We have several homes available for rent, but Casa Lapas is our largest and has ocean view lots. It’s beauty and views has enticed us to host weddings, parties and events here.
The private outdoor shower has incredible views of the Pacific Ocean, Cano Island and the mountains with their ever changing clounds and shadows.
The deck provides private sun bathing for our guests at Casa Lapas
Casa Lapas is completely private and has its own swimming pool, outdoor Jacuzzi, deck and outdoor shower.
Las Villas de San Buenas has two quebradas that cut through the development. Since all waterways in Costa Rica are open to the public any of our residents are free to enter into them from their lot or from the bridge that crosses it.
The first obvious question, is “What is a quebrada?”
Answer: A quebrada is a creek
I’ll be posting more photos in the next couple of days from my walk but I thought you would all enjoy this one. Atlas held the world on his shoulders – this tree is heavy enough. 🙂
The quebradas have some amazing wildlife and plant life. If you want a perfect blend of Costa Rica nature and easy access to civilized life, please be sure to consider Las Villas de San Buenas
We recently began construction on the next home in Las Villas de San Buenas. This home will be 1,313 sq ft and have a good size swimming pool in the backyard. We broke ground on May 28, 2012, and hope to have it completed in eight months – just in time for New Year’s Eve 2013. Please check back regularly to see the progress.
2012 New International Airport in Southern Osa Costa Rica
Recently there has been a lot of talk about the new international airport in the southern zone of Costa Rica. This has been going on since I first visited in March 2005 when the broker we used to purchase what is now Osa Mountain Village alluded to a new airport. It is one of the most talked about issues when dealing with prospective real estate clients. As a rule, I don’t bring up the airport unless a client specifically asks about it. I believe that the Osa region is absolutely gorgeous and amazing the way it currently is (beaches, wildlife, ziplines, etc) – any purchasing or not because of an airport doesn’t understand what Osa is about. Having said that, if the new airport is approved, and when the “Golden Shovel” ceremony takes place to break ground, I would guess prices for land will go up at least 20% overnight. This will be a real ‘game-changer’ in terms of development in Osa.
Here’s an update from Costa Rica’s business newspaper, El Financiero, translation by Google. It states that ICAO (Government Aviation Agency) will be accepting bids on a final environmental impact study in April 2012 for the $60 million project. The studies are to be completed by the end of this year. Once that is completed it will be a “Go or no-go” decision. The great news is that all of us will know within nine months what will happen in regards to the airport.
The runway being proposed in Southern
Costa Rica will be able to accommodate
an Airbus 320 with approximately
150 passengers.
The runway will be large enough to land an Airbus A320 which can fly between 1,700-6,500 nautical miles, depending on the model and carry approximately 150 passengers. With that range, most cities from North America (Miami, Atlanta, Los Angeles) will be able to fly direct to the new proposed airport. This will be a great benefit for those traveling to Osa. Currently travelers must usually take a day on the front end of a trip and a day on the back end of a trip to ensure they are in San Jose on time (3.5 hour drive from Palmar Sur).
I wanted to share with everyone what I’ve heard over the years so you can understand my opinion. Below is a brief, and probably not entire recap, of the rumors and information I’ve heard/gathered through the years:
President Arias signing airport
declaration in 2008 in Palmar Norte
March 2006: Tico Times article announcing the airport
In mid-2008, then-President Oscar Arias announced in a ceremony in Palmar Norte that the airport was moving forward.
After the October 2008 TLC/CAFTA vote took place, and it showed that Osa as whole voted against TLC, it is rumored President Arias (who was in favor the measure that passed) withheld his support of the airport and instead shifted his focus to helping those who helped him get TLC passed. Therefore, he worked to help secure the financing and permits for the Limon port expansion.
July 2009, Panamanian President Martinelli and Costa Rica President Oscar write a press release stating the airport project is back on. Read here
In early 2010, President Arias scrambles to complete major infrastructure projects so he can get credit for them (which was great because projects did indeed get done, including the Costanera Highway paving project. Here’s a video of that soon after it was completed near Dominical)
2010: Rumors begin spreading that the existing Palmar Sur location will be used and the runway lengthened to accommodate larger planes.
