5 photos from the developer
Under construction
Nautilus
Amador, Panama City
from $154k to $376k
- Unit types
- 13
- Smallest unit
- 24 m²
- Bedrooms
- 1–2
- Status
- Under construction
- Area
- Amador
Every listing for Nautilus leads with the same number. RE/MAX Prime's page says estimated returns of 8% on short-term rentals. Benoit Properties says 9%. That projected income is the entire investment case for a furnished studio at the mouth of the Panama Canal, and it rests on a licence we could not find. Prime Real Estate's listing states the units come "completamente amoblados y licencia para rentas cortas," fully furnished with a short-term rental licence. The project's own website at nautiluspanama.com does not mention a licence anywhere on the page. Neither does the sales agency's own project page, which offers instead to "provide marketing services on various short and long term rental platforms." That gap matters more in Panama City than it would in Boquete or Coronado, because rentals under 45 days in residential apartment buildings are restricted here, and the exception is a building licensed for tourist lodging with the Autoridad de Turismo de Panamá (ATP). Amador is tourism-zoned reverted Canal Zone land, so the exception is realistic for this project rather than far-fetched. It is simply not evidenced by anything we were able to read. Ask for the ATP resolution number before you underwrite 8%.
Nautilus prices and floor plans
| Unit | Beds | Baths | Size | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modelo E | 1 | 1 | 43 m² | — |
| Modelo A | 1 | 1.5 | 73 m² | — |
| Modelo C | 1 | 2 | 76 m² | — |
| Modelo F | 1 | 1 | 43 m² | — |
| Modelo G | — | — | 24 m² | — |
| Modelo L | 1 | 1 | 48 m² | — |
| Modelo J | 2 | 2.5 | 91 m² | — |
| Modelo K | 1 | 1 | 40 m² | — |
| Modelo H | 1 | 2 | 76 m² | — |
| Modelo B | 1 | 1 | 53 m² | — |
| Modelo M | — | — | 24 m² | — |
| Modelo I | 1 | 1 | 53 m² | — |
| Modelo D | — | — | 24 m² | — |
Where Nautilus actually is
Nautilus publishes its own coordinates, 8°56'22.8"N 79°33'15.4"W, which place it at the mainland end of the Amador Causeway rather than out on Naos, Perico or Flamenco. Broker listings file it under Amador, Áreas Revertidas / Zona del Canal, in the corregimiento of Ancón. No listing we read gives a street address, and none gives a finca number. The address does more work on the legal side of this purchase than the scenic one. Áreas Revertidas is the former Canal Zone, which is why the land-tenure question set out on our Amador page applies to this project by default rather than as a remote possibility. The amenity list points the same way the location does. A private beach club, an adventure centre and an oceanfront bar and restaurant are facilities built for short-stay guests, which is consistent with a building sold on nightly-rental income rather than on owner-occupation. The rest of the amenity set is a rooftop infinity pool, a rooftop residents' lounge, a sky deck, a luxury spa, a gym, a co-working space, a 24/7 bilingual concierge and valet parking.
What’s included at Nautilus
- Nautilus Beach Club
- Nautilus Adventure Center
- Beachfront bar and restaurant
- Rooftop infinity pool
- Luxury spa
- Gym
- Rooftop residents' lounge
- Sky deck
- Coworking space
- 24/7 bilingual concierge
- Valet parking
Who Nautilus suits — and who it doesn’t
Investors who want a low absolute entry ticket into Panama City waterfront. A furnished studio at roughly $150,000 is a small cheque by the standards of the city's luxury towers, even though the price per square metre is not small. Buyers who actively want the tourist-facing causeway setting described on our Amador page, with restaurants, cyclists, marina traffic and cruise passengers outside the door rather than a quiet residential street. Buyers comfortable holding a pre-construction position into 2028. And above all, buyers disciplined enough to make any deposit conditional in writing on two documents: the ATP tourist-lodging licence by resolution number, and proof of what form of tenure the land under the building is actually held under.
