Hi all, I know it has been a while since I updated you on our projects, but, as some of you may know , November and December are VERY slow months in Cabo and typically, not a lot of progress happens during that time. I was in Cabo last week meeting with Tony, Larry Henry, the architect on La Amanezca, and Frederico who is going to take over the architecturals on Tequila Ranch. Progress on both of our projects in Cabo has been slower than we had expected, the slowing of the US market has affected the influx of investor dollars worldwide, in spite of the fact that Mexico has fared as well or better than anywhere on the planet. Having said that, after being in Cabo last week, and seeing the growth that is occurring in and around our project sites, I am even more excited about our projects. As always, I'd like to begin by updating you on the area and then go into the specific projects. Let's start with infrastructure: the road is coming right along, there is significant progress from Cabo towards La Paz. I understand the expectation is to be as far as Migrino by this time next year, which is about half the distance between Cabo and Cerritos Beach/Pescadero. I did not get up to La Paz to see the progress south, but understand that the progress is significant in that direction as well. As I think you already know, water, power, fiber optic and internet/cable are complete from Cabo to Migrino and from Todos Santos to Cerritos Beach. In the area in between there is no utility infrastructure and there are no plans to put them in at the moment. What that means to us is that we own in the areas that will be developed now, not many years from now. Right place right time. I don't have an update on the International Airport in Cabo. I know that major carriers are trying to get access but are facing opposition from the airport in San Jose. Stay tuned. A note about the market in Mexico. All you have to do is get online and Google and you can see the major growth market in the world right now is Mexico. Companies are sprouting up all over the place selling lots adjacent to our properties. Although the beach front lots are all sold out, the lots behind the beach are still in hot demand. Not a week goes by when I don't get some kind of inquiry about our projects from our website presence, and we haven't even turned on our marketing machine yet. Investing in Mexico is hot right now, and as an excerpt from the website www.selectmexicoproperties.com attests: Investment Values Cerritos Beach Tony's partner Roger Pollack is building a huge home on the point, construction is underway and moving fast. Tony and Roger are already advertising their hotel and timeshare in the airline magazines giving great awareness to the area. They are currently not in retail sales. Good for us, free advertising, no competition. Tony's Sol Pacifico Cerritos condo project is almost sold out, fully funded and in construction. I recently visited the site. Here are a few photos of the construction.
At La Amanezca the land has been paid in full. The infrastructure is in place. We are currently gathering all of the reports and surveys, architecturals, etc. that we need to submit in order to get the entitlements we need to start construction. The last piece is the finalized site plan and floor plans. Larry was to complete those this week and we should have what we need to submit the documents required for the entitlements. We had originally expected to have completed plans in Oct-Nov 2007, but we did some major revisions to the plan. I'm hoping to have the site map and floor plans available very soon. The entitlement process should take between 3 - 6 months. At that time we are ready to start construction. Funding going forward will primarily come from retail sales. We have a multi pronged marketing approach we will use the onsite sales center at the Beach Club. It is amazing the amount of sales that occur simply from people stopping by the Club. Once Sol Pacifico Cerritos is sold out, we will set up a sales office there to sell La Amanezca. We are working with a company with a strong internet presence and strong telesales organization to capture prospects not in Mexico. People have been inquiring about the priority list. Now that we have finished selling preconstruction properties, we will publish the priority list by the end of the month. I will include Will Mattox and Elaine Gagne in the process to double check my accuracy and ensure the priority list is correct. Once the priority list is available, please allow us ample time to determine which specific condos will go into the investor pool. This entails a complete construction plan which we are a ways off from having. Although your investment is a long-term one, there occasionally are people, who, for various reasons unrelated to the project, want to cash out of their investment. If you know people who might be interested in buying in, please let me know and I'll do what I can to put the two parties together. I can only help to facilitate the process by putting interested parties together. Tequila Ranch In the meantime Tony purchased a distillery in Jalisco, MX, (if it's to be called tequila, it has to be made in Jalisco) and the first release of some of the best tequila I've ever tasted has hit the market. It will soon be exported to the US, so expect to see Cerritos Beach Tequila here soon! I met with Frederico who is working on our architectural drawings. Although I am happy with the floor plans, I still think the exterior facades need work. I still don't think we are where I'd like them to be yet and will be back in Cabo in 4 - 6 weeks to continue to refine. Loral, Will and I are currently in our next phase of raising capital, this time a promissory note. We are expecting to raise $1M, the majority of which will go to completing the architecturals, marketing and the first phase of construction at Tequila Ranch. We are slightly behind our original schedule, but I believe we had sound reasons behind our delay and am very comfortable that we will meet our original timeline. Here some photos on the progress at Tequila Ranch
I'm coming up on the two year anniversary of my first trip to Cabo and the beginning of this fantastic journey we are on. There have been the inevitable ups and downs as many of you are aware. There have been some personnel changes, partners have come and gone, marketing strategies tried and abandoned, some super highs and some frustrating moments. I was struck last week, sitting on the beach in Cerritos that it is all really happening. Perhaps not the way we had originally envisioned, maybe not as quickly or as fluidly as we might have wished, but at the end of the day, our dreams at Tequila Ranch and Cerritos Beach and our investments in them are and will continue to become reality. I couldn't be more excited about the future and I want to once again thank all of you for seeing the vision, being out there on the leading edge with us and for me personally, giving me the opportunity to realize my dreams. To our Wealth, |
