Tamarindo Loses Blue Flag Over Water Quality

By Rachel Cavanaugh - The Beach Times

Re-testing Of Sewage Outlets To Begin December 3
Playa Tamarindo, one of Guanacaste’s key tourist destinations, has been stripped of the coveted Bandera Azul Ecológica, or Blue Flag ecological award, because of pollution at its beaches.

The Asociación Pro Mejores de Playa Tamarindo received a letter on November 14 from the Blue Flag program, advising them Tamarindo’s status had been revoked because of water contamination.

“Due to the accelerated development and minimal planning the Tamarindo community has had, which has provoked environmental deterioration and contamination of streams and rivers, negatively impacting the quality of ocean water and affecting public health…it is respectfully requested the Bandera Azul Ecológica be withdrawn,” the letter reads.

Dr Darner Mora, Executive Director of the Bandera Azul Ecológica program, told The Beach Times this week it was an issue of public health.

“This decision isn’t easy,” he said. “But…if these things are not said, we deceive ourselves and no one is going to take corrective action. If something isn’t done, the beach could be contaminated to the point of suffering irreversible damage.”

New San Jose - Jaco Highway

Financial watchdog gives OK to Caldera highway
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff


The much awaited new highway to the Pacific got a boost Monday when the nation's financial watchdog approved adjustments to the concession contract and told officials that the job should start within 30 days after legal notification.

The decision was by the Contraloría de la República and involved a concession contract between the nation's Consejo Nacional de Concesiones and the company Autopistas del Sol.

Investors in the highway project balked at the financial arrangments, and Autopista del Sol had to come up with a better deal. The project was supposed to start earlier this year but was delayed by the contract negotiations.

The consejo reached a deal with Autopista del Sol in early October. At that time officials said that the cost of the project had increased to $230 million from the original $158 million. An announcement from the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes said that the price hike also includes improvements in drainage, guarantees in the durability of the pavement and more work on stabilizing slopes.

Any time a government agency enters into a contract involving substantial sums, the deal has to be reviewed by the Contraloría. Frequently minor glitches doom a deal.

In this case, the Contraloría reviewed the fifth addendum to the concession contract. A panel of three experts, headed by Carlos Andrés Arguedas Vargas, reviewed the documents. Although some lapses were found, the panel decided to approve the document with reservations.
The report by the panel considered each clause of the contract separately. The decision was contained in a letter to Karla González Carvajal, minister of Obras Públicas y Transportes and also president of the consejo. The document is nearly 6,000 words and full of technical references and constitutional citations.

The job is in three parts. The first enhances the stretch of road from La Sabana to Ciudad Colón, now called the Autopista Próspero Fernández. Much of this is now a four-lane divided highway but west of Santa Ana the road becomes two lane. This work, according to the ministry, will take about a year.

The big job is the Ciudad Colón-Orotina highway, some 39 kms. or about 24 miles. The estimated time of constrcution is two years, said the ministry.

The third part of the project is the enhancement of a 24-km. stretch from the Orotina traffic interchange to the Puerto de Caldera. This road now exists, and the upgrades are expected to take but six months, said the ministry.

When finished, the route will knock about an hour off a car trip to the Pacific coast. Locals are using the highway now.

Autopista will get back its money and it hopes a profit by charging motorists a toll. The price for a passenger car is set now at $2.75.

The Costa Rican central government likes concessions because it does not have the money to pay for big projects.

In the case of the highway, Autopista del Sol is raising the money to build the roadway.

Billion Dollar Projects on Thier Way

The beach of Coconuts (Playas del Coco) has seen some big projects and investors in town over the past few months from the founder of AOL to Costa Rica’s leading on-line luxury travel agency.

Stephen Case the co-founder of AOL and his company Revolution Places bought $800 million worth of land (650 acres) in the Northern Guancaste area of Costa Rica just slightly north of Costa Rica. His idea ios to build 5 5 star luxury Eco-hotels on this land with such names as One and Only Resorts, Miraval, Exclusive Resort and an 18 hole Tom Doak Golf Course. The land itself has some beautiful calm beaches with pristine sand and lined with beautiful tropical palm trees. This purchase has placed a spotlight on Plays Del Coco as there is talk of a Marina within the next 2 years which would mean that Playas del Coco could be the new Marriott Los Suenos Resort and Marina of the North.

