Moving on up.

The Andes won't be the only thing towering over Santiago. Skyscrapers are coming. In three years, the US$400 million Costanera Center will open for business, hoping to be the tallest building in South America at 244 meters in height. Two blocks away, the $120 million Torte La Portada--climbing 181 meters--is also breaking ground. The two buildings will add a combined 660,000 square meters of office space in Chile's capital, arguably a rather affordable place when it comes to commercial real estate.

According to a recent report by U.S. realtor CB Richard Ellis, top-quality office spaces lease for an average US$251 per square meter in Santiago, making it cheaper than Mexico City, Caracas, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires. Yet real estate brokers shouldn't worry about price declines that would come with more space on the market, says George Lever, an analyst at the Santiago Chamber of Commerce.

Both buildings are going up in Santiago's glitzy northeast region, where many multinationals have set up shop as part of a trend to move away from the city's crowded downtown. Plus strong economic growth should fuel demand for more office space, says Lever. "The two skyscraper complexes were planned long ago, and the economy is on strong footing for the projects to go ahead," says Lever. The downtown market will not collapse. Government offices will need new space plus large banks will stay in the area, he says.

Some tenants who don't care about location will leave northeast Santiago to free from construction hassles, says German Martinez, a real estate agent with Building Brokers. While many businesses will relocate to the new office buildings due to the prestige of the area, it won't be an easy sell for realtors. "There will be some difficulties in filling them," says Martinez.