Development Is Coming to Loreto Bay Slowly, But That's Part of Its Charm
 Jayne Clark - USA Today
| | (Splash Magazine) |
Loreto Bay, Mexico - The pockmarked road to Loreto Bay is lined with unfulfilled dreams. Rebar skeletons poke through the earth. The concrete shell of a convention center lies abandoned. Earthmovers haul away the rubble of a demolished clothing-optional resort.
But now, fortunes here are turning.
Witness how the rutted asphalt abruptly gives way to fresh cobblestones at the edge of a sherbet-colored village taking shape. Buttressed on one side by the emerald waters of the Sea of Cortes and on the other by the jagged peaks of the Sierra de la Giganta mountains, the 8,000-acre tract is just a piece of this dramatic landscape poised for change.
"You are standing on the threshold of a new wave," advises the sign at the entrance to the Villages of Loreto Bay, a new development that promises to nurture mind, body and soul while being ecologically correct to boot. That's a tall order, but one that plays to the sensibilities of many a North American baby boomer seeking the Next Great Place to ease into retirement. The $3 billion Loreto Bay project is just one of a number of mega-developments on the drawing board for what has been a largely overlooked stretch of the southern Baja Peninsula.
It wasn't meant to be this way. More than 30 years ago, Mexico's tourism development arm announced a plan to create tourist playgrounds in five locales, including a 17-mile seaside corridor from Loreto south to Nopolo and Puerto Escondido. Some regions, namely Cancun and Los Cabos, boomed. But despite government efforts to seed infrastructure - an airport, a marina, sewer systems - major development around Loreto faltered, thanks in part to the success of Los Cabos, 250 miles south.
Which was fortuitous, if you ask devotees of a place they proudly dub the "anti-Cabo." The beaches are free of trinket sellers and timeshare touts. Development is low-rise. Attitude is low-key. The ills that invariably accompany mass tourism (chain outlets, local hostilities, sprawl) haven't yet surfaced.
And many hope it stays that way, even as the area experiences seismic growth. The current population of 16,000 is expected to reach 125,000 in the next 25 years. Many of those newcomers will be North Americans buying into planned resort communities with affiliated tourist facilities.
First off the drawing board is the Villages of Loreto Bay project, 5 miles south of historic Loreto. The complex bills itself as a model of ecological sustainability and New Urbanism (pedestrian-friendly, mixed-used development with public gathering spots). Designed by Andres Duany, who did Seaside, Fla. (the planned community featured in the movie The Truman Show), the 15-year endeavor eventually will contain 6,000 dwellings in nine car-free neighborhoods, plus golf, spas and shops.
Just south of Puerto Escondido, developers will break ground in October on the Villa del Palmar Beach and Spa, a 240-suite hotel and timeshare resort. It's part of a 10-year project that will yield almost 2,500 rooms, plus 163 home sites and an 18-hole golf course. North of Loreto at San Bruno Bay, another project reportedly will eventually total five hotels, a marina, three golf courses and a commercial center.
Already, the rough-around-the-edges town of Loreto, where generations have made a quiet living off the sea, is showing signs of gentrification. Canadian Roch Schafers, whose millwork turns out cabinets for new resort homes, says property values have tripled in the past three years. At Posada de las Flores, an elegant inn in a 150-year-old building at Loreto's historic heart, manager Eric Jafet is seeing more American guests after years of catering primarily to Europeans. Restaurants with English-language menus are popping up - including one touting Back Yard Texas BBQ. Construction workers are busy in "Gringoville," an area just beyond the town's seaside promenade. And a barista with an attitude is serving grande lattes at a Starbucks look-alike on the main drag.
"There's no shortage of conversation about what may happen," says part-time resident Michael Thompson. "But Baja has a history of swallowing dreams. On the one hand, (the development) is good for property values. But we didn't buy here for the investment."
Thompson echoes the sentiments of others attracted by the natural beauty and laid-back lifestyle. The California retiree, who owns a house in Loreto, is sitting in a no-frills, open-air restaurant where delicious carne asada tacos sell for $1.30. "There's no crime, no panhandlers. And you can get dinner for six for $40," he says, summing up part of the locale's appeal.
But for those who came looking to earn a living, the promise of a robust tourist trade has been a long time coming. Sipping coffee on the shady patio of Mita Gourmet, chef/owner JuanCarlos Cortes is delighted to report that his restaurant is full most nights.
"For more than 20 years, the local people have been waiting," he says. "Now things are happening."
The elegant, small restaurant sits on the cobbled plaza opposite the pink- and gray-stone 300-year-old Our Lady of Loreto Mission, site of the first Spanish settlement in the Californias. Despite the restaurant's prime location, the building was missing key elements - a roof and a door, for instance - when Cortes began fixing it up three years ago. Now the little plaza with its canopy of laurel trees has been spruced up. Around it, more eateries, watering holes and shops catering to visitors are opening.
Not that Loreto by any stretch echoes the high-decibel action of spots such as Los Cabos. In fact, says Cortes, "People come here and say, 'Nice town, but there's nothing to do.' But three years ago it was worse."
In fact, the area offers more for daytime adventurers than the party-hearty set. Loreto has long been a popular offshore fishing destination. From December through March, the waters here are teeming with migrating whales. Dolphins and sea lions cavort with pangas - small, open excursion boats. And though the in-town beaches aren't stellar, islands in the surrounding national marine park boast crowd-free, sugary, white-sand expanses.
The development at the Villages of Loreto Bay, although densely concentrated, aims to keep the aesthetic natural. About 5,000 of its 8,000 acres will be left as open space. The dwellings are constructed of adobe-style block made on-site. Gardeners tend a 25-acre organic garden. Developers say they'll create more wind and solar energy than the villages use. They'll harvest more drinking water than residents consume. Transportation will be via foot, bike and electric cart. And 1% of home sales goes to a non-profit foundation that finances community projects in the historic town. Clustered around courtyards with roof decks and observation towers, the housing style is Spanish colonial, but the vibe is more Santa Fe than Orange County.
"We could make it an extension of Southern California, but that's not what we want. That's not what our clients want," says Jim Grogan, president of the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Loreto Bay Co.
Nor is it what the town of Loreto wants. "Maybe it's a good thing that Loreto got left behind (30) years ago," mayoral assistant Maria Elba Lombera says. "We're not playing catch-up, trying to build infrastructure and housing at the same time."
"Loreto will change. But not for the worse. Hopefully." |
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Puerto Vallarta Real Estate | April 2007 
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