Development Trends in Pedasi, Panama


Development Trends in Pedasi, Panama

(3 votes)

Written by Jesse Levin

Thursday, September 11 2008

Pedasi, Panama

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Things tend to happen in phases and Pedasi is no exception. I am optimistic that in the relatively near future the whole area between Pedasi and Playa Venao will see increased activity, but if your are a speculator (not that I encourage it any more) looking for a shorter term play, or a retiree wanting to live in an area where the expatriate community will grow the quickest then you have to have an understanding of what is currently transpiring behind the scenes in each respective neighborhood.

Cookie Cutter Clutter:

Pedasi, High Density Map

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The first real wave of high-density development should occur in-between Pedasi and the two local beaches of Playa Toro and Playa La Garita. There is a great gravel road (approximately one mile long) that connects the town to these beaches. The majority of the left hand side of the road is comprised of one large farm, which over the past year has been subdivided, and almost entirely sold off. Power lines have been put in almost all the way down to Playa Toro, although as of a month ago (September 9, 2008) they were still not connected.

The vast majority of purchasers of lots in this area have been Canadians, Americans, and a few Panamanians, so the neighbors will be an eclectic bunch. As of now, the only structure to be built on this stretch is a beautiful three bedroom bed and breakfast overlooking the ocean, which unfortunately is not yet open (but I would stop and beg for a room if I were in the vicinity!). As of now the area is still pristine and beautiful, but in a few years time it is going to become heavily populated. Although in all fairness the lots sold in the aforementioned farm were on the larger side of 2,000 meters +, which if landscaped well, could turn out fairly nicely.

There is a fork in the road just outside of town, to the left is Playa Toro and to the right is La Garita, or perhaps more appropriately labeled Little Israel. Groups of Israeli investors have purchased two beautiful tracts that run between Playa Toro and La Garita. On one of the parcels is occupied by the project Costa Pedasi. While I don't know the plans of the other group that holds the other parcel, I know the land is suitable to high-density development. If I had to make an educated guess I would say a Four Seasons tent camp is a little less likely then a few cul-de-sacs and a community swimming pool and BBQ area.

While I personally don't care for high-density development there is nothing wrong with it if done respectively and tastefully. For those who want to be enveloped in the midst of the growing expatriate community sooner rather then later, then this is the area to look in. Two years ago land was selling for $4/m2 now its $20/m2 + depending on who you know and where exactly you want to buy. That being said, there really is not much left.

Suburbia:

If living a bit on the fringe is more up your alley, then I would recommend the town just before Pedasi called Mariabe or anywhere in between Pedasi and Playa Venao (famous surfing beach). There is electricity all the way to Playa Venao and a new cell phone tower was put up in Los Asientos, which is about halfway in-between Playa Venao and Pedasi. Any of the little bedroom communities to Pedasi from: Limon; Los Higos; Las Cabeza Los Asientos are also funky little places to claim a spot.

Plenty of foreigners have bought small to mid size farms all along the main road from Pedasi on out to Venao though few have yet started to build. One of my favorite spots on this corridor is the hills of Chumico overlooking the ocean and the Oria valley. Access isn't the best, and there is still no power along the auxiliary access road, but there is a lot of activity in the area and infrastructure is on the way. Rio Oria Estates has some beautiful spots along with Eagles Nest, perhaps the only two progressing developments in the area.

The Gold Coast:

Pedasi's Gold Coast

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The Beverly Hills of Pedasi, and (in my opinion) the country for that matter, is in an area that spreads from Villa Camilla in Los Detiladeros, along the coast and foothills to Puerto Ricos and Playa Los Panamaes. This little micro region is an anomaly in Panama. High-end sustainable construction, true eco stewardship, eccentric European and US residence/developers, all combined with the old world magic of Pedasi truly distinguish this little sub region. The vast majority of land in this area has been purchased by the end users to be turned into estates, or by developers who are undertaking low impact projects.

This is a prime region, but good luck finding anything small under $25/m2 or large for less then $10/m2. Access to the area is either through the Azueros development and along the coast, or down a newly refurbished road from Limon. The newly built road cuts travel time down by more then half from Pedasi but a small portion of it is private, requiring you to have a 4x4 to cross the river or a pass allowing you to gain entry (unless your royalty I suggest renting the 4x4)☺ Paul Stallings, the boutique hotelier from New York and developer of the Panamaeas project has invested a great deal of capital into refurbishing the road, and by all rights is keeping it more or less private. Villa Camilla, The Azueros project, and the prince of Lichtenstein are some of the active projects and individuals in the area.

Jesse Levin has spent several years tracking real estate development in the Azuero Peninsula

Comments (2)

Neuza Guvzdz: Problems with these lands

I am a foreign and live in Pedasi. I am friend of some people that had their houses for more than 20 years in the beaches of Playa El Toro en La Guaria.
I am happy that Pedasi area is becaming a turist area and an investor place for future developments, what I am so said is that some of investors are not respecting the local people, for example 33 people from El Toro en la Garita were taken out from their lands without a dolar, those people have by law the right of possession and aquisitive prescription of the front beach, but they were not respected by the investors and even the government that has been corrupted to help those lands being transfered for developments without paying the locals. These developments my friends are not welcome by the locals, I am so said that this is how pedasi is growing, without a support of the real locals because they are not respected by the powerfull people.

November 19, 2008

Real Local: The Real Story

The friends that you are refering to must be the ones that like to take what is not theirs. I'll try to resume the situation. There were no such houses that you are talking about 20 years ago or even before then. Mostly, the only thing, a few palm tree "Houses" in what is public land where nothing can be build. All of these properties have their original title that can be traced back decades and decades ago and the property line was up until where the beach began. Now, thru diferent administrations at some point, there was a law about the beach and property lines, concerning how far the line needed to be from the beach, well this line was pushed back, then decades later it was put back to where it originally was, as it is the understanding. Now, when the property line was modified again back to where it was before, what happened is that some clown mayor started giving out so called "derechos possesorios" over land that really belonged back to the original title holders to the new limits. None of these people you talk about have any property title to such lands. For crying out loud there is even some foreigners that got scammed by buying these false "derechos possesorios". There has been various judicial actions against these scammers, whose only interest in all this is to scam money from investors, pure and simple. The people who do have the title to these lands have been selling them to the envy of a few rotten apples in Pedasi.

November 28, 2008

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