Plans For New Riviera Maya Marina

According to a local media report this week, Spanish construction heavyweight, OHL, is planning to build a new luxury marina in the Riviera Maya.

Agustín Sarasola, General Director of Development at OHL, told Noticaribe news website that they are working on the marina's plans with the hotels and real estate developers at the Mayakoba project near Playa del Carmen in the Riviera Maya.

OHL has already invested some $1 billion in the Mayakoba project in the Riviera Maya and is also tipped to be bidding for the new Tulum airport project.

Sarasola didn't give any further details about the size or cost of the marina, but if it goes ahead it will be the second luxury marina on the Riviera Maya, Puerto Morelos being the other.

The Mayakoba project consists of five 5 star resorts: Banyan Tree, Viceroy, Fairmont, Rosewood, and the fifth still to be named.

OHL also contiues with its plans to develop the El Jesusito real estate project on 400 hectares (988 acres) of land next to the existing Mayakoba complex, said Sarasola.

Noticaribe said that the El Jesusito project will include condos and a golf course, together with a residential zone for employees called "Mayakoba City".

OHL are one of Spain's largest construction, concession, environmental development, and industrial groups. They have With more than ninety years of domestic and international experience, the OHL is present in twenty countries across four continents.

Visit our destination pages to find out more about Riviera Maya real estate.

Tulum Airport Report By Credit Suisse

Credit Suisse have become the latest big international financial name to show interest in the new Tulum airport project.

Analysts from the Swiss investment advisers were reported to meet last week with Humberto Treviño Landois, the Mexican Government's Undersecretary for Transport.

Pablo Riveroll and Juan Esteban Moctezuma, Credit Suisse's stock market experts in Latin American infrastructure, spoke to Treviño specifically about the Tulum airport project, according to Mexican newspaper, El Semanario.

Following the meeting, in a report sent to Credit Suisse clients, the analysts said that the massive Spanish construction company, OHL, and the private investment company, Advent International, may be interested in bidding for the new airport. After some delays, the project is now expected to be put out to tender in February.

In the report, Treviño said that during the coming weeks the government may reveal more details of the Tulum airport project, including more about the airport's capacity and requirements for the legal process.

The news backs up previous suggestions that OHL and Advent may be interested in the project made by respected columnist Alberto Aguilar in the El Universal newspaper, last December.

Mexico's Federal Competition (Anti Trust) Commission will also decide soon whether the owner/operator of Cancun airport, ASUR, can bid for the project as well.

Businesses and politicians in the Riviera Maya hope that the new Tulum airport will be a major boost for the economy and lead to a new phase in the area's development.

Major public investment in the zone has already had an effect on the price of Tulum property and many international real estate companies are rushing to build new projects along the Mexican Caribbean coastline.

Take a look at our destination pages to find out more about the new Tulum airport and Tulum real estate.

Australians Set Up $408 Million Mexico Investment

Australian investment fund, Macquarie Group, announced yesterday the launch of its new $408 million fund which will make massive Mexico investment in infrastructure.

Macquarie said they had launched the "Macquarie Mexican Infrastructure Fund" with $59 million of their own money, together with another $81 million from the Mexican government and $268 million from Mexican pension funds.

In what is the first managed fund in Latin America, the focus is on investment opportunities in Mexican infrastructure projects. Macquarie said the Mexico investment fund will target opportunities across roads and rail, airports and ports, water and wastewater, energy and utilities as well as social and communications infrastructure.

Mark Ramsey, Executive Director and President of Macquarie Capital in Mexico, said: "[the new fund] is an attractive investment opportunity that provides Mexican and international institutions with a vehicle to invest in a domestic infrastructure portfolio and contribute to the nation building goals set out in the government's infrastructure plan.”

Macquarie expects the fund could swell to as much as $1.2 billion and said that the amount of domestic Mexico investment, from the Mexican government and pension funds, shows confidence in the fund's concept and in Mexico's infrastructure development plans.

Ramsey said the fund should give annual returns of 13-17%, and represents a relatively low-risk option for pension funds looking for stable long-term investments.

The commitment of Mexico investment capital from Australia is just the latest in a rush of foreign companies committing to business and investments in Mexico. As the Mexican economy comes back from the financial crisis of 2009 it is fast becoming one of the most desirable emerging market economies for foreign investors to target.

Visit our website for more about the opportunities for you in Mexico investment.

New Border Crossing Between U.S. And Mexico

In a move designed to improve trade and transport, the U.S. and Mexico opened a new border crossing, on Monday.

The first new border entry point to open in a decade connects the Texas town of McAllen by the Anzalduas Bridge with Reynosa in Mexico.

McAllen's Mayor said the crossing cost $100 million and has been 100% constructed with recycled materials.

Felipe Calderon, President of Mexico, flew in for Monday's inuaguration event with U.S. Trade Representative, Ron Kirk.