The yield figures are unsourced and they do not agree with each other. RE/MAX Prime shows 8%, Benoit Properties shows 9%, and neither publishes the occupancy, nightly rate or cost assumptions behind the number. Treat both as marketing until you have run your own figures against a licence you have actually seen.
Price per square metre is high for this stretch of water. Prime Real Estate lists Modelo L at $239,800 for 51 m², about $4,700/m². The smaller units work out higher, roughly $5,600/m² on a 28.76 m² studio listed at $161,200 by MMS Realtor. Our Amador page carries a causeway resale benchmark of roughly $2,500/m². A new build sold furnished justifies a premium over a resale unit. Roughly double is a lot of premium to carry on a rental licence nobody has shown you.
Land tenure is the second unverified pillar, and it is moving. Amador is reverted Canal Zone land developed largely through government concessions rather than freehold title, and the system is under active review. On 20 July 2026 the UABR terminated the Naos Harbour Island concession over an estimated $10 million in unpaid rent. Two days later La Prensa reported that the UABR is auditing causeway contracts in order to segregate, delimit and register seabed fill as new state fincas, quoting a business representative warning that the state is "creando una finca nueva que no tiene ningún tipo de zonificación," creating a new finca with no zoning at all. None of that names Nautilus. It does mean the ground rules for Amador land are being rewritten while this building is being sold.
The units are small and the resale pool is narrow. The project's own site lists sizes from 23.35 m² to 73.47 m². A 23 m² furnished studio bought for nightly rental sells on to another investor rather than to a family, so your exit depends on the rental case still working the day you want out of it.
Delivery is unresolved, and so is the construction start. Panama Realtor and RE/MAX Prime both show 2027. Prime Real Estate shows 28 February 2028. Benoit Properties shows closing in Q3 2028 and dates the start of construction to Q2 2026, which is later than the under-construction status our own synced record carries.
We could not confirm who is building it, and no source we read publishes an HOA figure.
Before you buy at Nautilus
Title status here is unknown and we are not going to dress that up. We could not establish whether the Nautilus parcel is titled freehold or held under a concession from the Unidad Administrativa de Bienes Revertidos (UABR), the government body that administers land reverted from the former Canal Zone. No source states which, including the project's own website. Because the whole causeway sits on reverted land, a concession is a live possibility rather than a remote one, and the answer changes what you would actually own. Our guide to titled land vs. Rights of Possession covers why that distinction decides financing, resale and inheritance. Ask for the finca number. If there is no finca number, establish the concession's term, its expiry date, who holds it and whether rent on it is current, because unpaid concession rent is precisely what cost Naos Harbour Island its contract in July 2026.
The second document to demand is the ATP tourist-lodging licence, by resolution number, not a broker's paraphrase of it. The projected return does not survive without it.
On price, our range takes its floor from the developer's own published starting figure and its ceiling from the highest individual unit price we could source, a 75.6 m² unit listed at $375,500 by Grupo Mi Vivienda. Neither end is a quote for the unit you would actually buy, and effective pricing works out to roughly $4,700 to $5,600 per m². Broker starting prices sit either side of the floor, from $144,100 at Benoit Properties to $161,200 at MMS Realtor. Get a dated price list from the seller in writing and check the m² printed next to each figure before you compare anything.
Deposit structure, as published by Benoit Properties: $5,000 to reserve, 10% on signing the contract less the reservation, 10% at the start of construction, a further 10% six months later, 5% twelve months later, and the remaining 65% at closing. That puts 35% of the purchase price with the developer before there is anything to register in your name. Have an attorney read the forfeiture terms in the promesa de compraventa, the purchase-promise contract, before any of it moves.
Confirm the developer. One listing names Grupo Riga; Grupo Riga's own website does not list Nautilus among its projects. Verify the corporate name that actually appears on your contract at the Registro Público and check what that entity has delivered before. Nothing in this section was verifiable through public sources at the time of writing, which is why it reads as a list of things to demand rather than a list of things we checked for you.
FAQ
Where exactly is Nautilus?
