There are two international airports in Costa Rica, one in Alajuela and the other in Liberia. The Daniel Oduber Quirós International airport in Liberia was inaugurated from a small domestic airstrip to an international airport in 1995. Further expansions of runway and terminal were completed in 2012 and 2017.
Currently, the Daniel Oduber Quirós International airport is the country’s second and Central America’s sixth busiest airport. From 2000 to 2018 the number of passengers received has increased from 91,206 to 1,116,810, which is a 14% compound annual growth rate.
The city propers of San Isidro de El General and Liberia are both around 50,000, according to most recent census data. Of course, if you take into account the surrounding area, the population of Perez Zeledon is much larger at around 200,000.
Before the Daniel Oduber Quirós International airport became a frequent international flight destination, Liberia was a typical small rural Costa Rican pueblo that had grown up along the Pan American highway. It was the gateway town to the popular Guanacaste beach areas of Tamarindo, Flamingo and others. Nevertheless, it was the sort of “crossroads town” that you could miss if you blinked your eyes.
That has changed and the airport is the major reason why.
The reason I am bringing this up is because there’s a striking parallel to what happened in Liberia and what’s very likely to happen in Perez Zeledon. The difference is that Perez already has a strong head-start over where Liberia was before their airport was inaugurated. And Liberia is no match for Perez Zeledon when it comes to either topographical beauty or pleasantness of climate.
Despite the differences, Perez Zeledon and Liberia make for an interesting comparable growth story.
I have written in the past about definite near-term plans for a major expansion of the existing San Isidro airport. It will certainly become a major domestic hub and there’s every reason to believe that it will pass through phases of growth that will make it Costa Rica’s third international airport, serving the southern zone, which has been steadily growing in popularity with both tourists and the expat-minded.
San Isidro is the undisputed gateway city to the southern zone. The last few years have witnessed a growth spurt in the canton of Perez Zeledon. The opening of a new Walmart superstore this December is definite evidence of what is occurring here.
The value of commercial land has been on the rise as well. Prices for downtown space with frontage on the major thoroughfare through town are $1,000 to $2,000 per meter squared! I have it on good sources that Walmart paid over $200 per meter squared for the acreage they bought for their new store, which is located on the outskirts of town, with frontage on the Pan American highway. I have a listing for an ideal hotel site that I am marketing for around $500 per meter squared.
While it is true that spectacular homes have been built in the hills above Dominical, Uvita and Ojochal, many in the million-plus price range, there is a definite limit, in my opinion, as to how much potential growth is possible along our southern zone coast. I really don’t believe we will ever see the type of growth that has occurred in Guanacaste or the central Pacific.
For starters, this is still the last pristine area of coastline, what I like to call the Big Sur of Costa Rica. The mountains that hug the coast are covered in primary jungle and much of the area is protected from development. Unlike the Perez Zeledon area, once you leave the Costanera (coastal highway) and drive up into that coast range (the Fila Costeña), there is very little infrastructure, in terms of decent roads and access to water and electricity. Previous North American developers had dug many wells that were never properly legalized. Recently the government has clamped down on that practice and is refusing to issue permits for non-concessioned water systems, or lots that have no access to legal water. I believe that is partially in order to put the brakes on the potential for out-of-control development to break out along the coast.
My point in all this is to say that I believe that the strongest area for future growth in the southern zone will be in the mountainous areas around Perez and the city of San Isidro de El General. So far, the real estate market in the mountains can only be labeled as slow, compared to the impulse buying of North Americans along the coast. I think that will change in the future.
Those mountains are already home to the 5-star AltaGracia resort, which word has it is about to be taken over by the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts chain. The area is also home to the Synergida Retreat Center, a multi-million dollar property that I marketed and sold to the current owners.
We are still very early in this growth phase and great deals are still fairly easy to come by in the mountains and far less so at the beach. It might be a wise idea to consider that as you contemplate your future investment in Costa Rica.
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