Vallarta South
By DAVID KIMBALL

The new highway north follows the common sense of property development on the Bahia de Banderas: you build where the land and beaches can fulfill the white sand dreams of vacation paradise. Much of the land to the north slopes gently toward the bay and the property on bluffs above the ocean is usually buildable. So there is nothing surprising about the rapid pace of development to the north.

I have often enjoyed long afternoons on the beach at Destiladeras, where one can quickly be removed from the known world. Crested blue waves, fried fish with garlic and lime, cold Mexican beer. Leaving is the only problem.

But I have always been intrigued with the land south of Vallarta, the part of the bay least explored by both visitors and residents. The topography is defined by mountains that plunge abruptly into the sea, as if in defiance of any builder with hopes of an easy site.

The road south follows the coast for about 20 kilometers before turning inland at Boca de Tomatlan. But it follows the contours of the coast so closely that there are few areas below the road large enough for more than the occasional single home built on a heroic foundation. Because the road was not designed to create real estate opportunities, it offers one of the most beautiful 40-cent bus rides in the world. Sit on the ocean side of the bus and, with the vehicle’s elevation, you will have an almost vertiginous view of the coast all the way to Boca de Tomatlan.

From a builder’s perspective, everything south of Vallarta is double-edged. The precipitous topography creates unobstructed views at every level above and below the road. But the challenge of the design and building process is proportionate to the quality of the view.

Carlos Osuna Penn and his father, Carlos Osuna Saenz, have developed Sierra del Mar, an exclusive, single family 34 home community about 12 minutes south of Vallarta. Their project is perhaps Vallarta’s finest luxury home development. Meticulously designed and maintained, it now includes 19 homes that are under construction or completed – most within the last two years. Prices start at $500,000.

“We have been privileged by a topography to the south of Vallarta that is very challenging,” Carlos says. “The mountains drop from a thousand feet to the ocean in less than a kilometer. The land is filled with ravines and creeks. And the rocky nature of the land is difficult but rewarding to work with as a developer. Because of the high cost of construction, and the extraordinary scenery and views, the land south of Vallarta is ideal for exclusive, low density uses. And now, it is also zoned for low density.”

Carlos Munguia Fregoso, agrees with Osuna’s sense that, to some degree, topography is destiny. Having been appointed Puerto Vallarta’s Official Historian in 1986, he has authored definitive books and articles on the Bay of Banderas. “I think the land to the south will be used for exclusive developments because the landscape creates better views and the cost of development is high. Also, the vegetation is more exuberant due to the higher rainfall created as the sea air hits the Sierra del Cuale. I personally like the south better. I think the little beach coves formed by the rocky terrain are more attractive than the broad flat beaches to the north.”

Of course, the many luxury developments to the north are evidence that upscale real estate is being successfully developed throughout the Bay. But projects to the north enjoy a topography that allows much more product variation, including the higher densities that are generally impossible to the south.
Mary Curtin, who took over the Garza Blanca development three years ago, plans to build the exception to this rule with a luxury development in the south that includes some higher densities. “Because of the tremendous views from each location, you can live in a development project here but feel a sense of privacy.” Pricing will begin at about $400,000 for the cluster homes in the Pueblo area of the development. Also designed with more density are the nine Garza Blanca beach villas, priced at about $1 million, located on one of the most beautiful beach properties south of Vallarta.

Curtin points out that if US builders and clients feel concern about the feasibility of building on property to the south, they need only look to Conchas Chinas, where property values have escalated as steeply as the terrain. “If you brought a US architect to a Conchas Chinas building site, he would say you’re crazy,” says Curtin. “But a Mexican architect will say, how many bedrooms do you want?”

Despite the difficult terrain to the south and a road that’s better designed for bus tours than for building, there will be more developments in Vallarta South. The San Joaquin development above the road just north of the Blue Bay resort will include 50 single-family homes. While pricing has not been announced for these units, the road and other infrastructure installed for this mountainside development has clearly required an investment that can only be justified by upscale buildings and price points. Javier Brockman, who heads the project, says, “construction will be very difficult. But we have designs that are engineered for the terrain.”
If it is accurate to say that development to the south will be predominantly high end, this upscale identity has emerged in dramatic contrast to Life Before the Road. It is remarkable to think that the highway south to Barra de Navidad (connecting to Manzanillo) was not completed until 1972.

A conversation with Enrique Perez Gonzalez makes it easier to sense the impact of the road. One of the 11 brothers and sisters in the prominent Perez family, Enrique’s life is a remarkable compression of local history – much of it shaped by the road. In his 52 years, he has traveled, literally, from an economy based on his father’s horses and dugout canoes to a successful real estate business in Vallarta (Mi Buena Estrella). Enrique remembers accompanying his father on the two day trek from El Tuito down through the jungle along the Horcones River. Their animals were laden with oranges, avocadoes, cheese or venison, reaching Boca de Tomatlan on the second day where the goods were loaded into a canoe for transport to Vallarta.

So if the road going south is less than perfect – if south of Mismaloya it appears to have been hit by meteor showers after each year’s rainy season – it continues to dramatically transform Vallarta South. The road, itself, will change. Osuna points to the enormous economic benefit from the expressway north to Punta Mita and believes that developers, hotel owners and residents south of town “would benefit by getting together to lobby for road improvements that should include guardrails, a pedestrian walkway, better shoulders, passing lanes where possible, retaining measures where necessary and lighting all the way to Mismaloya.”

But no one who loves Vallarta South wants the area to lose its identity. To me, the road south seems to lead to the “real Mexico,” although that term is always subject to personal definition.

Here on the great bay that reaches out so generously to the sea, we are privileged as foreign residents to choose from distinct microclimates, topographies and lifestyles. Vallarta South is not for everyone. That is one of its many attractions.