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Big Time Buenos Aires
In Palermo, you can stop the construction, but you can't stop the cool factor.
Once home to both Che Guevara and Jorge Luis Borges, Palermo is nowadays the hot hood of Buenos Aires. Since the Argentine economy melted in 2002, the area’s clutch of sub-barrios — Palermo Viejo, Palermo Soho, Palermo Hollywood and, heaven help them, Palermo Queens — has been drawing hipsters to its chic boutiques, designer steakhouses and electro-tango halls. But now — with construction on just about every colonial, cobblestone block — the mainstreaming of Palermo is making way for new neighbors. Francis Ford Coppola has shelled out for a neo-gothic mansion. Nike, Adidas and Ralph Lauren have moved in alongside homegrown indie designers. And luxe four-room B&Bs are feeling mighty tiny.
Following the contemporary edge set by the 21-room Soho All Suites, Argentine hospitality giant Fen Hotels has just opened a new outpost of their boutique brand, Esplendor. But the 27-room, nine-story Esplendor Palermo Soho may be among the last of Palermo’s controversial new structures. An upcoming proposal before city hall would limit development to eight stories on main avenues and just three on quieter streets. Plus, if passed into law, you can expect a no-tolerance enforcement: Hard-nosed businessman Mauricio Macri was sworn in yesterday as the new mayor of Buenos Aires. The former Boca Juniors honcho is seen as the right-wing nemesis to Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who takes office today as Argentina’s first elected woman president.
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