I recently attended the inauguration at Thierry’s Prime Steak House in Plaza Peninsula and stopped in to see Jean Pierre Renucci and José Villavicencio’s third Galería Córsica. Downtown is the scene of various openings, among them Azul 96 and Ztai, both mega-restaurant and bar complexes. On numerous occasions I’ve used the parking facilities at what was previously Juárez Park and found them quite convenient, certainly more so than those at Hidalgo Park.
With four accessible three-bedroom models, Costa Serena in Bocanegra of Marina Vallarta opened doors to the public, hosted by Century 21 Giovanna. The complex comprised of 31 individual homes begin at $250,000 USD, located right off the golf course, close to the beach of Boca Negra and quite convenient to Plaza Marina and the American School. Streets will be gentle cobblestone with all services provided in the development proper as well as security and all services.
Mark Venegas of Venegas World Star Realty put his staff to work in numerous events of the recent Hook the Cure fundraiser. Organized by PVRPV(Puerto Vallarta Rentals Premier Vacations), over $150,000 USD was raised for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Over three days, attendees from Canada and the US cocktailed, fished, measured, weighed in and applauded each other not only on the luck and skill required to land the biggest marlin, tuna or el dorado, but also on additional donations made at the elegant gala cocktail. The local Charter Dreams provided
boats and crew for the visiting fishermen while food was whipped up by Paul Motenko and Jerry Hennessy of BJ’s Restaurant. The volunteers were secured by the International Friendship Club while Joe Thompson coordinated the final gala event at Casa Las Palmas II in Punta de Mita MC’d by Leo Quiñones and overseen by PVRPV’s Roger DuBois.
An increasing response for the rental industry, following hot on the heels of real estate investments, has created customer services such as the afore-mentioned PVRPV. Booking agents familiar with the area handle reservations for the busy season with aplomb. Numerous websites and agents represent the continually expanding market of condominiums, villas and apartments for rent. While Puerto Vallarta has seen no new hotels in the last seven years, Nuevo Vallarta just opened another 450-room Riu property, their second full-service hotel of the all-inclusive Spanish chain. The trend toward renting either long- or short-term independent living quarters responds positively to the increasing inventory of non-hotel rooms on the market. Additionally, the boom in destination weddings leans more toward exclusive boutique hotels and villas.
Most realty offices provide rentals as part of their customer service package. Toni González newly heads the rental department of Venegas World Star and sees the need for open houses within the industry to familiarize the local agents with what’s on the market. While I was not able to attend her first invitation in Punta de Mita, I visited with Toni in Casa El Nido in the exclusive Sierra del Mar on the South Shore. She stressed the importance of the open houses to respond to that need.
Bird Copter spreads wings over Punta de Mita and beyond with new helicopter service in the area. An investment of over a million dollars created the base of the company from Guadalajara, the first of its kind offering regular helicopter service. The Bell 206 allows a passenger load of four to offer the busy businessman much faster service without the necessity of road transportation from the international airport or commuter terminal, says co-founder Enrique Arce Urzúa, foreseeing the need for additional service in the fast-growing region. Bird Copter is located just outside of La Cruz de Huanacaxtle in El Banco at Km 14.5.
In a press conference organized by John Swanson and Nena Hernández of Tropicasa, Villas de la Colina II was highlighted as the first local project awarded approval under the new regulations of SEMARNAT (Secretaria del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales or secretary of the environment and natural resources) wherein federal authorization is required before a city permit will be issued for any development. Attendees included City Planner Carlos Manzano Zepeda, Architect Manuel Andrés Orozco Gutiérrez and Developer Chuck Toops. The local press was transported to the site in upper Amapas for the actual ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Kelly Trainor de O., US Consular Agent, reminds the US community of the need for passports to travel to Mexico as of January 7, 2007. While she foresees a transition period of actually enforcing the new international regulation, it behooves the traveler to prepare in advance since the requirement will more than likely overload the production capacity of many passport services. Despite the fact that new passports cannot be issued locally, renewals are regularly handled by the office for local residents who are US citizens.
Univa Vallarta announced recently the offering of a “diplomado” in continuing education in real estate administration offered by Araceli Ruiz. Beginning November 16, the series will allow students to take 15-hour modules in Spanish such as marketing, professional ethics, professional development, commercialization, law, project evaluation and technical evaluation. Call Araceli at 226-1212 ext. 2100 for more information.
