Properties: one of the oldest historic palaces in the City was sold, who bought it and what will he do

In 1860, the city of Buenos Aires looked completely different. Fifty years after the May revolution, the capital averaged about 180,000 inhabitants and the streets saw horse-drawn floats parade. The economy of some citizens increased by far and they reflected it in the architecture of their properties. In the middle of that decade, the renowned English engineer Edward Taylor built a palace named after him for the Catalan merchant Esteban Rams, in what is now the downtown area of ​​Buenos Aires. The Rams Palace is today one of the ten oldest still standing in the area.Towards the end of the 19th century, the headquarters of Club del Plata, a social space of the time, functioned in that palace on the corner of Chacabuco and Hipólito Yrigoyen streets. Years later, it changed its function for the third time, which it maintains to the present. Since 1925, the historic construction belongs to the Vinelli family, dedicated and outstanding in the real estate world.The Rams Palace in its first years of lifeAGNOne hundred years later, the building that was declared a National Historical Heritage has other plans. The entity that is in the process of acquiring it is the Gaman Group, a group of Argentine companies dedicated mainly to brokerage and insurance advice. To date, the holding company together with the investment families (the Manganaro, Rosenblit and Filkenstein) they have signed an execution principle for the purchase, that is to say that the money they gave in advance is part of the price and there can be no rejection. As explained by its president in dialogue with THE NATION, Juan Manuel Manganaro, the deed could not be signed yet because – despite the fact that the 10 heirs have already signed their part – the management of some successions that extend to the third generation of the family is pending. In this context, they estimate that before November the operation should be completed and they become the owners of the building. In the event of this acquisition, this would be the group’s fourth building. They already have their own ten-story building a few blocks from Palacio Rams -precisely at Moreno 794-, one in San Isidro and another to be inaugurated in San Miguel de Tucumán, in addition to the 22 commercial offices at the federal level. in the reconversion program of the downtown area of ​​the City, for which the requirements that the projects to be carried out in the area were published at the end of July. The “Housing Incentives” initiative seeks promote the realization of real estate developments there to facilitate the move in the area and achieve its reactivation after its low activity as a result of the pandemic.Among the advantages that will be given to developers who bet on recycling disused office buildings, tax benefits will be granted to those who make investments aimed at the development of a sustainable city through the promotion of strategic economic activities. Among them, medical centers and health in general. Given that the Gaman Group brings together CEMLA and ARD, both companies in the health sector, the companies would move their offices there in order to be beneficiaries of the Gross Income Tax exemption during the first two years of their operation. Inside, the Palacio Rams is conceptually divided as if they were two different and independent constructions, although from the outside it appears to be a single property. This separation is physically marked by a structural wall, which the original owner may have used to separate space for personal use and other space that he might rent. style Italianate -current that was fashionable before the boom of French architecture in Buenos Aires- imposes with its 3038 m² covered on a plot of 950 m². Given the condition of Historical Heritage, there are a series of requirements that the enhancement project must respect. For example, Manganaro indicated that The ornate facades, the type of painting and the internal circulation, among other things, will be respected. The recycling work will be carried out by the Axon architecture studio, whose owner is Rubén Regueiro.Since 1925, the real estate agency of the VinelliCC family has been operating in the palaceIn an extract from the book Making a modern world: Edward Taylor’s architecture written by Daniel Schávelzon, the structure is described as follows: “The Rams Palace has a logical an enormous cubic volume with two central courtyards and two facades facing each street. These were made up of a plinth that was already impossible to recognize, two floors joined by enormous decorated pilasters and the usual large cornice that finished off the whole. It could be classified as a Renaissance-type building, the Corinthian pilasters had their shaft worked and parallel to them, there were two lines of padding; the windows had an oculus below and a curve above with details similar to the Muñoz Palace, the work of the same architect. The other large cornice, which separated the basement from the upper floors, disappeared with modernity, today it only remains as a stump in the open air without its original corbels or its decoration”. On the ground floor of the building, in the central corner there are 914 m² distributed in eight commercial premises with access to the street that the Group will put up for rent. They will seek to see high-end brands set up to replace lower-profile venues like the ones they are today, like a copier and hair salon. In the area, the square meter of this type of property is rented between US$6 and US$10, depending on the state of conservation of the building. The mezzanine, a free space, will be destined according to the plans to a training room. In the publication of the building in ZonaProp, it is detailed that this space has “a patio in the center, colonial style, decorated with plants and a water fountain.” Meanwhile, the first floor of 875 m² will be used for Gaman Group offices. There is a spacious room with a work area and twenty offices of approximately 16 m² each, all with a balcony facing the street and natural light, an archive room, four bathrooms and a kitchen, according to the details of the publication on the online platform. .Finally, on the second floor of 853 m² today there are two large rooms and 24 offices, also with a balcony overlooking the street and natural light. In addition, there are three bathrooms, a file room, there is the manager’s house and there is access to the terrace. The Gaman Group contemplates executing in this space eight apartments of 96 square meters each -in line with the project of the City Government to adapt the office buildings to housing-in case the Buenos Aires authorities approve the project.Get to know The Trust Project