom from $432,172, and 121.55 m² four-or-five-bedroom from $624,373.
Named units from the same list give you a sense of the spread within a plan: unit 711, a 26.52 m² studio on an ocean-view corner, at $157,330 or $5,932 per m²; unit 905, a 30.43 m² studio, at $183,721 or $6,038 per m²; unit 904, the two-storey loft, at $215,292 or $4,620 per m²; unit 17-D, an 89.58 m² three-bedroom on a high floor, at $437,374. Note the pattern: the small units carry the highest rate per square metre, up to about $6,038, while the larger plans sit near $4,515 to $4,883. That is normal for a rental-led building and it means the studios are priced on their earning power rather than their floor area.
What is not published. No completion date, no payment schedule, no reservation deposit, no HOA rate and no total unit or floor count appear in the material we hold. Get all five in writing before any money moves, and treat a verbal completion date as worthless.
The two documents that decide whether this works. First, the ATP permiso de alojamiento público turístico, by number, verified with the authority rather than accepted from a brochure. Second, the reglamento de copropiedad, the registered co-ownership rules, confirming in its own text that short-stay letting is permitted, and specifying what majority of owners could change that. In Obarrio the second document is where these plans usually fail, because the district is full of buildings whose national permits are irrelevant against their own house rules. Ask by name whether the building is being registered under propiedad horizontal turística, the tourist horizontal-property regime, which is the vehicle Panamanian property lawyers describe for buildings intended to operate this way.
Title. We have not verified title status or pulled a finca number, the parcel's individual entry in the Registro Público, for this lot. Obarrio is long-established titled land and our reviewer verified the district position on 4 August 2026, but that is a neighbourhood pattern and not a fact about this parcel. A pre-completion purchase is sold on a promesa de compraventa, a purchase promise, rather than a deed, and your unit has no separate title until the building is finished and the horizontal property regime is registered. Our guide to titled land and Rights of Possession explains what that distinction is worth, and the buying process guide walks the steps in order.
Also worth having your attorney pull: the construction permit and the plano for the lot, the parent finca and confirmation the developer owns it clear of liens, the identity of the selling entity, the deposit-forfeiture and delivery-delay clauses, and the full management agreement including the fee, the term, whether you are locked in, and who carries the cost when the unit sits empty.
Where to start. Tell us your budget, whether you are buying to let or to use, and how active a rental you actually want to run, and we will send you the current Centro Obarrio availability with the return model rebuilt at realistic occupancy, alongside the other licensed short-stay buildings in the city at the same money. If the lock-off maths does not work for how you want to spend your time, we will say so.
FAQ
Can I legally run an Airbnb at Centro Obarrio?
The building is sold on that basis and we could not verify it. Article 21 of Ley 80 de 2012 (Gaceta Oficial 27159-A, 8 November 2012) prohibits rentals under 45 days anywhere in the distrito de Panamá without a permiso de alojamiento público turístico from the Autoridad de Turismo de Panamá. Fines run from $5,000 to $50,000 and reach whoever advertises the listing, not only whoever takes the booking. Obarrio is inside that district.
The developer describes the apartments as Airbnb-licensed and a broker listing repeats it, but every statement traces back to the seller and there is no public register to check it against.
There is a second document, and in Obarrio it is the one that usually decides the outcome. Ask for both: the ATP authorisation number, and the reglamento de copropiedad confirming in its own text that short-stay letting is permitted inside the building.
Why does the building's own rulebook matter more than the licence here?
Because Obarrio carries some of the strictest building-level short-let restrictions in Panama City. A large share of the district's towers prohibit or cap nightly letting in their reglamento de copropiedad, the registered co-ownership rules, and a national permit does not override house rules. Owners in this neighbourhood routinely hold a legal right they cannot exercise where they live.
So read the draft reglamento before it is registered. Confirm it permits short-stay letting explicitly rather than by silence, and find out what majority of owners would be needed to change it later. In a building where most residents live full time, an owners' meeting can vote your business model away after you have bought.
What does an apartment at Centro Obarrio cost?
From the July 2026 availability list:
- Deluxe studio, 26.51–39.09 m² — from $149,781
- Loft, two-storey, 46.60 m² — from $193,390
- One bedroom, 47.06–62.54 m² — from $221,182
- Two bedroom, 59.46–80.32 m² — from $255,678
- Three bedroom, 89.58–95.22 m² — from $412,068
- Four bedroom, 91.08–117.97 m² — from $428,076
The lock-off formats price separately: 84.96 m² two-bedroom from $404,337, 93.23 m² three-bedroom from $432,172, and 121.55 m² four-or-five-bedroom from $624,373. All units are delivered furnished and equipped.
Why do the small units cost so much more per square metre?
Because they are priced on what they earn, not on floor area. Unit 905, a 30.43 m² studio, works out at $6,038 per m². Unit 711, a 26.52 m² ocean-view corner studio, is $5,932. The larger plans sit between roughly $4,515 and $4,883, and the two-storey loft at unit 904 is $4,620.