On the Amador Causeway, in the corregimiento of Ancón, within the Áreas Revertidas or former Canal Zone at the Pacific entrance to the Panama Canal. The project's own website publishes coordinates of 8°56'22.8"N 79°33'15.4"W, which put it at the mainland end of the causeway rather than out on Naos, Perico or Flamenco. It is not in Punta Pacífica, despite the sales agency, House Hunters Panama, operating from an office at The Ocean Club in Punta Pacífica. Every listing we read places the building in Amador.
What does a unit at Nautilus cost?
Our range of $153,500 to $375,500 takes its floor from the project's own website, which is the right primary for a pre-construction sale, and its ceiling from the highest specific unit price we could source, a 75.6 m² unit listed at $375,500 by Grupo Mi Vivienda. Broker starting prices spread either side of that floor: $144,100 (Benoit Properties), $157,000 (Panama Realtor), $161,200 for a 28.76 m² studio (MMS Realtor). Two cautions worth acting on. The figure $157,100 appears on Panama Realtor attached to a 28.76 m² studio and on RE/MAX Prime attached to a 68.67 m² unit, so it is not a reliable per-unit price. And the model letters do not map consistently across sources: our own model table puts Modelo A at 73.14 m², while the listing quoting $375,500 calls a 75.6 m² unit Model A. Work from the square metres and a dated price list, not the letter.
Can you legally rent a Nautilus unit on Airbnb?
Only if the building holds a tourist-lodging licence, and we could not verify that it does. Panama City restricts rentals under 45 days in residential apartment buildings, with an exception for buildings licensed for tourist lodging by the Autoridad de Turismo de Panamá (ATP). Amador is tourism-zoned reverted Canal Zone land, so the exception is realistic here rather than a stretch. One broker listing, Prime Real Estate, states the units come with a short-term rental licence. The project's own website and the sales agency's own page do not mention one. Published guidance also disagrees on which statute governs, citing Decree Law 4 of 2008, Law 80 of 2012 and Law 284 of 2022 variously, which is a good reason to get an attorney's read rather than a listing's. Ask for the ATP resolution number.
Is Nautilus titled property?
We do not know, and nobody selling it says. The causeway is former Canal Zone land administered by the Unidad Administrativa de Bienes Revertidos (UABR), and much of Amador was developed under government concessions rather than freehold title. No source we read, including the project's own website, gives a finca number or states the form of tenure. Ask for the finca number. If there is not one, establish the concession's term, expiry, holder and rent status before you pay anything.
When will Nautilus be delivered?
Sources conflict by about a year. Panama Realtor and RE/MAX Prime both show 2027. Prime Real Estate shows 28 February 2028. Benoit Properties shows closing in Q3 2028, and its payment schedule dates the start of construction to Q2 2026, which sits later than the under-construction status our own synced record carries. Get the developer's current schedule in writing rather than relying on any of these.
Who is the developer behind Nautilus?
We could not confirm it. One listing, Panama Realtor, names Grupo Riga. Grupo Riga's own website lists three projects currently for sale, Hacienda del Este, Hacienda Nuevo Emperador and PH Oderay, all mid-market housing in Las Mañanitas, Arraiján and Santa Elena, and Nautilus is not among them. The sales agency's page carries a "Nueva Nautilus" mark without naming a parent company. Confirm the corporate name that appears on your contract at the Registro Público before you sign.
How many units and floors does Nautilus have?
Broker listings syndicating the same description say 182 apartments across 14 floors. The project's own website publishes neither figure, so we could not trace that number back to a primary source and have not recorded it. On unit sizes, the project's own site gives a range of 23.35 m² to 73.47 m², while broker model tables run from 25.65 m² up to about 100.68 m² for combined units. Those two ranges do not match either.
What is the deposit structure at Nautilus?
Benoit Properties publishes it as $5,000 to reserve, 10% on contract less the reservation, 10% at the start of construction, a further 10% six months later, 5% twelve months later, and the remaining 65% at closing. That places 35% of the purchase price with the developer before you have anything to register in your name. Have an attorney read the forfeiture terms in the promesa de compraventa before you sign it.
