NEW INFORMATION RE FONATUR DEVELOPMENT-PUNTA RAZA, PLAYA TORTUGA, NEW HIGHWAYS AND MORE!!
Posted in: Puerto Vallarta Real Estate News
By Playa Las Tortugas Realty
Jan 9, 2008 - 10:55:10 AM

The “Tourism Corridor” Plan

A long-term “Tourism Corridor” program for Puerto Vallarta and the State of Nayarit, Mexico has been developed and is being instituted through the joint efforts of local, state, and federal government agencies.

The plan focuses on transforming the coast of Nayarit north of Puerto Vallarta up to San Blas into a sustainable tourism destination, now branded as the “Riviera Nayarit”.

The parts of Nayarit included in the plan are the municipalities of Bahia de Banderas (Bay of Banderas), Compostela, and San Blas. The total area considered by the plan in Nayarit is approximately 118,000 hectares or 303,000 acres.
 
Mexico’s national department for tourism development, FONATUR, the agency responsible for spear-heading development of Los Cabos, Cancún, Loreto, Huatulco and Ixtapa, is providing considerable support to help insure success of the “Tourism Corridor” plan.

Note that the versions of illustrations of the tourism corridor plan shown here are from 2002, and you will see that many of the projects forecasted have already been started, and even finished. As of December 2007 there are probably over a dozen 30-floor buildings either under construction or planned for the Puerto Vallarta and Nuevo Vallarta areas, the marina at La Cruz de Huanacaxtle is essentially complete, the “Four Seasons” complex on Punta de Mita is well-developed, and the new resort area at Litibu is in advanced stages of construction.

Playa Las Tortugas, “Riviera Nayarit”

Playa Las Tortugas”, in its setting of 4 kilometers of coconut palm groves, is found in the heart of the rapidly growing “Riviera Nayarit”.  A significant level of new development is occurring within the “Tourism Corridor” area, and projects are being announced at an ever increasing pace. Click on the image below to see project locations.

Over the next 5 to 7 years there will be two very important tourism markets looking to enjoy the beaches of Nayarit.

While millions of “baby boomers” from northern climates are searching for their spot on the warm, sunny coasts of Mexico, there is also a burgeoning middle and upper-middle class in Mexico flexing their buying-power via increasingly competitive mortgage loans and interest rates.

The “Tourism Corridor” Overall Plan Strategy

Major Components of the “Tourism Corridor” Plan

The “Tourism Corridor” plan initially employs Puerto Vallarta, a traditional beach vacation center (CTP) with its international airport, to “jump-start” development of the first “Integral Tourism Projects” (PTI’s).

There are six initial PTI’s that comprise the most important areas to be developed, numbered as “PTI-1” through “PTI-6”. Two of the PTI’s (1 and 6) are made up of multiple locations.

Integral Tourism Project (PTI) 1
“PTI-1” includes Puerto Vallarta, Nuevo Vallarta and Flamingos Vallarta projects, already well-advanced, and the expansion of the Puerto Vallarta International (PVR) Airport.

The airport expansion has been in process for several years. First a raised section of highway was installed to provide room below for better access, then a new departures check-in section was added to the terminal, and now a new set of gates and jetways are practically completed. The plan also calls for addition of another runway.

Integral Tourism Projects (PTI) 2 and 3
“PTI-2” is found on the north shore of Banderas Bay between Bucerias and Punta Mita (well-advanced including the new marina) and “PTI-3” is Punta de Mita, also well advanced with its world-class “Four Seasons” resort.

Integral Tourism Project (PTI) 4
The “PTI-4” includes an area just 18 kilometers south of “Playa Las Tortugas” known as “Boca Chila”. Numerous parcels of land have already been purchased by investors in the Boca Chila area and consolidated so that a development of significant size can be carried out. Adjacent to “Boca Chila” is Chacala and the “Marina Chacala” project where ocean front and ocean view lots have been developed and several homes from $1,800,000 to $2,500,000 USD are currently under construction.

Integral Tourism Project (PTI) 5
“PTI-5” is the “Lima de Abajo - Puerta de la Lima” area, north of Guayabitos/La Penita and south of Las Varas. This PTI includes Punta Naranjo, Boca el Naranjo, and Playa el Naranjo. A considerable amount of beachfront property has already been privatized and consolidated in anticipation of beginning development in “PTI-5”.

The road from Highway 200 has been paved down into the development area, and a new high-speed federal highway is approved (and the first section funded) to be constructed to access Nayarit beaches in this immediate area. The new highway connection to Puerta de la Lima will originate from the four-lane international highway near Jala (Jala is between Tepic and Guadalajara on the four-lane toll road) and terminate at Highway 200 near Puerta de la Lima.

This new highway will make for easy beach access from large metropolitan areas such as Guadalajara (more than 4 million population), Aguascalientes (more than 750,000 inhabitants), Leon (Leon-Silao more than 3 million residents) and other important inland cities, opening Nayarit beaches to Mexico’s growing middle and upper-middle classes. You can see the approximate highway location in the above plan, departing from Puerta de la Lima and headed right (east) just underneath the “SSR” label, as well as below. The illustration below originated from a file generated by the Secretary of Communications and Transport.