The logic is that nightly rates do not scale with square metres, so a studio generates more income per square metre than a three-bedroom. Whether the premium is worth paying depends entirely on the licence question above. If short-let income does not materialise, you have bought the most expensive square metres in the building with the narrowest resale pool.
Is the developer's 9 to 11 percent return realistic?
The model is internally consistent, and it is optimistic on costs. Work through the deluxe studio: the developer assumes a $100 average daily rate at 70 percent occupancy, which is $25,550 of gross annual revenue, and reports $17,028 as net income. That implies roughly 33 percent of gross covers everything.
Management alone commonly runs 20 to 25 percent of gross on a serviced short-let, before HOA, utilities, insurance, replacing furnishings and void periods. So the assumption is tight rather than impossible.
Two things to do before relying on it. Ask what management fee is actually contracted, in writing. Then rebuild the model at 60 percent occupancy instead of 70, which is the difference between a good year and an ordinary one, and see whether the result still justifies the price per square metre you are paying on a studio.
What is a lock-off unit, and is it worth the extra?
A lock-off is one apartment designed to divide into two or three independently lettable units behind separate doors. The 46.60 m² loft can run as a single loft or as a studio plus a one-bedroom. The 121.55 m² plan splits into a studio plus a four-bedroom, or a five-bedroom whole.
The developer's model puts the lock-off loft at the top of the range, 14.7 percent against 11.4 percent for the same loft let whole, on a $160 blended nightly rate rather than $130.
That gap is real and it is earned by working harder. Two lettings mean two sets of guests, two turnovers and two chances of a void in any given week. If you want one tenant and a quiet life, the conventional plans in the same building sit nearer the bottom of the range and there are cheaper ways to own a long-let apartment in this district.
When will Centro Obarrio be delivered?
The material we hold does not say, and neither does the broker listing we found. No completion date, payment schedule, reservation deposit or HOA rate has been published.
That is five open items on a pre-completion purchase, and all five are things a buyer needs before committing money. Get them in writing from the developer, and treat a verbal delivery date as worth nothing. Unit numbers in the availability list run to at least the eighteenth floor, but we have not seen a confirmed floor count or total unit number either.
Who is the developer?
K Group, a Panamanian development group led by Roger Khafif. Its portfolio includes the tower now operating as JW Marriott Panama, one of the tallest buildings in Latin America, along with Coronado Country Club and projects in Europe.
Interiors and the furniture packages are by Mallol, whose work also appears at Nogal and Generation Tower in Costa del Este.
As with any pre-completion purchase, confirm which corporate entity actually signs your promesa de compraventa rather than relying on the group brand. Panamanian developers routinely contract through a company formed for a single project, and your recourse if the building is late or defective runs against that entity.
What amenities does Centro Obarrio include?
The building is pitched as a complete ecosystem rather than an apartment block, which suits a tower where a large share of residents are short-stay guests.
Wellness: spa, relaxation room, fitness centre, zen garden. Social: rooftop pool and bar, firepit lounges, rooftop BBQ, event salon, private cinema and an outdoor cinema. Work: co-working space, ON AIR podcast studio, Atelier art studio, chef kitchen. Family and daily life: Happy Land kids' club, Paws park and dog wash, cycle hub, city shuttle, 24-hour concierge, valet parking.
Residences are delivered turnkey with imported flooring, countertops and cabinetry, smart-lock systems, floor-to-ceiling windows, individual climate control and curated Mallol furniture packages. No HOA rate has been published, and a building carrying this much amenity area with heavy guest turnover will not be cheap to run. Ask for the projected co-ownership budget.
Is Centro Obarrio titled property?
We have not verified it and have not pulled a finca number, the parcel's individual entry in the Registro Público, for this lot.
Obarrio is long-established titled land and our reviewer verified the district position on 4 August 2026, but that is a neighbourhood pattern rather than a fact about this parcel. The project sells pre-completion, so what you hold until handover is a promesa de compraventa, a purchase promise, rather than a deed, and your unit has no separate title until the building is finished and its horizontal property regime is registered. Have an attorney confirm the parent finca and the developer's ownership of it before any deposit.
Is Obarrio a good place to actually live?
It depends whether you want a neighbourhood or an address. Obarrio is the core of Panama City's financial district, walkable to Calle 50, Soho City Center, the banks, and a dense restaurant and nightlife cluster along 60th East Street. For a short-stay guest in town for meetings, it is close to ideal, which is the whole basis of this building's rental case.
For full-time living the trade-offs are real. The surrounding blocks are commercial at street level and empty out in the evening, street parking is genuinely difficult, and the walkable radius stops at the edge of the financial core. If you want a residential neighbourhood with schools and green space rather than a business district, Costa del Este and Santa María are the better fit, and our Obarrio area page sets out the comparison.