Local newspaper, San Antonio News, quoted Kirk saying, "This bridge is more than a link between Mexico and America, between north and south. It is also a potent symbol of our connectiveness. You all knew that a new crossing would bring benefits to this entire region, and those benefits begin today."

The border between the U.S. and Mexico is the busiest in the world, with some 350 million crossings per year. According to figures from the U.S. Department of Commerce, trade in both directions between the two neightbors adds up to around one billion dollars, daily.

As well as opening the new border crossing, Calderon has pushed through an impressive package of other Mexico investments in infrastructure during a difficult economic period.

Mexico Investment In Airwaves

Mexico will start to auction off cellphone airwaves in May, said the Federal Telecommunications Commission, last week. The move is aimed to encourage investment and increase competition among mobile phone networks.

According to a law passed by the Mexican government in 2009, investors will pay annual fees of about $75 million over 20 years for one of the two airwave "blocks" available for new entrants.

The exact amount of time for the auction will depend on how many rounds of bidding there are. The agency will have 30 days to declare a winner after the auction closes.

Regulators say they want to use the airwave sale to encourage investment and competition with dominant operator America Movil, which owns Telcel in Mexico and has over 70% of Mexican cellphone subscribers.

Television company Grupo Televisa and telecom company, Axtel, may also use the opportunity to enter the wireless market.

America Movil could also bid for other airwaves to expand its phone and high-speed internet capacity.

Whatever the outcome of the auctions, the Mexico investment in telecoms will mean massive benefits for the consumer in terms of improved coverage, speed and service.

Starbucks Owes Mexico For Coffee Mugs?

Curious coffee break news from top U.S. financial publication, BusinessWeek, yesterday. They reported that Starbucks may owe money to Mexico for using Aztec images on coffee mugs.

An article on BusinessWeek.com said the Mexican government has notified Starbucks Corp. that intellectual property rights for the images of the Aztec calendar stone and the Pyramid of the Moon from the pre-Aztec ruins of Teotihuacan, near Mexico City, belong to Mexico.

The report said Starbucks is working with Mexico to resolve the issue and the mugs have been removed from shelves pending the discussions.

See the full story on the BusinessWeek website.

10 Reasons To Prosper In 2010

We wish all our readers a very Happy New Year!

We argued for much of 2009 that the time was becoming opportune to buy real estate in Mexico.

Well now, at the change of the year, the moment is really right and we'd like to share 10 reasons you can prosper in 2010 with Mexico real estate.

1) Exchange Rates

The dollar rose about 30% against the peso in 2009. You'll now get around 13 Mexican pesos to your greenback in 2010. This makes property and living in Mexico cheap.

2) Sound Investment Environment

Proof of Mexico making a sound investment is seen in the massive number of overseas investors that have already reaped success here. The solid legal framework helps make Mexico one of the safest high growth markets in the world to invest in.

3) Emerging Economies On The Rise

Smart institutional investors are putting their money into emerging economies right now. Traditionally poorer countries with great growth prospects are the latest fashion and Mexico tops the list.

4) Mortgage Loans Growth

The end of 2009 saw larges amounts of money raised in mortgage-backed securities and predictions of a boom in Mexico mortgage lending. With this influx of liquidity you can buy real estate in Mexico in 2010 and watch the value rise rapidly.

5) Massive Investments In Infrastructure

In Mexico, massive investment is still being made in infrastructure, particularly around the tourist zones. More new and improved infrastructure in 2010 will boost the prices of real estate.

6) Mexico Health Care

High quality, affordable health care has long been a reason to buy real estate in Mexico. In the U.S., Medicare and some private insurance companies may decide, in 2010, to cover Mexico health care for Americans, or many may opt to buy it directly themselves. Whatever happens, health care will remain much more affordable in Mexico and the standards are superb.

7) Sun, Sun and More Sun!

This hardly needs stating if you're reading this from a wintery North American climate. The weather in Mexico is excellent, especially on the Caribbean side where you can relax in the sun on the beach all year round.

8) Celebrity Spotting

All the top celebrities have been seen in Mexico lately and many have their own real estate here too: George Clooney, Mel Gibson, Meg Ryan, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Aniston, Bono, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Lopez, Goldie Hawn, Charlize Theron, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler - need we go on?

9) People and Culture

The fantastic human assets of this beautiful country make for perhaps the biggest attraction. You'll always find Mexicans to be a friendly, welcoming folk and the culture is a colorful kaleidoscope of art, history, food and fascinating customs.

10) Range Of Quality Real Estate

There are not many places in the world that offer such an incredible range of architectural styles, property types and breathtaking locations. Whether you're looking for a beach lot in Tulum to construct your own dream home, a condo in Puerto Vallarta for the weekends with ocean and seas views or a cliff-top mansion in Los Cabos, you will find something to fit your taste.

We could go on of course, but hopefully these 10 reasons have already demonstrated why we are more sure than ever that now is the time to buy Mexico real estate. Have a great 2010!

Visit our information pages for more about property investment in Mexico.