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Areas of Development: The Baja Peninsula

Areas of Development: The Baja Peninsula

While all of the Baja California peninsula offers an extensive coastline, beautiful topography and a slower lifestyle, not all areas of the peninsula are the same. And two areas in particular are currently attracting the best-of-the best developments: the Rosarito and Ensenada area of Baja California’s northern end and the Los Cabos area of Baja California Sur, at the southern end of the peninsula.

BAJA CALIFORNIA (North)

“North Baja is an area of Mexico that has gone largely undiscovered,” says Brendan Mann, director of sales for TRUMP Ocean Resort Baja. That is changing, however, “especially now that luxury has arrived,” he says, referring to the new TRUMP Ocean Resort Baja in Rosarito.

With other high-end developments going in here, such as Porto Hussong in Ensenada, it is ideal for San Diegans who want a nearby vacation home. “It’s perfect for people who would rather drive than deal with airplanes and the related annoyances,” says Mann.

Doug Bowers, director of marketing for Meridian Development Group, the development company for Porto Hussong, points out that the area also offers convenience—such as a Costco in Ensenada.

“The pace has also evolved over the years,” Bowers says, which draws people looking for pockets of character and culture. For instance, people are finding out about the nearby wine country, which is an inviting place to enjoy a four-hour meal, house wines and dinner made of fresh vegetables grown right there, he says.

Another draw is that this area is just now being discovered by buyers, so prices are lower than in other areas of Mexico. Mann compares it to investment locales like Cancún and Mazatlán in the past. In 15 years, “everyone will wish that they had bought here now,” says Mann.

BAJA CALIFORNIA SUR

Los Cabos is Baja California Sur’s longstanding hotspot for buyers. With a desert landscape that meets pristine beaches and ideal weather nearly all year, it’s no wonder people flock here.

“This area offers crystal-clear, blue marine waters that we don’t have in Southern California,” says Richard Wesselink, developer of the high-end, singlefamily real estate development El Encanto de la Laguna. “You have that different feel of Mexico, yet it’s only a one-hour, 50-minute flight from San Diego.”

Already a bastion for buyers, a number of new luxury developments are now going in here. “Los Cabos has become the high-end of tourist development in Baja and certainly the most high-end in Mexico,” says Charlie Gardenhire, director of marketing at Misión La Serena.

According to Michael S. Meldman, chairman and CEO of Discovery Land Company, the developers of El Dorado, “Cabo is destined to become the new Riviera.” He adds, “The government has a master plan, which includes the construction of several large-scale, state-ofthe- art marinas. With all of these boats, it will be similar to cruising the French Riviera or Sardinia.”