The long awaited Flamingo Marina is back on track after the municipality of Santa Cruz voted to halt the process of awarding a concession to rebuild and operate the marina four months ago.

Since August of 2003, the community has been hoping for a resurrection of the Flamingo Marina which will be greatly positive for the area.

The municipality has come up with a new set of rules for potential developers. They now have a deadline, in one month, to submit their final documentation. 9th February 2007 is the new deadline.

In August 2006, the newly elected Santa Cruz council decided to put a stop to the proceedings. This news came only one week before the deadline for bidders to submit final paperwork.

Many investors who had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars preparing bids, were viably upset for the last minute motion calling for an indefinite extension on when these bids were to have been received.

The council agreed to fire the lawyer leading this process to award a concession and a hire a new team of lawyers with a San Jose based architectural firm, but their decision was overturned when pressure came by way of Mayor Pastor Gomez Ruiz.

The Mayor threatened to veto this measure saying that the $35,000 cost of the contract to be signed by Abdalla Architectos was not budgeted for.

Many months of nonsense passed with the contracting procedure, and in the end Abdalla Arquitectos was hired with a contract of $10,000. This number is substantially less than the $35,000 initially proposed.

Pedro Abdalla Slon, President of Abdalla Arquitectos, said that the drastic reduction in the original price was because he has interest in the project and he was also able to save on travel expenditures since one of his offices is located in Playas del Coco. He decided that he wanted to help the community with a project that is way behind on completion.

The municipality is looking for a minimum investment of US$12 million. The new marina, which will be located at the Southern end of Potrero Bay, is projected to have 150-250 boat slips.

Expected time to complete this project could be four to five years. This will be a big financial boost to the area, which has been developing at a rapid pace despite the lack of a functioning marina.

Mr. Abdalla says that after he has had a chance to receive all offers and go over them, he will make his recommendations. He also claims that the revisions were made to make the process of bidding more transparent. Now, everyone wishing to bit will get a fair shot under these new guidelines.

Written by Rebecca L. Clower who was born in Chicago, grew up in Buffalo, NY and graduated from Arizona State University. Rebecca is fluent in Spanish, thanks to her mother who is “Tica.”

Costa Rica Realtor Video Interviews – Becky Clower:

• You can see a video interview with Becky Clower about investing in Costa Rica real estate here.
• You can also see a video interview with Becky Clower about living in Costa Rica here.

Rebecca started investing in real estate at 22 years of age and it became a passion, she is also a Realtor® and after rehabbing 40 homes and selling millions in real estate in Tampa, she relocated to Costa Rica to continue practicing her love for real estate, investing and to be closer to her family.

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Andrew Makarik

to@welovecostarica.com

Andrew Makarik is the main editor of WeLoveCostaRica, a fan of this sunny country. He is also a loving husband and a has a lovely daughter. By being a devoted family man and the biggest Costa Rica fan, he wants to make more people feel at home there. WeLoveCostaRica unites people and helps them find new home or a new travel destination. This website is a friendly community where everyone can find not only information, but also new friends and travel pals. Andrew is also passionate about IT and programming, so he himself maintains a friendly atmosphere in this cozy environment of WeLoveCostaRica.com.