OMG, this is like...just absolutely insane. Skyscrapers??? And all of these yachts jetting around. Umm, you have to see to believe. This would have been laughable in 2005—but in 2009’s market?? Speechless. I've only watched the first of three videos, but they do have 1000 views in two weeks on that one, which is kinda' scary. (About 7:00 is when the laughs start.)
They should just call this place The Money Pit. Pie-in-the-sky computer animation (the cactus-shaped marina was a nice touch) mixed with photos and videos of exotic resort locales.
I'm all for growth in Penasco, but the thought of another giant project like this that will probably never get completed and leaves US investors with a bad taste in their mouth will just be another adversity for those trying to sell legit properties in the future. And another eyesore on the horizon.
Btw, was San Jorge going to be one of those ports that Mexico announced recently that was not going to be completed after all?
OK, just watched parts 2 and 3. Classic. Massive golf courses...OH, and the cactus-shaped extension into the ocean is for HOMES. A broken semi-circle strip of land surrounds the cactus with more homes. Yeah, that'll happen. All they need is flying cars, jet packs and a monorail.
Apparently not everyone shares your pessimism. Where are all the baby boomers going to find a place to retire? Rockford Illinois? Miami? San Diego? Lots of doomsayers, I say any place within driving distance to a major US metropolitan city that has a beach with reasonable prices might be a hit?
Sea--No, get it out in the open! It's good for everyone to be aware of what's getting pitched out there. Reminds me of that Trump fiasco that went down on the west coast of Baja.
Worst case scenario would be if the company builds that awful cactus and wave-breaking strips of land in the ocean and then files for bankruptcy. Would sit there and rust for years to come.
Ernesto-- What I'm saying is, as you well know, Penasco already has several half-finished projects that are just sitting (on Sandy Beach alone!) w/ no construction going on, not to mention the projects that are finished but can't get buyers. AND, then you have all of those condos for sale now at 1/3 of their purchase price. Just saying, Penasco isn't exactly a town that needs to be building on new land at this point.
Not even going to get into the projects that went bankrupt; there are others on the board that are more versed in that aspect of Penasco's real estate crash.
Don’t get me wrong, I still want my jetpack and monorail, just don’t think it’s a realistic project for folks to be throwing money at in 2009.
Sea--No, get it out in the open! It's good for everyone to be aware of what's getting pitched out there. Reminds me of that Trump fiasco that went down on the west coast of Baja.
Worst case scenario would be if the company builds that awful cactus and wave-breaking strips of land in the ocean and then files for bankruptcy. Would sit there and rust for years to come.
I agree... it looks like a dream world... but the video I watched was in spanish... is this being pitched to a mainly Mexican audience?
Ho-hum. Somebody's been smoking too much of that whacky tobacky now that it's not illegal anymore.
20 years ago, I was given the "sales pitch" on buying a lot at San Jorge while fishing there. Inside the trailer, there was a grandiose poster on the wall, artist conception's of beautiful homes, a full-scale marina, luxury golf course, etc., etc. All of that could have been mine for a mere $16,000 at the time. Much to the chagrin of the salesman, I declined that wonderful offer.
And today, the beach at San Jorge looks pretty much like it did 20 years ago.
I always questioned how they would build a marina there. When the tide goes out in San Jorge, it goes waaaaaay the hell out! There is nothing but miles of sand flats there and the water, even when the tide is in, is not but a few feet deep for quite a distance.
I've had some interesting experiences fishing out of there on pangas. One morning, it took to nearly noon to get launched. They used a jeep to tow the panga out across the sand flats and the trailer ended up getting stuck in a small channel in the flats. Even after getting to some water deep enough to actually float the panga off the trailer, most of the trip out to the island was in water less than a few feet deep. You could practically walk out to the island from San Jorge on a very low tide.
So, to even consider building a marina, they would have to dredge miles of sand in order to build a channel deep enough for a decent size boat to even get close to San Jorge. Let alone all the dredging they would have to do to build the marina itself in order to keep the boats from sitting on the sand at low tide.
Shouldn't this thread be in the Real Estate section? I got stuck out there too with my 4X4 at the direction of my Mexican buddy. I was offered a fantastic deal out there too. Even if they dredged channels the upkeep would be horrific.
"It's all about the dream, I suppose."
We have some old plans from the late 60's,early 70's that show a marina and several proposed hotels around the estuary in Las Conchas. Dreams...Yes.Life is made of them!
Thanks Stuart for bringing back memories!
And, Happy 'Late" Birthday!
I've been hanging around Rocky Point for a few years Seadweller. I don't believe we ever met underwater. My avatar on San Carlos' Forum, Poker Stars, and eBay is the same.
Shouldn't this thread be in the Real Estate section? I got stuck out there too with my 4X4 at the direction of my Mexican buddy. I was offered a fantastic deal out there too. Even if they dredged channels the upkeep would be horrific.