In November 2010, Tropical Storm Tomas (see photo) hits Costa Rica causing over $150 million worth of damage in Osa. Funds that were reportedly set aside for infrastructure improvements for the airport are now used to fix the Pan-American and Costanera Highway.
A new airport will obviously bring many changes – some good – some not. The government is keenly aware of the pitfalls of what happened in Guanacaste and, previously, in the Jaco region of development (over development, unenforced laws, etc), and will be working closely to ensure the environment is impacted as minimally as possible.
As with most major infrastructure projects, this project has taken time – more than originally thought – however, I do believe we will see the airport project approved and ground to be broken in the next couple of years. Let’s all see what happens. I’ll keep you updated as I hear anything.
We recently added some new home designs (furniture packages coming soon) that you may be interested in. We have beautiful home designs available for only $75,000 – which means
Without pool available for $75,000… a little more with the pool.
that for less than $100,000 you can have your dream home in Costa Rica + a beautiful mountain view lot. These lots are easily accessible and only 1 mile from the Costanera Highway.
We recently updated the information packet for Las Villas de San Buenas. It now includes a 3D rendering of our next home to be built as well as some new photos of wildlife, toucans and
Toucans talking in Las Villas de San Buenas
fruit that are found in the Osa, Costa Rica project.
Memberships are still available for San Buenas Golf Resort and Ballena Beach Club. Those two are optional add ons for any lot owner in Las Villas de San Buenas.
Owners in Las Villas de San Buenas have the opportunity to be an owner in the Ballena Beach Club. Here is the beach in Ballena National Park that is about 200 meters from Ballena Beach Club in Uvita.
International flights will be coming to the Southern zone. Exact time is unkown.
The project to build an international airport in the southern zone got a boost over the weekend when President Laura Chinchilla declared the concept to be in the public interest.
That technical designation put a high priority on the $35 million project, which will start in 2012 to put in the bare bones of an international airport. Until then there are more studies and surveys.
Significant planning and environmental work already has been done. For example, officials can say with certainty that the land proposed for the airport does not contain any of the famous pre-Columbian stone spheres of other important sites. An archaeological survey already has been completed.
According to plans reviewed Saturday, the airport will have a runway from 2,000 to 2,600 meters, some 6,560 to 8,530 feet. The site already has been selected. It is fincas 9 and 10 in the Valle de Diquis in Sierpe de Osa. Officials also plan on getting two adjacent fincas for eventual expansion.
Finca 9 is the property of the Instituto Nacional de Fomento Cooperativo, a public agency. It contains 233 hectares (about 576 acres). Finca 10 contains 261 hectares (645 acres). This is enough land for the runway, ramps, taxiways, a passenger terminal, parking and space for a fixed base operator to handle private aviation. Also needed will be a fire station, a control tower, navigation and landing systems and space for customs and immigration.
The money for this project will come from the Dirección General de Aviación Civil, the national budget and an allocation the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes received from the International Civil Aviation Organization, officials said.
Ms. Chinchilla said that the airport is important to generate employment and combat poverty. Real estate operators and tourism agencies are solidly in favor of the project.
Ms. Chinchilla made a tour of the southern zone over the weekend and attended a meeting of the Golfito municipal council. There central government officials agreed to help the city with its tourism promotion.
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NOTE: When the project is complete, owners in The Village of San Buenaswill only be 30 minutes from their home. Now is a great time to purchase.
This is the first official update regarding the international airport since former President Oscar Arias discussed it in July 2009.
Recently I spent ten days in Costa Rica working on various projects. It had been six months since I was there last. I thought you would be interested in what I saw.
Southern Costa Rica continues to make favorable changes while retaining its unique
features of beautiful flora and fauna and a friendly relaxed lifestyle. For example, ten years ago there were only muddy agricultural roads in the area. Now there is a beautiful two lane highway with reflectors making driving safe and easy all day and night.
Rather than having virtually no telephone service and no cell phone service (as was the case until December 15, 2009), internet service is becoming commonplace and it is only a short time before the community of San Buenaventura has internet service.
Instead of an outdated medical facility, the Southern zone of Costa Rica now has one of the newest medical facilities in all of Costa Rica. For photos click here.
