Pavas

About Pavas:

Pavas covers 9.35 square kilometres at around 1,040 metres on the west side of San José. La Uruca lies to the north and Mata Redonda, home to Parque La Sabana, to the east, while the Tiribí river closes the south and west, with Escazú on the other bank. National routes 39, 104 and 174 cross the district, and Route 104 runs the length of Boulevard Ernesto Rohrmoser toward the Estadio Nacional. The Belén–Pavas–Curridabat commuter train stops at six platforms inside Pavas, from Metrópoli and Demasa through Pecosa, Pavas Centro and Jacks to AyA, on weekdays only. Since 1 May 2026 the exit beside the AyA and the synagogue feeds only Route 27 toward Escazú, so drivers heading for the Circunvalación now detour via the US Embassy and Calle 98, or around La Sabana.

The land was part of the estate Father Manuel Antonio Chapuí left to the people of San José, and the national psychiatric hospital that carries his name stands in Pavas today. The district was created in 1848 and grew slowly around its Santa Bárbara church, with coffee covering much of the ground; in 1950 it had 2,127 inhabitants. Between the 1960s and 1980, Urbanizadora Rohrmoser, a company of the Rohrmoser and Montealegre Rohrmoser families, turned their coffee farms on the east side into a planned barrio with boulevards, parks, wide streets, schools, a shopping centre and an industrial zone. Pavas reached 18,068 people by 1973 and 76,177 by 2000, was the most populous district in Costa Rica at the 2011 census, and is now estimated at around 83,500.

This is a working district as much as a residential one. The Zona Industrial holds warehouses and industrial premises, and the Tobías Bolaños airport, named in 1972 after aviation pioneer Tobías Bolaños Palma, is the base for general aviation, private hangars and flight schools. The US Embassy faces the Centro Comercial del Oeste, one of the first shopping centres built in the country, and the National High Technology Centre (CENAT), the National Emergency Commission and the Cementerio Metropolitano are all within the district. Everyday shopping happens at Plaza Mayor and Plaza Rohrmoser on the boulevard, and the British School of Costa Rica, founded in 1981, sits 125 metres north of where the boulevard ends.

Two markets share the district. Rohrmoser and its sub-barrios, Nunciatura, La Favorita, Santa Catalina and Geroma among them, draw embassy and international staff, executives and young professionals who want La Sabana, Escazú and downtown within easy reach, and a large share of them rent. Away from the boulevard, Pavas Centro, Lomas del Río, Bribri, Metrópolis, Rincón Grande and Finca San Juan are denser barrios of Costa Rican families, where houses change hands in colones and rents run lower. The district also takes in Alfa, Asturias, Galicia, Navarra, María Reina, Libertad and Villa Esperanza, plus the Zona Industrial itself. Between the two ends sits the airport, and the height limits around it explain why the tallest towers cluster on the eastern side.

Houses in Pavas:

Most houses in Rohrmoser date from the planned expansion of the 1960s to the 1980s: one- or two-storey homes on regular lots along wide streets, usually with a patio or a modest garden rather than large grounds. Along the boulevard and the main avenues many now work as offices, clinics or shops, and some have been replaced by small buildings of three or four apartments. In Lomas del Río, Bribri or Pavas Centro lots are tighter and houses have often grown upward, and there are also gated condominiums with round-the-clock security. When you compare houses for sale in Pavas, ask what the municipal plan allows on that exact block, since height limits and permitted uses change from one part of the district to the next.

Apartments in Pavas:

The tower boom is concentrated in Rohrmoser and Nunciatura, where buildings such as Soho Paradisus, QBO and Torre W offer one- to three-bedroom units with pools, gyms and shared terraces. Older low-rise condominiums fill the side streets, with fewer amenities and lighter monthly fees. Ask the administration for the last two years of fee increases and the size of the reserve fund, because a building with a sky bar and a cinema room costs real money to run. Apartments for sale in Rohrmoser are usually priced in US dollars, while older units elsewhere in Pavas are as often quoted in colones.

Rentals in Pavas:

Furnished apartments are a staple in Rohrmoser and Nunciatura, aimed at embassy staff, executives and families with children at the international schools nearby, and they are normally quoted in dollars with building amenities included. Unfurnished flats a few streets away cost noticeably less. In the rest of the district, renters find houses, studios and rooms close to the industrial zone and the train. If you are weighing apartments for rent in Pavas, time the drive at rush hour first, because the 2026 change to the Circunvalación access added minutes to many commutes.

New Developments in Pavas:

Pre-sale towers keep appearing around Nunciatura, among them The Point Nunciatura, a 22-storey building due for delivery in the first half of 2027. Buying off plan means checking the developer’s record, the construction permit and how your deposits are held until handover. The airport is part of the long view: the national airport plan moves Tobías Bolaños operations to Juan Santamaría once a new international airport at Orotina opens, not expected before the mid-2040s, and the engineers’ and architects’ federation has proposed turning the airfield into an urban renewal site. Neither changes today’s height limits, so judge a project by what is approved now.

Warehouses and Commercial Space in Pavas:

The Zona Industrial de Pavas has warehouses and ofibodegas with industrial land use, high clear heights and loading parking, a short drive from Route 27 and the Circunvalación. In Rohrmoser, converted houses and small plazas along the boulevard offer office and retail space. Get the land-use certificate before you sign anything, because a use permitted on one street may not be allowed on the next.

FAQ:

• Does the Tobías Bolaños airport affect what I can buy or build in Pavas?

  Yes. San José’s urban development rules cap building heights near the runway, at 20 metres in the closest blocks and higher as you move away, which is why the tallest towers sit toward La Sabana. Light aircraft and flight-school traffic are part of daily life near the airfield, so visit at different times of day before committing to a house close by.

• Is Rohrmoser the same as Pavas?

  Rohrmoser is a barrio inside Pavas, not a separate district. Listings say Rohrmoser or Nunciatura because those names carry weight, but in the Registro Nacional and at the Municipalidad de San José the property sits in Pavas, district 9 of San José canton, postal code 10109.

• What should I check before buying a Rohrmoser house to use as an office?

  Many houses on and near the boulevard already run as businesses, and not all of them were ever authorised. Ask the Municipalidad de San José for the land-use certificate for the exact address and confirm the use you have in mind is allowed there. Then get the certificación literal and cadastral plan from the Registro Nacional and make sure any extensions or a split into apartments appear on paper, not just on the ground.

• How do I get in and out of Pavas now that the Circunvalación exit has changed?

  The exit beside the AyA now leads only onto Route 27 toward Escazú. To reach the Circunvalación, drive past the US Embassy along Calle 98 to the Jacks traffic light and loop round by the Fuerza y Luz building, or follow Route 104 to La Sabana and join near Ucimed. On weekdays the commuter train links Pavas Centro with downtown and the eastern suburbs.

• Are prices in Pavas quoted in dollars or colones?

  Both, depending on the barrio. Tower apartments and furnished rentals in Rohrmoser and Nunciatura are mostly quoted in dollars, while houses and unfurnished rentals in Pavas Centro and the barrios around it are mostly quoted in colones. Compare like with like, and check the exchange rate the seller is using.