Pedro Gómez: the contributions that the businessman left to Colombia

After more than 40 years at the service of Colombians, Pedro Gomez, builder, lawyer and ‘father’ of shopping centers, especially Unicentro, He passed away at the age of 94, on Friday, February 17, in Bogotá.

(See: The construction businessman Pedro Gómez Barrero died).

Friends, family and colleagues remember Gómez as a visionary, ambitious, generous and knowledgeable. A trained lawyer and strain builder dedicated to his work.

During his career, he developed 24 shopping centers in the country, including the Santa Fe shopping center, as well as carrying out different developments such as Metropolis, Calatrava and Sindamanoy, among others. He is also the head behind the La Felicidad sector, in Bogotá.

Since its beginnings as an independent builder, dating back to 1968, He developed projects in the south of Bogotá, for the middle and popular classes, and then focused on those of medium and high levels, which would largely give him his great prestige as a builder.
Pedro Gómez was born in 1929, in the municipality of Cucunubá (Cundinamarca). He studied Law and graduated as a lawyer from the Universidad del Rosario. Through the years, created its famous construction company, Pedro Gómez y Cía., of which he was the manager until 2009, although he was still linked as a member of the board of directors and partner.

In his last time he dedicated himself to Fundación Compartir, which he created at the end of the 70s to help low-income people with housing, education and preparation for a life as micro and small entrepreneurs. In 2013, Gómez Barrero was recognized with the Portafolio Vida y Obra Empresarial award.

However, it is worth highlighting his integrity going through the difficult macroeconomic situation that he found himself immersed in together with his colleagues in the sector at the end of the millennium, where he demonstrated his love for the construction sector and managed to get out despite the difficulties.

At that time, in the late 90s, Eduardo Jaramillo, who was president of the Camacol National Board and was executive president of the union between 2000 and 2005, he was able to interact with Gómez, who without envy shared his knowledge, and they managed to overcome the crisis, which leads him to describe him as a visionary. “I shared the entire process with Pedro, absolutely everything that happened to us, and all the builders in the country. I have excellent memories of him as a person, his attitude towards the crisis, but above all because of the importance he had in real estate development in Colombia. A great person is lost, ”said the manager, who also highlights Gómez’s vision and ability to know how and what to do to improve cities.

(See: The legacy of Pedro Gómez, ‘dad’ of the shopping centers in Bogotá).

“He was the first person to really believe in malls as we know them today because of what he did. When nobody imagined it, in the 70s, he conceived Unicentro and the citadel. Today we cannot imagine the scope of what that meant for Bogotá urbanistically. Pedro made us believe that extremely ambitious things could be achieved”, emphasizes Jaramillo.

Also, for the former guild president, Gómez believed in training people, which highlighted him as a close and bold person. “He was amazing in so many ways, with a wonderful human sense; he was the architect of Compartir, he was really a humanist“, he pointed.

In addition, Camacol, due to its proximity to the builder, On his Twitter account, he highlighted the life and work of the businessman, recognizing and highlighting his work in the country.

“We deeply regret the death of Pedro Gómez Barrero, an example of leadership, a visionary of the development of our country and a great contributor to the transformation of Colombia. We send an affectionate message of solidarity and our deepest condolences to his family, work team and relatives“, he pointed.

It is worth noting that in his life Pedro Gómez also performed different facets, such as being a civil judge and ombudsman of Bogotá, as well as having a position on the Board of Directors of the Universidad de los Andes and another in the Ser Research Institute. He was the ambassador of Colombia, between 1987 and 1989, during the government of Virgilio Barco, in Venezuela.

Regarding the latter, his work stands out in the so-called Caracas Agreement, which was very important for the future of the Permanent Conciliation Commission, determinant when Colombia and the government of the then president of Venezuela, Jaime Lusinchi, they were on the verge of an armed conflict due to the presence of the ARC corvette Caldas in waters that were under discussion.

(See: The day Pedro Gómez’s company entered judicial liquidation).

For his part, the former president of Colombia, Álvaro Uribe, He posted on his Twitter account saying: “Pedro Gómez died, a life of service to Colombia, to construction, to housing, a pioneer of shopping centers. a great lord”.

From their alma mater, they stated: “We regret the death of our college student and graduate of the Faculty of Jurisprudence, Dr. Pedro Gómez Barrero. Our deepest condolences to his family and the entire Rosarista community”.

To its turn, Ernest Samper, said: “We will also remember him for his dedication to the causes of Colombian teachers. Hugs to your relatives”.

PAULA GALEANO BALAGUERA
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