New hospital 5 minutes from The Village of San Buenas
Rather than providing sporadic electrical power, a new hydroelectric power plant is being built.
And finally, although no specifics have been announces, rumors continue to float that a new international airport will be built in the southern zone/Osa Peninsula sometime in the relative near future.
The Village of San Buenas
Our Costa Rica real estate development continues to be more impressive on each visit. Our family has built a home about in the middle of the development. The news are spectacular! We see the ocean and mountains, see parakeets, toucans, scarlet macaws and hear the flowing river running through the project along with the howler monkeys that live in the nearby natural preserve (located on the project).
Affordable Costa Rica Living
We are making excelling progress in getting more infrastructure in place. Specifically, we have constructed a bridge over the river that flows through the property. Within the next twelve months we will have a well drilled that will take care of many of our lot owners when they choose to build their home.
We are working closely with the government agencies to have electricity available to everyone in the near future. We hope to have internet service available to select areas of the project by June 2011. Telephone service is expected to be available to select regions of the project by December 2010.
All these things mean that the infrastructure should be in place in a large portion of the development before any lot owner decides to build a house.
Obviously the depressed world economy has had a negative impact on the value of many peoples’ houses and holdings in the stock market. It is very pleasing to note that no such decline has occurred on the value of our lots. Indeed, virtually everyone who purchased a lot has seen its value increase. As we continue to upgrade the project we plan to increase prices.
I encourage you to visit our website, www.VillageCostaRica.com, then contact me directly with any questions you may have. We would love to visit with you about beautiful Costa Rica and The Village of San Buenas.
As a final note, buy your airpland ticket and go see our project – I invite you to stay at our house to view the project. You will love what you see and hear!
Ifigenia Quintanilla will shine some light on one of Costa Rica’s oddest mysteries Wednesday.
In the 1940s, hundreds of pre-Columbian stone spheres were discovered throughout the Southern region of Costa Rica and in the north of Panama. The creation of these almost perfectly round spheres and their purpose remains a mystery to archaeologists.
Quintanilla, a Costa Rican archaeologist who has studied the mysterious monoliths for 17 years, will explain what researchers know about these artifacts and what makes them so impressive at 3 p.m. on Wednesday at the Hotel Casa Roland in Rohrmoser, in western San José. The presentation is sponsored by the Costa Rican Association of Tourism Professionals (Acoprot).
“We have known about the existence of the spheres for many years,” said Patricia Duar, executive director of Acoprot. “But very few of us really know why they are there or their meaning.”
Quintanilla is one of the most knowledgeable experts on these stones. She’s researched for them for two decades and even wrote a book on the mystery called “Esferas Precolombinas de Costa Rica” (Pre-Columbian spheres of Costa Rica ).
The spheres can be as small several centimeters in diameter to massive 15-ton boulders. But all of them have an uncanny spherical shape. Some of the spheres have symbols sculpted on them.
Brent W. "tries" to push an ancient sphere in Palmar Sur's Central Park
In March, Costa Rica presented a bid to have the spheres included by th e United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on the list of World Heritage sites. Cultural or natural sites or monuments can make the list if UNESCO deems them to have “outstanding universal value,” according to the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (TT, March 15 ).
To reserve a seat at the conference send an e-mail to Mónica Monge at[email protected]or call Acoprot at 2280-5375. Admission is free.
What: Ifigenia Quintanilla on the Mystery of Costa Rica’s pre-Colombian stone spheres Where: Hotel Casa Roland, Rohmoser When: 3 p.m. Cost: Free
NOTE from Nick Halverson
Nick H. at Osa Municipality Building
These spheres are found throughout the entire southern pacific region of Costa Rica – especially in Palmar Sur. Palmar Sur’s “Central Park” has approximately 30 of the spheres – all at least one meter in diameter. It is not unusual to see these spheres in front of homes and restaurants in Uvita, Ojochal, San Isidro del General and Palmar Sur/Palmar Norte.
The closest spheres to residents of The Village of San Buenas is at the municipality building in Cortez. Simply take a right at the fork in the road at the hospital turn off. Go straight approximately 2 km and the Osa Municipality building will be on your right.
experience of our owners and guests here.
