It was only nine months ago that the first large grocery store, complete with air conditioning, grocery carts, and computer check out, opened it’s doors in El Llano 20 minutes outside of Playa Tamarindo. That was the first of its kind to service the beach towns of Avellanas north to Potrero areas.

Now, we have not only that store (Supermercado del Pacifico), but also Supercompro in Huacas, an upscale Auto Mercado supermarket in Tamarindo, to open August 25th with the President of Costa Rica to be present at the ribbon cutting, and also a Pali supermarket and possibly a Mas x Menos supermarket coming our way.

It’s a breath of fresh air to get choice at the beach as well as some friendly price competition. I used to have to drive forty minutes to the town of Belen to get to a major grocery store. Now I’m happy that I only have to drive 10 minutes…

The grocery stores are just an inkling of what’s to come along Guanacaste’s ‘gold coast’, as it is often called. There are two major commercial centers sprouting up on the Huacas/Conchal intersections that are slated to open next month and next year respectively with over eighty units total.

Automercado supermarket is the major anchor to the shops in front of a luxurious condo development in Tamarindo. This plaza will feature several different retail shops and restaurants as well as parking for 120 cars underground! Across the street from the plaza you will see the new “Don Fernando” which is a top quality butcher shop, which also has locations in Curridabat and Escazu and is now here at the beach. In my opinion, the commercial sector is now just catching up to the demand of the residents and visitors in our area.

The Costa Rican government has made massive investments in the roads. Just last week, President Oscar Arias met with developers in Playa Langosta to improve the roads in Langosta/Tamarindo and other areas south (Paraiso-27 de Abril route). Just since 1st April 2007, we have seen the complete repaving of the road which leads from Villareal (just outside of Tamarindo) to Belen (the main route to the Liberia Airport).

Talks were successful in getting commitments in the near future to pave the road in Tamarindo, Langosta, and the route from Villareal to 27 de Abril (main route to Santa Cruz which currently has ten miles of unpaved dirt road).

There is also great optimism with the amount of new jobs that will be created for locals with all the new hotels coming to the area. Improved roads are also another plus to come out of multi million dollar projects in the area. Many of the new roads are funded by partnerships with private and government money. The following is a list of hotels with major Costa Rican real estate investments coming to our area or ones that have already broken ground:

1. The Hyatt Regency Azulera (Playa Brasilito), featuring a spa and 18 hole golf course with over 557 acres.
2. JW Marriott, located inside the 4,500 acre Hacienda Pinilla Development (Playa Manzanillo). The exclusive hotel will feature a world class spa, 180 rooms, and access to the existing championship 18 hole golf course inside Hacienda Pinilla. This project has been underway for some months now.
3. The Mandarin Oriental Golf and Residential Development (Playa Manzanillo). The hotel and golf course will be spread over 538 acres.
4. Riu Hotel Group (Playa Matapalo). The company based in Spain which will feature it’s resort style community over 821 pristine acres.
5. The One and Only Resort (Punta Cacique). Steve Case, the founder of AOL is proposing a huge environmentally friendly development stated to cost over US$800 million to build. This will be the single largest investment in the history of Costa Rica. This is slated to open in 2010.
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6. Hilton Fiesta Premiere (Playa Panama) bought out the former Hotel brand to feature its product in this beach area.
7. The St. Regis Resort (Westin) in Playa Panama. This project broke ground in May of 2006 and is slated to open its doors in November of 2008.
8. The Ritz Carlton (Ocotal) has announced its plans to bring their luxury name to Costa Rica with the expansion of the Central American market.
9. Rosewood Hotel Group (Playa Guachipelin) will build a 150 room boutique hotel in the northern Guanacaste area.
10. Regent Hotel and Resort (Peninsula Papagayo). This project will be open in 2009 and share the same point with the 5 star luxury Four Seasons Resort.
11. On 13th August 2007 Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal a Saudi multi-billionaire also announced his intention to invest in the construction of at least six new hotels (Raffles Hotels and Fairmont Hotels) in Costa Rica.

While it would seem that real estate investment in other countries has gone down, that is not the case in Costa Rica. Billions of dollars are being invested in Costa Rica real estate as both local and international investors flock to our country for many reasons and that would appear to be the trend for the foreseeable future.

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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.