Integral Tourism Project (PTI) 6 Litibu/Punta Raza/Plataniots
“PTI-6” includes Litibu (well-advanced), Punta Raza (just beginning and to include world-class five-star hotels, marina & golf), an area north of Platanitos which is still in planning stages with some properties destined, and Jolotemba where there is a development project underway.

Integrally Planned Center (CIP) Chila/Naranjo/Las Varas

Above is another view of a portion of the proposed “Riviera Nayarit” tourism corridor plan, with Playa Las Tortugas seen at the upper side, that includes the PTI’s 4, 5, and 6 (Punta Raza). The dashed line encloses the “CIP” (Integrally Planned Center) and indicates an area of proposed major development, with three specific subareas denoted by “PTI-4”, “PTI-5” and “PTI-6” circles, and the town of Las Varas in a circle “SSR” (Subregional Services) as a center for employee housing and employee or tourism services.

Development is generally arriving from the south towards the north, or from bottom to top of the proposed plan. Currently under development are “Marina Chacala” and “Punta Raza”, as well as “Playa Las Tortugas”.

The plan provides for protection of the turtle-nesting habitat on beaches between Platanitos (Playa Las Tortugas) and Chacala, as well as protection of the estuary bordering Playa Las Tortugas as a “protected natural area”.

Note that the long-term plan also provides for an airport between Zacualpan and the coast, about 8 kilometers (about 5 miles) south of Playa Las Tortugas. There is an existing paved 1000 meter runway between La Penita and Lima de Abajo which is proposed to be extended to 1500 meters, in order to service a variety of private craft and smaller jets with capacities possibly up to 40 passengers. It is assumed that this runway will be expanded in time to help service the new Punta Raza development.

New Development at “Punta Raza”

A new development was announced this November at “Punta Raza” between Monteon and Los Ayala, just south of Guayabitos.

“Punta Raza” is located on the beach, 58 kilometers (36 miles) north of the Puerto Vallarta (PVR) International Airport and only 52 kilometers (32 miles) south of Playa Las Tortugas.

The developer is “C&C Capital” which is a consortium of successful Mexican companies dedicated to development of luxury tourism projects. They announced the “Punta Raza” project on November 7th, 2007 having acquired the land in November of 2006.

The first phase of development in “Punta Raza” contemplates installation of the roads and accesses, and also construction of two hotels which are the Gran Hyatt and Park Hyatt, a golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr., and some residences. “C & C” is projecting that the two hotels and golf course will be ready for occupancy by December 2008, though possibly more realistically it will be during 2009.

Ultimately the project will have up to 6 luxury hotels, 950 residences, the golf course, and a 250-slip marina. The residential prices are expected to range from $500,000 to $2,000,000 USD. Carlos Brockmann, vice president of “C & C” says that now it is almost impossible to put together tracts of land this large [in the area].

This means we’ll see world-class golf within an hour of PLT probably in less than 2 years, and maybe in only 18 months. The new “Punta Raza” project, along with others in the quickly developing “Riviera Nayarit” will help make an investment at PLT more attractive financially.

Another positive result of the “Punta Raza” project is that the proposed alternate route from Puerto Vallarta to Monteon is now projected to be completed prior to the end of 2010. This alternate route will likely cut travel time from the PV airport bat least 20 minutes or more. The projected route leaves the four-lane north of the airport just before the Flamingo’s golf course and intersects the two-lane highway just south of Monteon, some 5-minutes south of Guayabitos.

Proposed Alternate Route from Puerto Vallarta to “Punta Raza”

The executive project (surveying and planning) is under way for a new highway which is proposed to run from near the Flamingos golf club outside of Puerto Vallarta to Highway 200 near “Punta Raza”. This highway will help save driving time to Playa Las Tortugas, by making a more direct route and avoiding coastal traffic bound for Punta Mita, Sayulita, San Pancho, and other points prior to Monteon. The developers of “Punta Raza” are helping to move the project forward, and estimate it will be completed by 2010.

Highway Projects Proposed or In-Process

A number of highway projects are proposed or in-process for the greater Puerto Vallarta - Riviera Nayarit area. Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit would both like to encourage more tourism from Guadalajara and Leon, where over 7 million live. Also, most retail and wholesale products come to Puerto Vallarta and Riviera Nayarit either via Guadalajara or down the coast from the north. The international highway from Nogales to Guadalajara is now practically 100% four-lane highway, with just a small stretch between Mazatlan and Tepic in the final stages of construction.

The Secretary of Communications and Transport (SCT) has a number of projects in or near completion of their design phases, including projects which will provide better highway access from Puerto Vallarta to Guadalajara. Three proposals address an alternate route from the greater Puerto Vallarta area to a point just south of Rincon de Guayabitos, a bypass around Guayabitos and La Penita up to Puerta de la Lima, and a route from Puerto de la Lima to Jala (Tepi - Guadalajara highway). You’ll see the bypass indicated in the PTI-6 Punta Raza plan, from Monteon to just above La Penita. The new route from Puerto Vallarta to Monteon is indicated in the “CTP” plan, though that route is expected to be modified somewhat. Some of these highway projects may initially be funded with money from the private sector, operated as toll roads, and then sold to the federal government at a later date.

The Nayarit state government is also encouraging a number of highway improvement projects, some of which are already being built, and some of which have topography and construction plans completed. Many of the proposed projects are targeted at helping increase access for tourism.