Hey that almost looks my truck when I went out on the sand at San Jorge with my new truck....but I don't feel as bad...I didn't have 4WD.....I rode out on the hard crusted over sand....until I started breaking thru...and buried up to my axles before I could get back!!! A local living by the condos with his family (caretaker???) with his 4WD pulled me out...and he didn't even want any money (but he got some any way!!!).
Not sure who these guys are but they do mention in the video "Fonatur" which is the Gvt group responsible for Cancun, so who knows maybe they will follow the US lead in spending money where they shouldn't? This is a non-political comment by the way, just an observation
I'm more and more bullish on this wonderful project but I think it needs a few changes.For example instead of the cactus shaped off-shore sub-division/marina I think it should be a pyramid shape with a Mayan style ball court instead of stupid golf: http://www.mysteriousplaces.com/mayan/BallCourt.html
Mexicoruss I don't think there is anything wrong with giant public works projects.Instead of the 3 trillion dollar Iraq failed adventure or Bush's bank bailout(continued by that Kenyan usurper) we could have rebuilt the electric grid and filled the great plains with wind generators.The mayans would have figured out a way to use them for human sacrifice as a perk if they still ran this continent .
This project is being launch for the mexican government and of course some big names in the turism industry, the thing is that Cancun, one of the best targets for tourism in Mexico has stopped being attractive to all those companies due the Hurricans, they haven being spending some thousand millons trying to recover the place but they cant, also the other upscale site is Cabo San Lucas o Los Cabos which suffer the same situation that Cancun making the investment very risky, on november the 3rd the mexican president just inaugurate the itnernational airport of Penasco, Coincidence? So this place can be the best place to set a new paradaise with out the thread of Hurricanes and very convinient for the USA market
Interesting take, Gotzuky, but two words: overly ambitious. Two more words: environmental impact. If I understand where this new mega-kingdom is to be developed, it is within the Biosphere Reserve. Being that CEDO was able to stop development of the new marina in Rocky Point because of the environmental impact on a reef and estuary, I'd be interested to see how the Highlands plans to gain environmental approval for such a large scale project - to actually carve out and create islands.
Then again, it's Mexico. Money, especially very large sums, speaks very loudly. The environmental impact may be conveniently overlooked.
By the way, Puerto Penasco is NOT immune to hurricanes, they've just been lucky. Given the extreme tide change, even a minor hurricane could cause significant damage with the added storm surge on a high tide. Take a look at what happened in San Carlos/Guaymas earlier this year - 22" of rain in a day severely crippled both cities and that was after the hurricane had blown itself out and was just a tropical storm. Can you imagine what 22" inches of rain in a day would do to Penasco, which generally gets less than 6" of rain a year?
And finally, I've said this a million times. Why do people constantly compare Puerto Penasco to Cabo or Cacun? The only thing they have in common is that they are cities in Mexico, like Detroit and Cleveland in the US. Cancun is tropical and can be a year round destination. Cabo is the tip of Baja and has a rugged natural beauty and great fishing. Penasco is truly the Sonoran Desert. All the advertising in the world is not going to make Penasco an "international destination" during the summer months. The heat and humidity are brutal.
Anyway, so much for the dream. I doubt I'll see it in my lifetime.
Not to try and compare PP to Cabo and Cancun but it gets pretty darn hot and humid in Cabo and Cancun in the summer as well.:coldone:
Amen to that!
As for Fonatur/the Government's supposed involvement in this "overly ambitious" project (I agree, Stuart), well Fonatur ain't what it used to be. And with the Secretariat of Tourism (SECTUR) being folded into the Secretariat of the Economy and Fonatur being downsized, I wouldn't mayonnaise my bread while I wait for the tomatoes to ripen (as a friend from South Carolina used to say).
In the three years that President Calderon has been in office he has been revamping Mexico's governmental structure, and among those changes has been a downsizing of FONATUR. The Nautical Ladder has been pronounced dead, more or less, and many of FONATUR's assets are up for sale. SECTUR, now headed up by Rodolfo Elizondo Torres (perhaps responding to directives from Calderon?), lost no time in arranging to clean up what it considered FONATUR's excess. But now SECTUR itself is facing a big change and no one is sure what will come of it. http://rptides.blogspot.com/2009/10/mexicos-secretariat-of-tourism-going.html
So, Gotzuky, I wouldn't place too much importance on the involvement of the government in that project. And frankly it looks like an environmental nightmare to me.
Maybe I spoke too soon about Fonatur downsizing, lol. Here's an AP story about a new project south of Brownsville, TX. I'd post the story, but the AP is seriously touchy about reprinting their stuff without permission, so here's a link to it.
WOW with Dubai going in the tank all those investors who liked it there are sure to be attracted by this fab developmet, what with the Dubai knock-off look. I'm making my reservations today for several of the beach front lots and also the large commercial center. Jerry, lets partner and buy up the commercial land. You've got the dough from the procedes of those 5 sacks of high end concrete you sold last month.
