Throughout history, buildings with similar characteristics and related uses have been grouped together. This has been true for neighborhoods and places of commerce. For this reason, it is not surprising that the tendency to group together also led to the creation of a place destined exclusively for business.

Smart cities or business parks are the result of this change in real estate development. These parks are relatively remote sites where businesses cluster together, taking advantage of factors such as ample space available, lower rents, and the benefits of a technology network to quickly connect to other businesses and customers.

GK, a regional leader in the development of Industrial Real Estate, with a presence in Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, and the United States, knew from the beginning that smart cities would be a key component of the economic and spatial panorama of Central American countries.

It is difficult to define precisely and absolutely what a smart city should be. But at GK, we have concluded that their locations have been created for a set of business operations based on a close geographical context, evolving the traditional office concept based on development objectives focused on industry or services.

What are the fundamentals and how have we come to develop the smart city concept

To fully understand a business-oriented real estate project, it is necessary to explore the logic behind its emergence. It is also important to review and understand the key points that influenced and have led to the current situation in the smart city sector.

The emergence of these kinds of facilities is linked to a burgeoning pattern of suburban development in countries like Honduras, as well as the emergence of favorable mortgage rates that supported the expansion of suburban housing. At the same time, the growth of the population qualified and able to work, and the increased use of the car, with the consequent change in travel patterns, significantly affected the conception of work.

Added to this is the nearshoring boom that started strongly in the 1990s, and during which companies in the BPO and ITO sector clearly saw unparalleled potential in the region to allocate their investments. In this development model, business parks and smart cities became the option of the future, and they still are today.

These types of projects offer adequate space for businesses, as well as a sense of security. In the first wave of this transformation, business parks focused on manufacturing. However, it was not long before they caught up with the service sector.

An idea arises, a good business opportunity is born

In the case of Altia, and within the same context, the story begins with the vision of Mohammad Yusuf Amdani Bai, Chairman of the Board of Directors of GK, who since the mid-1990s devised the concepts of industrial parks and smart cities.

He is the brains behind projects like Altia Smart City and Green Valley Advanced Manufacturing Hub, the same ones that have benefited the region in terms of foreign investment and employment, and that other companies have tried to emulate ever since. With more than 10 years of experience and knowledge, Altia has gradually become a highly specialized ally in the construction and administration of space solutions for BPO & ITO companies seeking the following characteristics:

Buildings located a short distance from each other, which means that there are gardens or relaxation areas, but also that the interaction between buildings is reduced when necessary due to the nature of the work.

Buildings located around access roads that provide loading areas and convenient parking.

Office spaces with technological infrastructure for telecommunications and high-speed information transmission through a fiber optic network.

Altia Smart City is made up of all the elements that embody this concept, demonstrating what the essence of a Smart City should be. Each of its resources adds value to the other components of its spaces, making Altia stand out and completely sustainable from a commercial point of view.