The other big entrant this year is Costa Rican Vacations with their massive 1000 meter squared home in the Hollywood hills above Playas del Coco. The Costa Rica Villa was the idea of Co-owners Tony Silva and Casey Halloran who wanted to take everything that they had seen that has worked in hotels and villas over the companies 8 years and put it into a fabulous luxury 7 bedroom villa. Casy Halloran says ‘This is a step in the right direction as there really is not enough luxury in Costa Rica and this villa will deliver everything that Costa Rica is lacking plus give the guests the ultimate vacation experience’. The villa is due to be completed in March 08 and will start to rent in April 08, please visit the website www.mycostaricavilla.com .

This investment by some of Costa Rica’s biggest players has meant that land prices have rocketed and the area is starting to have a fabulous face lift that is needed. On a recent viusit to Playas del Coco a tourist exclaimed that this beach town still has a core Costa Rican feel to it that towns like Jaco and Tamarindo lost a long time ago.

Continued Progress

A significant distinction, Jaco Beach was named Central America's Leading Beach by the World Travel Awards 2007, an honor bestowed by travel agents worldwide. This is just the start of the good press and attention recognizing the growing acclaim of Jaco Beach.

Jaco's New Roads Draw National Attention
Costa Rica’s president Oscar Arias was in Jaco Beach September 22 to inaugurate the newly paved road that connects the South end of town to the bustling center.

Mayor Marvin Elizondo has been instrumental in accomplishing tasks such as this, helping the municipality of Garabito raise in ranking to fourth of 87 local governments in administrative effectiveness. The Beach Times reported that “A Comptroller General’s auditing report measuring the efficiency of local governments has lauded coastal municipalities Garabito… Garabito is the big winner among coastal municipalities, ranking fourth in administrative effectiveness."

Beach Cleaning Machines Operating Daily
After a highly publicized inauguration event attended by Carlos Benavides, Costa Rica's Minister of Tourism, the beach cleaning machines have made their debut in Jaco. In a joint effort by the Jaco Municipality and Chamber of Commerce, the machines are set to operate on a daily basis, cleaning small stones, litter and drift wood from the sand through a dig and sift process. These are the first machines of their kind operating in Central America, and we are excited to set the precedent for beach maintenance.

Condominium Boom Turns Upwardly Mobile

Peter Krupa - August 24, 2007

They say these days that the construction crane is China's national bird. But by all appearances, that exotic species is migratory, and at the moment it is making a stop in the central Pacific beach town of Jacó. Just glancing out her office window in the center of town, Catherine Fitton, owner of Jacó Beach Premier Realty, said she couldcount six of thegangly beasts, lifting and swiveling and dropping to build the hottest thing going at the moment: high-rise condominium towers. Of course, in Jacó least 17 high-rise condo projects are either completed, under construction or in the planning stages in and around Jacó. The Sonesta Jacó Resort project, for one, is
only just beginning the foundations on the first phase of what will be a $70 million, six-building, 13-story development. Yet it has already sold 140 of the 196 first-phase condos, priced between $215,000 and $1.2 million.

That phase should be completed in late 2008, said project manager Joshua Ten Brink, and the second phase is set to begin early next year.

Several real estate agents said the boom owes itself mostly to middle-aged,
upper middle-class buyers from the UnitedStates and Canada who have discovered Costa Rica and are buying vacation and investment condos here."I feel like we're getting to the point where the masses are starting to
become interested and know about Costa Rica," said David Karr, an agent with Century 21 Jacó Beach (643-3356,www.century21jacobeach.com). "It seems like in the past it was a hidden secret and more of a niche." Although a few large projects can be found outside Jacó - for example, the planned 12-story twin condominium towers on
Playa Hermosa, five kilometers to the south, that will be Diamond Beach
Resort if the developers manage to secure permits (TT, Feb.23) - most of the high-rise development is concentrated in the former sleepy surfer village.

The boom has some people in Jacó concerned about the town's infrastructure. "I think that we should be concerned," Fitton said. "The . local government and the central government need to be working hand in hand with the development so we don't see an overbuilding." Fisher noted that area developers have high confidence that the Central Pacific Chamber of Commerce and the new mayor of the canton of Garabito, Marvin Elizondo, will work together well to address the problems that are sure to crop up as the town gets more crowded.

He said that within the next 10 years he expects the area to look like Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, a tourist destination known for its beaches and luxury hotels. Fitton agreed, saying she thinks Jacó will soon be considered a "very nice small city, rather than the surfer village of the past."

