Costa Rica Message from Management Oct 2009

 The last couple of months have been very busy in Costa Rica, Sol Property Group and The Village of San Buenas. I’ll highlight a few events that were very memorable.

August
Back in August I spent a day with Rodrigo Arias (Costa Rican Secretary of State), Jorge Eduardo Sanchez (Deputado or “Senator”), Rosibel Madrigal (Mayor of San Isidro) and Hanz Cruz (Deputy Mayor of San Isidro). I spent the day taking photos, attending a private lunch with 50 business owners and executives from some of the country’s largest banks and largest companies. The event was to announce government loans for farmers of mora, coffee and sugar cane in the area.

Later a group of us jumped into a handful of cars, including the security detail, and drove to several new bridges for “ribbon-cutting” events. At each bridge Secretary of State Arias and Rosibel each made a small speech. Click here to see photos of this event. It was a great day and culminated in a BBQ at Tres Jotas new meat processing plant in San Isidro. It was the best ‘carne’ (meat) I’ve had in Costa Rica. 

September
We had a honeymooning couple from the United States spend a week in/around The Village of San Buenas. They had never left the United States before so I was

 hoping they would enjoy Costa Rica as much as I did. I needn’t worry. They had a blast! They enjoyed whale watching (they saw three), eating at various

restaurants and watching (and hearing the howler monkeys!) all of the beauty the zone has to offer. They are already planning their next visit in 2011.

I drove on the highway from Dominical to Quepos—wow! What a difference! They are close to finishing the entire stretch with approximately 2 miles to finish paving and the installation of two bridges. I believe they will easily hit their December 31, 2009 target date. What used to take up to two hours is now an enjoyable, easy 45 minute drive. When completed it will be around 35 minutes.

October
I still believe that Costa Rica’s rainy season (September – October) is one of the most overrated ‘non-event’ in Costa Rica. Generally speaking the mornings are very beautiful with 5:30 am sunrises and the afternoon showers start around 2:30 pm. It is the coolest time of year to visit and the number of tourists is very low as well. Don’t overlook visiting next October. I think you will be pleastantly surprised.

Village of San Buenas
Demand for the Village of San Buenas continues to increase. The last 90 days have been very busy with numerous lot sales and with water and electricity now available in certain areas of the project we have seen an increase in demand. We are planning on raising prices December 1, 2009. If you have every thought about visiting The Village of San Buenas, in the South Pacific region of Costa Rica, or if you have every thought of owning Costa Rica real estate now is a great time to act.

• We have updated our masterplan to give a better representation of the beautiful development. Check it out here.
• We have added a link to over 300 photos in Flickr. Check out the photos here – don’t forget to click on the Flickr logo to see them all.
• We have installed the first set of electrical poles and 1,000 meters of electricity lines on “main street”. Now in the evening you can see the development lit up by the street lights. Given all of the new laws and regulations regarding developments, this is a great feeling to get accomplished. Click here for more photos
• We have planted over 300 new plants, flowers and shrubs.
• We have a professional agronomist making weekly visits to oversee the planting and re-seeding of the development.

Costa Rica
Costa Rica continues to make tremendous progress in terms of infrastructure improvements.

• There is continued dialog regarding the new international airport in the Southern zone. I believe it is still five years away from becoming a reality, but I will send an update immediately if anything changes.
• The government will begin construction on a large hydro-electric project starting in the next twelve months that will generate 608 Megawatts of electricity – enough to power over 480,000 homes. In a country of 4.3 million people (not homes) this is a huge project and is projected to become operational in 2016. This project is located approximately 10 miles from your project.
• The road from Dominical to Quepos is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2009. I drove on it on September 20th and it was amazing. What used to take between 90 – 120 minutes only took 45 minutes. When the final four miles are completed and the last two bridges are replaced it should take approximately 35 minutes. This will completely open up the Southern zone of Costa Rica. I feel that it will increase demand of this region of the country. Up to this point most visitors rarely made it south of Quepos.
• The highway between San Jose and Jaco is scheduled for completion in fall 2010.
• The airport in Liberia (Guanacaste) is getting a $35 million facelift.
• San Jose International Airport (SJO) is now being managed by an investment group out of Houston. It is currently under an expansion plan.

Sol Property Group
We have added Twitter and YouTube channels and updates. Please be sure to follow us there for the most current updates, photos and videos. We also continue to blog several times a week on the official Sol Property Group Blog.

If you ever thought about visiting Costa Rica or buying real estate in Costa Rica now is a great time. We have lots starting at $19,900, condos starting at $75,000 and houses starting at $89,900. Now is the time to act. Also, The Village of San Buenas is going to be raising prices December 1 – lock in your savings today!

Sincerely,
Nick Halverson