Getting Ahead of the Path of Progress | Pathfinder International

Monday, August 24, 2009

Work is progressing on schedule on the new bridge from Bahia de Caraquez to San Vicente

Dear Reader,

Ecuador has 1,400 miles of coastline. The most under-developed section of coast lies between Atacames and San Vicente. Semi-dry forest covers the hills. Pristine beaches extend along the coast.

This is set to change. Access to this stretch of coast is set to improve dramatically. This area is set to become the closest beach area to Quito and its new International airport. Construction on a new highway that is being built from Quito to Pedernales is well advanced. It will be completed by January 2010.

This has been the least accessible stretch of Ecuador’s coast. Work is also progressing on schedule on the bridge from Bahia De Caraquez to San Vicente. Today it is 45% complete. It will be the longest bridge in Ecuador. According to Ecuador’s President, Rafael Correa, this project is second only to Quito’s new airport in importance for Ecuador’s tourism industry.

Last week Ecuador’s Aerogal airline announced that it will reintroduce 737 flights to San Vicente/Bahia in September with a 4 day per week service.

Put simply: this stretch of coast will become accessible. These projects are elements of the overall infrastructure plan, which is to connect Manta with Quito going via Bahia with a 4-lane highway.

This is good news for readers of The Pathfinder Alert who have bought at Coco Beach. The project is progressing. The third house is under construction in addition to the first spec house. This stretch of coast will become more accessible and desirable. Today, you can buy a lot and build a house here for $100,000. This situation won’t last long.

To remind you, Coco Beach is located four miles from Jama along a new road and just outside the village of El Matal. The developers, brothers Gary and Larry, didn’t like the way the local planning authority encouraged unsightly, ecologically unsound building practices. So, impressively, they spent the past three years getting the local government to change the rules.

Thanks to Gary’s and Larry’s determination, instead of a large group of small lots with busy streets…Coco Beach has a small group of large lots—just 66 subdivisions set amid 21 acres—with two quiet streets.

Instead of a big boardwalk separating the homes from the beach…you can step out your front door and wiggle your toes in the sand.

And because all the utilities are underground, the views over the virgin beach are uninterrupted. Every building lot will have green areas, and a thousand coconut palms spread throughout the development.
Even in a high-end project like this, you can get a beach house for $100,000.

Lot sizes are big in Coco Beach, just under a quarter-acre for $50,000. Construction costs run from $35 to $60 a square foot; $40 per square foot builds to a high standard. This means that a $100,000 budget buys you a large lot in this gated community with a 1,250-square-foot high-quality beach home.

This deal isn’t for speculators—there is a build requirement. The brothers want to build a real community. If you’d like to talk to them about Coco Beach, contact them here. Prices are set to rise once they sell the next 6 lots.

Ronan McMahon