Other Developments
High-rises may be sprouting like weeds in Jacó, but the wide-open surrounding area calls for a different kind of living arrangement. Projects involving villas, townhouses and even whole family homes in gated communities have sprung up all along the central Pacific coast.

One big one - with permits in place and earthmovers warming up - is the St.
Regis Resort, which will be a 250-acre complex with 49 condos, 42 villas and nine estate homes. Announced in 2006,the project was supposed to be opened by 2008, but
that date has been pushed back to the first quarter of 2009. A spokeswoman at Grupo Genesis, the group financing the project, said construction would start in September.

Another big project along that coast is Cabo Caletas in Esterillos, a 15-minute drive
south of Jacó. The golf course development will feature a combination of four-story condos and course-side homes. Managing partner Aaron Dowd said the entire project, once built, will have more than 1,000 condo units and costinvestors about $400 million. Cabo Caletas has yet to get the final signoff from the National Technical
Secretariat of the Environment Ministry(SETENA), and Dowd said it continues to negotiate with five-star hotel groups, "looking for a luxury brand to add to the product."

Still, Dowd said he expects to break ground on the first phase of the project next year. It will take 10 years to complete. Many other projects too numerous to mention are under way in the area to bring medium- and small-scale condo and gated community developments to the area between Jacó and Quepos.

C.R. Beach Investment Real Estate's Fisher said for foreigners coming to
live in Costa Rica (as opposed to just investing), he often recommends they buy into the individual homes going up in gated communities in the area.

Market News

The Beach Times
Foreign Investment in Local Property Trebles

By Leland Baxter-Neal
Central Bank Points To First Quarter in Puntarenas and Guanacaste

Foreign investment in Costa Rica's real estate industry has nearly tripled in the past 12 months, according to Costa Rica's Central Bank. By the bank's estimate, mostly US investors and homebuyers bought at least $192 million worth of property in the first three months of this year, largely in the provinces of Guanacaste and Puntarenas. That compares to $70 million during the same period in 2006. The estimate excludes purchases of hotels, tourism businesses and deals worth less land has, in some cases, "gone triple."

Mr Nunez chalks up the jump in prices to the arrival of major name brand projects in the region, such as the Westin Hotels and Resorts and the Mandarin-Oriental.

Some 20 high-end hotels are currently being planned or built for Guanacaste's northern coast, which would add hundreds of rooms to the area's offerings and represent hundreds of millions of dollars in investment.

Mario Solano, an economist with the Central Bank who worked on the property investment estimate, said that, though tourism investment figures for 2007 are not yet available, it nearly tripled between 2005 and 2006. He expects this year's growth to be "a little more than that," which is a factor pushing real estate investment.
"We see a relationship between the two. The Hyatt comes out promoting people to come stay at its hotel, and a lot of people are going to be interested in buying property in that area."

That is precisely what has real estate agents in the Central Pacific, particularly around Jacó, excited. Last year, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide announced they would be building a St Regis Resort with residential elements in the Central Pacific with Costa Rican development firm Genesis. In addition to 133 luxury hotel rooms, the project includes 49 "condominium-hotel residences," 42 "whole-ownership condos" and nine estate homes.

In Esterillos, just south of Jacó, two golf courses and attached residential communities – Cabo Caletas and Del Pacífico – are under construction. In Jacó, an estimated 2000 condos are at different stages of development, from un-permitted plans to near-completion. "What's happened is the Central Pacific has really now started to move in a forward direction, with growth and bigger name projects with branding," said Scott Williams, a real estate agent with 2 Costa Rica Realty. "Those things were before exclusively Guanacaste." Tim Kopatich, with Crystal Clear Realty, said that 1800-square-foot homes that his company is selling in Bejuco, south of Esterillos, have gone from $135,000 last year to $275,000 today. In general, however, he says prices in and around Jacó have increased about 35 to 40 percent over the last year.

Jeff Fisher, of CR Beach Investment Real Estate, says prices in Jacó, Herradura and Playa Hermosa are up, and sometimes way up. "They're asking $1000 to $1400 per square meter, while a year ago they were asking $600 to $1000," he said.

Most dramatic, however, has been the increase in rent for commercial space along Jacó's main boulevard, Avenida Pastor Díaz, Mr Fisher said, where rent has gone from $300 per square meter to $1000.

Mr Fisher said his buyers "are overwhelmingly buying condos, but a lot of my sales are also gated-community, single-family homes five blocksfrom the beach for $215,000.

Cut to the chase, learn all about Costa Rica real estate HERE

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