mexico renews itself - ProMéxico

12 Negocios ProMéxico Negocios ProMéxico 13
A Unique
Solution to
a Common
Problem
A pioneering force on the Mexican market,
Vinte’s integral housing concept has garnered the
company international recognition.
____
by david ricardo vizcarra
photos courtesy of vinte
All over the world, people come home from a hard day
at work to broken water heaters and leaking faucets.
As if this weren’t bad enough, many of them live in
rundown neighborhoods where it’s not safe to walk
the streets at night.
Aware of this reality, a group of visionaries with experience
in the housing sector set themselves the mission of developing a
sustainable residential concept with a focus on social integration
and quality of life. In short: decent housing.
But what is decent housing? According to Vinte CEO Sergio
Leal, it’s housing “that you like and where you live a positive life.
If you don’t like how you live, it’s going to affect the rest of your
activities. Vinte was founded with the vision of providing and
building decent homes.”
The company started out in 2004 with a residential development
in Tecamac, Estado de México, consisting of 1,860 homes
equipped with an Internet connection and a free computer.
“Why not install fitted kitchens instead?” commented one of
Sergio’s colleagues, to which he replied: “Because what I’m offering
will give my customers access to culture so they have the
possibility of acquiring more things.” And so the integral housing
concept began to take shape. “At first people said we were crazy,
that technology should enter at the top of the pyramid and not the
base. But we were convinced that if it enters at the base, it lowers
the cost and that’s in everyone’s interest,” says Sergio Leal.
Eight years down the line, Vinte’s residential developments
in Estado de México, Querétaro, Quintana Roo and Hidalgo have
cycle paths, parks and shopping malls that create a sense of community
and encourage people to enjoy leisure time with their
families. Today, Vinte is the only Mexican company building
seventh-generation and nearly-zero-energy homes.
In this instance, the term “seventh-generation” refers to
homes designed to incorporate broadband Internet, computer
equipment and connectivity services from day one, while “nearly
zero energy” homes feature a bioclimatic design, advanced telemetry
systems, photovoltaic (PV) and other energy efficiency
systems that can translate into savings of up to 90% on homeowners’
electricity bills.
Boasting the largest (R&D) area in the sector, Vinte not only
has a nanostructured materials lab, but has entered into a research
alliance with the Mexican cement giant Cemex, is working
on the development of plastics with Intel, and ways of making
steel lighter and more resistant.
The sub-products of these collaborations –like insulation
paint that saves on polystyrene and a telemeasuring system that
provides real-time information on how much gas you have left or
how much water and electricity you are consuming– are incorporated
into the homes Vinte builds.
Vinte, says Sergio Leal, “is the only housing developer in
Mexico whose value is increasing at an annual rate of 20%.”
These figures have not escaped the notice of the World Bank
(WB), which acquired a 10.6% stake in the company back in
2008, in the full throes of the international financial crisis. Vinte
is the first housing developer in the world to receive WB investment
funds and according to a report published by the institution,
Mexico’s housing sector is a model to be followed by the rest
of the world.
“In Mexico, a house costing just 19,000 usd can qualify for a
green mortgage [to equip it with sustainable technology]. Where
else in the world can you see this?” asks Leal.
Solid financial results speak to the effectiveness
of Vinte’s business model. In
the first quarter of 2012 alone, the company
posted growth 21.2% higher than in
the same period of 2011.
“We did things properly. We’re a solid
company with a social, economic and ecological
vision –which happen to be the three
pillars of sustainable development. The
market is rewarding us; we report good results
and have a very large innovation area,”
says Sergio Leal.
Just recently, the German Investment
Corporation (DEG) extended Vinte a
200-million-peso credit line (almost 15 million
usd). This is the first time in history that
a banking institution of such prestige has
placed its trust in a Mexican company.
International recognition is simply one
more reason to continue providing Mexicans
with decent housing in a sector where
“competition will hinge on added value, resulting
in a win-win situation for the customer.
Vinte will continue anticipating the
conveniences people will need in the short
term, with a view to holding on to its position
as the leading company in the sector in terms
of innovation,” concludes Sergio Leal. n
www.realparaiso.com