OFFICE space for small and medium-sized businesses abounds in and around San José. Many spaces are within former residences that have been converted into interesting and elegant office buildings.
Liliana GarcÃa, who has two office complexes for sale or rent, said her buildings feature security measures that include outer walls with wrought iron bars that surround the grounds, bedrooms and showers for overnight guards, and parking space.
ONE building is a one-story complex of eight offices on the west side of San José. It includes a reception area with desks, a full kitchen and small dining area, pantry, waiting room, night-guard’s quarters, a strong box the size of small bank vault and secluded parking for three cars and a grassy yard with trees behind the facility.
The walls are natural wood with builtin bookshelves and windows in each  spacious and carpeted office. The yard is within the outer wall and can be converted into a private parking lot with access along the side of the building. It measures approximately 850 square meters, including the 400-square-meter yard.
GarcÃa said the complex is on sale for $350,000, or rent for $3,500 per month.
HER other property is a converted house in a neighborhood popularly known as Los Mangos, located one kilometer from her other building, two blocks from the Plazoleta de Mangos on the west side of San José.
Inside a high, tile-roofed outer wall, the two-story complex is surrounded by an enclosed patio garden and a small orchard of mango, mandarin and other fruit trees.
The complex includes four private offices with windows, closets, and plenty of shelving. Three of them have full bathrooms.
Also, just inside the main entrance there is a reception area of three partitioned desks.
It also includes a break room, meeting room, full kitchen, storage rooms and attic space for storage, an immense office room that accommodated eight to 10 people under the former tenants and two smaller private offices with entrances through the large room.
The second floor includes two private rooms, a kitchenette and a third large room that could be converted into an apartment. All the windows are barred with wrought iron.
Parking space for 10 cars is located within the outer wall. The property is 1,560 square meters and rents for $3,500 monthly, with the possibility of sale.
For more info, contact Rebeca González at 233-5522, fax 233-5233, email rebecagm@racsa.co.cr.
ANOTHER three-story building available for sale is in Zapote, west of San José. The first floor measures 120 square meters and is divided into four storefronts, all of which have bathrooms, telephones, parking and sliding iron curtains for security during closing hours.
The second floor is 436 square meters with a restaurant kitchen and grill, two rooms with a 250-person capacity, bathrooms and office and storage space.
The third floor is 436 square meters divided equally between a warehouse and a stylish, three-bedroom apartment with black marbled counters, a bar, and views of the mountains. For more info, call 382-0520 (Spanish), or 814-3554 (English), or see it on the Web at www.jomacostarica.com/sevende.
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