Sanhattan

Sanhattan, a portmanteau of Santiago and Manhattan, is the popular ironic sobriquet given to Chile's capital Santiago's high-end financial district.[1] It is located to the northeast of the capital, in the western end of the Las Condes commune between the Mapocho River and the Américo Vespucio avenue, in the barrios known as El Bosque Norte and El Golf.[2] The main street crossing Sanhattan is Avenida Apoquindo. A narrower definition puts Sanhattan between Andrés Bello and Vitacura avenues, from their intersection down to Nueva Los Leones avenue.

Sanhattan at night.
View of Sanhattan from San Cristóbal Hill.

The area is home to many new and very expensive buildings housing offices, restaurants, hotels, shopping centers and banks.

Two of the tallest buildings in South America are located there: Titanium La Portada, 55 stories and 194 m tall, and Gran Torre Santiago, at 300 m tall and 63 stories, located in the neighboring Providencia commune.

History
Gran Torre Santiago (seen under construction in 2010) and Titanium La Portada (left) are the two tallest buildings in Sanhattan.

The land—known then as "Hacienda San Luis"—was acquired in 1907 from Banco de Chile bank by Ricardo Lyon, an agriculturist and mayor of Providencia commune. In 1937 a zoning scheme for Las Condes commune was defined and architect Eduardo Lewellyn-Jones was entrusted with the task of designing a new residential area for Santiago's aristocracy. It was not until the early 1990s that real estate agencies set their sights on the area.[2]

Today Sanhattan is among the most expensive land in Chile, with an average cost of 200 Unidad de Fomento (about US$8,300) per square meter in 2010.[2]

Extent

According to newspaper La Tercera, Sanhattan is bounded by Av. Presidente Riesco to the north, El Golf to the east, Av. Apoquindo and Tajamar to the south, and the Mapocho river to the west.[3]

Transport

Parking sites are few around Sanhattan, thus many people travel by subway or microbus. Line 1 of the city subway is located nearby. Sanhattan is surrounded by the Costanera Norte Highway.

See also

References
  1. Antonio Skarmeta (2011-02-27). "Antonio Skármeta Reflects on Santiago". Newsweek. Retrieved 2011-02-28.
  2. "El año en que se consolidó el barrio más influyente" (in Spanish). La Tercera. 2010. Archived from the original on 2011-01-01. Retrieved 2012-06-01.
  3. "Las dos décadas de Sanhattan, el barrio más influyente de la capital" (PDF). La Tercera (in Spanish). 21 April 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2013.


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