For
Spanish
Dreamers
and Doers
by
John Fleming
My
old real estate teacher, Irv Israel, used to say, "Follow the lines--roads,
water, electricity, telephone, sewers." That's how you know what development's
really going to happen and where.
During
my years in Puerto Peņasco, I've met many dream vendors. These folks have, and
can show you, elaborate plans--whole cities mapped out, complete with marinas,
golf courses, club houses, hotels, condos, whatever anyone could desire.The
passions are passed, along with the glossy brochures, from the excited agents
to their excitable clients.
Sometimes
these dreams roll into reality, but more often they are washed away into the
Sea of Cortez. Unfortunately some undercapitalized developers create the cash
for their dreams by selling the dreams too soon, taking deposits from buyers
before they have their paperwork completed or their infrastructure in place.
Dreams
are essential, but doers go beyond their dreams. Reality doesn't lie in maps,
charts, posters, and brochures. It isn't architects' drawings or scale models.
Reality is roads, water pipes, electric lines, and fiberoptic cables.
And
it's happening in Puerto Peņasco. The Mayan Palace Hotel at the La Pinta Estuary
is going up without fanfare, and is now about 3 or 4 floors high. There's an
electric transformer station near the highway and electric lines out to the
project. A road from the Caborca Highway to the beach is in progress. Water
is coming from 3 wells in the nearby mountains to the north. The hotel is only
the beginning of what will be the biggest project yet for Grupo Vidafel, a Mexican
corporation that has successful mega-developments in beachfront sites throughout
Mexico.
Laguna
del Mar is another mega-development, a gated community of 3,262 acres. It is
a project of Alliant Energy, an American corporation, one of the largest private
utility companies in the world. Here the road is paved almost all the way to
the beach. A million-gallon water reserve cistern is in place. 15" water
pipes will bring water from 15 miles north.
A generating plant has been built. Electrical and fiberoptic telephone
lines are installed along the roadway. Much of the terrain is cleared and ready
for construction of golf courses, homes, and hotels. At present there is no
equipment in use, no work being done, but the sleeping giant
waits.
Two
condo developments, the Princesa de Peņasco and the Sonoran Spa Resort, have
been built on Sandy Beach. The Princesa was completed quickly and is now almost
entirely sold out, and the Sonoran Spa is over the halfway mark on sales even
though it isn't finished yet. Costa Diamante and Casablanca Golf Villas are
selling upscale building lots just next to these developments, and a number
of homes have been built or started. The first hole of an 18-hole golf course
is in place already.
The
Princesa and the Sonoran Spa have gone up so rapidly and sold so well that I
would be surprised if their owners didn't duplicate their successes in the same
area. There are 4,600 acres of land behind them still available for development.
(See Sandy Beach Master Plan)
A
brand-new paved road leads from the highway outside of town to these projects.
It will eventually be paved all the way to Cholla Bay. In Cholla Bay itself
new upscale homes are gradually replacing the weekend fishing bungalows that
have been there for years. Telephone and power lines are in, and lots are selling
and appreciating briskly.
There
are other, smaller subdivisions being built in various sites all over the city.
Some are finished; some are still under construction. Recently the Mayor's office
issued a list of those that are in compliance with all the necessary laws and
regulations or have started the process,
as well as a list of those that are not. This is part of an ongoing effort to
regulate real estate and development in the city and make investment in Puerto
Peņasco safer.
We
need dreamers, but the dreams need to be grounded in reality, with roads and
water and wire.
