Caldera Highway Opens Up Costa Rica's Pacific Coast

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Dear Reader,

Regular readers know how bullish I am on Costa Rica’s Southern Zone. This is the area that runs south of Quepos to the border with Panama on Costa Rica’s Pacific side. The scenery is amazing, but prices have stayed low because it was difficult to get to.

I have been telling you that this was set to change. Now it has. This is important because, as you know, anything that improves the accessibility of a piece of real estate increases its desirability. More desirable means more valuable. Friend and developer Steve Linder put the new road through its paces first thing this morning and sent me this photo.

Steve followed with an excited call: “I cannot believe it’s actually real…I have been waiting for this day since I started coming here 20 years ago!”

The new Caldera toll road from San Jose to Puntarenas is now open from Orotina all the way to Puntarenas. It’s a toll road that will only set you back only 85 cents. The final section between Orotina and Ciudad Colon is expected to be completed by early 2010.

Five new bridges were built. Dramatic scenery is why I expect this coast to take off, but it also means that this highway was a major construction undertaking. The new road runs through steep valleys and rivers in the mountains west of San Jose.

On the southern coastal highway known as the Costanera extension between Quepos and Dominica the final finish coat of pavement is now being installed. Less than three miles remain unpaved and most of this section is nearly ready for paving.

The drive time on this section has been reduced from several hours to less than an hour. This area is now easily accessible.

All the major bridges from Jaco to Dominical are now complete and open. Just two years ago all traffic had to drive through the two rivers. Sometimes this was impossible during the rainy season. The new bridge in Parrita is open, so visitors no longer have to wait at the one-lane antiquated bridge to cross the river. (The weekend traffic to Quepos and Manuel Antonio would often back up for hours.) The bridge across the Sevegre River has now been widened to two lanes and the bridge across the Naranjo River just south of Quepos is finished, too. The only bridge left to be completed is the one-lane bridge by the town of Hatillo, which was only built a few years ago and is close to Dominical.

As soon as word gets out that this area is now quickly and comfortably accessible…prices are set to rocket.

Steve’s real estate project, Pacific Lots, is three miles from the town of Ojochal. The upgraded road passes right in front of the town. This is the heart of the country’s Southern Zone.

Ojochal feels quite cosmopolitan for a place that has been so out of the way until now. You have a choice of restaurants—Swiss, French, German, American, Italian. You can buy freshly baked bread or enjoy a pizza from a wood-fired oven. A deli stocks imported cheeses, wines, and other culinary treats.

Pacific Lots is the “gold standard” project in this area. A mature development, with more than 100 homes already constructed, and it’s fully serviced with roads, water, electricity, satellite TV, Internet, and a modern communications system. You don’t have to rely on the developer’s promises. You can see it and touch it.

There is no build requirement. You have full flexibility. When you decide to build, a skilled team of professionals will be at hand to help you out.

Today, construction of this quality and standard will cost you in the region of $90 per square foot. You can build on your own or else use the custom construction and design services offered by the team at Pacific Lots.

Their team of architects, engineers, concrete masons, master woodcrafters, painters and interior designers can help you build the house of your dreams. They’ll hold your hand. You can see the work they have already done. You can ask your potential neighbors to share their experiences.

Pacific Lots gives you the best of both worlds. Buying in this area puts you ahead of the Path of Progress. Pacific Lots offers this upside with the additional upside of a project that is mature and functioning.

An equivalent lot in Northern Costa Rica could cost you six times what you would pay here. You can still buy a lot here for $40,000.

Thing is: it’s nicer here. Strict environmental regulations will limit development. New projects are finding it difficult to get off the ground.

I strongly urge you to request a full information pack from Steve and visit Pacific Lots before the world catches on.

The new international airport planned for this area is just 20 minutes away from Pacific Lots. Remember what happened in Liberia in Northern Costa Rica when direct flights from the U.S. started arriving in 2002? Prices went through the roof.

Ronan McMahon

Caldera Highway Opens Up Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast