Taiwan will make donation to improve rural networks
Taiwan will make donationto improve rural networks
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Taiwan has announced a $1 million donation to assist in building up the digital infrastructure in rural Costa Rica.
The Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología, the government's science and technology department, will receive the money to put toward Centros Comunitarios Inteligentes (intelligent community centers) project, said a release. The nationwide network of these centers is meant to reduce the technology gap in rural Costa Rica. The Costa Rican government has already selected approximately 80 communities to be the recipients of the program.
The donation ceremony is scheduled to take place in the Salón Dorado of the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores Today at 2:30 p.m. Maria Eugenia Flores, the minister of Ciencia y Tecnología, Chancellor Bruno Stagno Ugarte and Taiwanese Ambassador Tzu-Dan Wu are expected to attend.
http://www.amcostarica.com/
ICE announces an upgrade
ICE announces an upgradeof fiber optic service
By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad says it will install a $59 million upgrade to its broad band Internet service within a year.
The project, "Frontera a Frontera," creates five interconnected fiber optic rings for the transmission of data, voice and video, the telecommunications monopoly said in a release.The total length of cable is 1,092 kms. or 679 miles.
The lines will run from Peñas Blancas in the north to Paso Canoas at the southern border and from Limón on the Caribbean to Quepos on the Pacific, said the company known as ICE.
Home users will benefit as well as commercial customers, said the company. The service should go online in the first four months of 2008, the company said.
http://www.amcostarica.com/
Pure luxury in a Caribbean jungle
Feb. 20, 2007, 9:04AM
COSTA RICA
Pure luxury in a Caribbean jungle
By MARA VORHEES
Lonely Planet
IF YOU GO
Getting thereFour daily buses make the five-hour journey from San Jose to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. Gray Line (011-506-220-2126; www.graylinecostarica.com) runs one bus a day. It's also an easy trip for rental cars.
Where to stayBungalows at La Costa de Papito (011-506-750-0704; www.lacostadepapito.com; $42-$60) are set in the midst of the rain forest about 2 kilometers south of Puerto Viejo. This is also the location of Pure Jungle Spa (011-506-750-0536; www.purejunglespa.com), where treatments start at $50 per hour.
Where to eatEl Loco Natural (011-506-750-0263) offers lunch and dinner for $8-$12, with live music on weekend nights. Patagonia Steak House (011-506-390-5677) is open only for dinner, which costs $10-$15 per person.
I had spent the day lounging on the black-sand beach and biking through the monkey-infested rain forest. When I pedaled up to the Pure Jungle Spa, I was salty, sandy and sweaty. My host, Denise, did not bat an eye.
The spa itself -- just south of Puerto Viejo on Costa Rica's Caribbean coast -- is set in an open-air, thatch-roof hut, lit by lanterns and surrounded by rain forest. Denise ushered me into a Bedrock-style shower with an open window offering a jungle view. I half expected to turn on the water by tugging on an elephant's trunk.
After rinsing off, I was invited to soak my feet in hibiscus-scented water and to sip a local elixir flavored with honey and cloves. This drink's unappetizing name is agua de rana -- frog's pee. It tasted like sweet, cool, herbal tea to me.
Completely relaxed and refreshed, I was ready for the treatment: the spa's signature papaya facial. Denise's fingers danced across my face, starting with a light massage, followed by a sweet-smelling pineapple exfoliate, and then the namesake papaya mask. While the mask set, she massaged my hands and head. The call of exotic birds, the patter of rain and other sounds of the jungle drifted in. More than a facial, this was an all-body, all-sense experience.
You can't bottle tropical paradise, but the Pure Jungle Spa comes close. All its products are locally made from organic fruit, virgin coconut oil and homemade cocoa butter.
The finishing touch for each spa treatment is a sliver of dark chocolate -- pure cocoa and sugar cane -- made by an indigenous family with homegrown ingredients.
The spa was an unexpected highlight of my stay in Puerto Viejo, a hippie haven famous for its big surf break, not for fancy spa treatments.
Costa Rica's Caribbean coast has long lagged behind the more developed Pacific coast. Two mountain ranges -- the Cordilleras Central and Talamanca -- bisect the country and isolate the "Caribbean side." But the divide is more than geographic.
Much of the region's population has Afro-Caribbean roots, stretching from Jamaican and Barbadian immigrants who came to work in the banana industry. Until 1949, the country was racially segregated, and the darker-skinned residents were forbidden from leaving the Caribbean. Neglected by the central government, the region trailed in obtaining infrastructure like electricity, telephone lines and paved roads. The disparity is still evident, with higher poverty levels and lower standards of living than in the rest of the country.
In earlier times, only wave-riders and thrill-seekers were willing to brave the overland journey to this far-flung spot. By day, they would take on Costa Rica's sauciest surf, known as Salsa Brava; by night, they would build bonfires on the beach and sleep under the stars. The lack of telephones and electricity -- let alone hotels and restaurants -- didn't bother these hardcore adventurers too much.
Nowadays, Puerto Viejo's traditional clientele is growing up; and so is the town itself. Sleeping on the beach is no longer required. The road from San Jose is paved.
Costa Rica's Caribbean cuisine is evolving, too. Famous for its slow-simmering stew called rondon, made by mixing together whatever ingredients the cook can "run down," Puerto Viejo's kitchens are also turning out fantastic fusion cuisine, incorporating influences from around the world.
El Loco Natural is an open-air cafe, where sounds of calypso and reggae accompany Asian, Mediterranean and Caribbean flavors. I started with tropical gazpacho soup, subtly sweet and spicy with mango and cilantro. It was followed by fish tacos, featuring fresh-caught marlin, grilled to perfection and topped with a spicy jerk sauce. After six weeks of pinto gallo (rice and beans), I was in fusion-foodie heaven.
The following night, I dined at Patagonia, a real-deal, Argentinean-owned steakhouse. The decor is not much, but the open kitchen allows an unimpeded view of unembellished steaks sizzling on the grill. A Mendoza red was the complement to my tenderloin, a " treat, in many ways.
Puerto Viejo de Talamanca is still a long way off from the condo-lined beaches of the Pacific coast. Despite certain advances, this little town retains the atmosphere of an outpost, where adventurers come to ride the waves and escape civilization. But even adventurers deserve the occasional indulgence ... more chocolate, anyone?
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/travel/4564071.html
LandAmerica Announces the Opening of LandAmerica Commonwealth Title of Central America
LandAmerica Announces the Opening of LandAmerica Commonwealth Title of Central America
RICHMOND, Va., Feb. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
LandAmerica Financial
Group, Inc. (NYSE: LFG), a leading provider of real estate transaction
services, announces the opening of LandAmerica Commonwealth Title of
Central America, a venture of its Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company
subsidiary.
LandAmerica Commonwealth Title of Central America is headquartered in
Liberia, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. It offers title, escrow, and other real
estate transaction services to buyers, sellers, developers, and lenders
throughout Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize, and
El Salvador.
"Central America is quickly becoming the first choice for retired North
Americans looking for warm weather and real estate value," said Karla
Amador, Manager - LandAmerica Commonwealth Title of Central America. "We
provide our residential and commercial customers in Central America with
the same level of superior service that they are used to receiving in the
U.S."
Amador reports that North American buyers, sellers, developers, and
lenders appreciate having their real estate transactions in the region
handled by a company with LandAmerica's reputation for personal attention
to detail and financial strength.
"We are excited about opening our new office in Costa Rica," added Fred
Persaud, Senior Vice President - Caribbean and Latin America for
LandAmerica. "This is a milestone in making LandAmerica the premier
provider of real estate transaction services for customers doing business
in Central America."
For more information contact Karla Amador, Manager - LandAmerica
Commonwealth Title of Central America at (506) 666-0005 (direct); (506)
883-9641 (cell); or kamador@landam-ctca.com.
About LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc.
LandAmerica Financial Group, Inc. is a leading provider of real estate
transaction services. Through its many subsidiaries, LandAmerica serves
residential and commercial customers with more than 1,000 offices and a
network of 10,000 active agents throughout the United States, Mexico,
Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America, and Europe. LandAmerica is recognizedon
Fortune magazine's 2006 list of America's most admired companies and isranked as a
Fortune 500 and Forbes Platinum 400 company.
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/02-16-2007/0004529496&EDATE==
Wal-Mart to expand reach in Costa Rica
Wal-Mart to expand reach in Costa Rica
World's largest retailer plans to spend $49 million to open 14 new stores in the Central American country this year.
February 20 2007: 7:39 PM EST
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (Reuters) --
U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will spend $49 million to open 14 new stores in Costa Rica this year, the company said Tuesday.
The new stores will create 1,500 new jobs in the Central American country, Wal-Mart said.
Wal-Mart (Charts) announced the investment after its chief executive officer for the Americas, Craig Heckert, met Costa Rican President Oscar Arias. Heckert was in the Costa Rican capital for a Wal-Mart Central America board meeting.
Wal-Mart, union push universal health care
Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in Mexico, has been stepping up its presence in Central America since entering the market in 2005. Central America is a largely poor region of around 41 million people that bridges Mexico with South America.
Wal-Mart Central America was formed a year ago when Wal-Mart obtained majority control of the Central American Retail Holding Company (CARHCO), which it first bought into in Sept. 2005.
The group has some 375 supermarkets and other stores in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica and posted sales of about $2.2 billion in 2005.
Wal-Mart controls some 9,000 jobs in Costa Rica through its Mas X Menos, Pali, Hipermas and Maxibodega stores there.
http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/20/news/companies/walmart_stores.reut/?postversion=2007022019
Housing Bubble and Real Estate Market Tracker
Housing Bubble and Real Estate Market Tracker
Judy Weil submits: Here's our summary of articles and data points on the housing market. It's part of Seeking Alpha's coverage of the real estate market and homebuilder stocks. Like all other topics and stock coverage from Seeking Alpha, you can get this sent to your Blackberry or desktop email by signing up for our no-spam free email subscription service.
Real Estate Sales and House Prices
Sacramento Real Estate: As Well as Can be Expected (American Chronicle, Feb. 19th): "MLS data released earlier this week by the Sacramento Association of Realtors showed new listings in January up over 75% from December and an almost 20% growth in inventory. This is normal and expected as we move out of the holiday season and end of year rush. Compared to January 2005 there were less new listings (2.9%) and current inventory is down 4.8% from last year to 4,926. The median price paid in January is virtually the same as December but down 3.5% from 2005 to $355,000."
Mountains of Homes Still Listed for Sale (Miami Herald, Feb. 18th): "For Miami-Dade and Broward County homes that sold in 2006, prices on the whole went up 8% to $280,000… However… for every home that sold in each month of 2006, an average of 14 did not. The number of homes on the market doubled to almost 66,000, as sales dropped to their lowest level in a decade. The backlog for houses runs all the way from the least-expensive fixer-upper to the luxury mansions. But it's most bloated in the middle range of $200,000 to $499,000… [Some] 60% of houses for sale in South Florida."
Sellers' Market in Sight? End of 2006 saw Jump in Prices for New Homes (Herald Sun, Feb. 18th) North Carolina : "The median sale price of new homes sold in Durham County spiked an average of $21,000 in Q4'06 from Q3, according to Market Opportunity Research that tracks Triangle home sales. That's 11%-- from $196,500 to $217,500… In contrast, the median sale price of resold houses in Durham dropped from $167,500 in Q3 to $155,000 in Q4… That amounts to a 7% decline and is $15,000 below the median in Q4'05, according to MORE… Meanwhile, it seems clear that prices have dropped for existing homes in Durham because there are so many on the market."
Vacant and Costly (Modesto Bee, Feb. 16th): "The glut of vacant houses is readily apparent throughout the Northern San Joaquin Valley, as bank foreclosures and former rental homes flood the for-sale market… Local Realtor: "The rental market is very soft and very tough right now ... and it's deteriorating… So many homes that have lingered on the sales market have started flooding the rental market… Conversely, since the oversupply of rental property has pushed down rents, many former rental-home owners are trying to sell instead... I would say more than half the vacant homes on the market are owned by banks that have repossessed them."
Affordability Impact
A Money Pit? Maybe it's More Like a Pendulum (San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 18th): "Bay Area housing market… is a buyer's market. So why can only 12% of Bay Area households afford to buy the median-priced home? Wells Fargo: "Over the decades, Bay Area home appreciation has consistently outpaced increases in incomes…" U.S. Census: In 1979 the Bay Area median home price of $99,600 was almost five times the median household income. In 2005, the median home price of $645,300 was almost 10 times the median income. Not only does this wider gap make it more challenging to buy a home, it has altered the social dynamics of towns."
Real Estate Investing and SentimentDoomsday Pundits Are Wrong Again (Caleb Sevian in Seeking Alpha, Feb. 20th) "Housing is still weak, but it is becoming clearer every day that it is a supply demand problem and will likely be isolated to areas over built with supply… An article in the NY Times yesterday cited Manhattan’s increase in housing prices and strong demand… Last week’s 14.3% reduction in housing starts is good news; it shows that builders are slowing the supply side of the equation and allowing demand to catch up. Last week the Association of Home Builders released data that builder confidence was at its highest level in eight months. Apparently the builders’ agree."
Economy Echoes Trend of the '90s (Rutland Herald, Feb. 19th): "The overall rate of growth has followed a trajectory almost identical to the first five years of the 1990s expansion... Few economic forecasters expect the current growth cycle to have the length and vigor of the 1990s boom… Yet fewer still expected strong growth in the mid-1990s. In early 1996, forecasters… predicted that the economy would grow merely 1.8% that year… [It grew at] twice that pace… Gallup: Last month 52% of Americans rated economic conditions as either excellent or good. In May 1996, at a similar moment in the previous expansion, only 30% did so."
Sellers Dropping Prices to Move Homes (New Jersey Real Estate Report, Feb. 19th): "Nat'l Ass'n of Realtors: The median selling price for homes in the region that includes Monmouth and Ocean counties fell 4.2% in Q4'06.. That’s the biggest dropoff since 1991… In Monmouth County, the median home price fell 7%, from $445,000 to $416,750. The median home price dipped 6% in Ocean County, from $340,000 to $320,000… Those considering cashing out their homes and heading to more affordable parts of the country, waiting until 2008 for the return of a seller’s market… may have to seek consolation in rising stock prices, which have gained nearly 20% in value in the past seven months."
Riverside Investor Backs up Hunch by Selling his Home (OC Register, Feb. 19th): "We’ve decided to sell now for two main reasons. I feel the tax law of $500,000 gain free every two years for a married couple will be history within a few years… I’m sure I can buy a lot and build a house that ends up having $500,000 of equity. By selling now and creating $500,000 of non-taxable profit, that saves me having to earn $1,000,000 to end up with $500,000. I also get to avoid most of the decline I see coming in price. It’s a million dollar positive decision no matter how you slice it."
Defaults Hard on Housing Market (Recordnet, Feb. 17th): "Grupe Co. (realtors): "The sales market has been improving as many people are "getting off the fence" to buy, because they are realizing the slow housing market may have bottomed out or be close to it. "My concern is foreclosures… In San Joaquin County, pre-foreclosure notices are three times greater than at the end of 2005. This could translate into increased inventory as these hit the market." Gregory Group (real estate information service): "The percentage increases in mortgage defaults are significant, but the numbers started so low, there won't be a big enough impact to affect the sales market."
Report Finds Residential Real Estate Underperforms Other Assets (Yahoo! Finance, Feb. 14th): "According to a Fidelity Investments study, home values underperformed stocks and bonds over every five- and 10-year period from 1963 to 2005. Home values have been slightly above the returns on treasury bills during the same time... Over the more than 40-year period, real compound returns on stocks outpaced that of residential real estate, with 5.95% average annual returns on stocks compared with 1.35% in realty. A dollar invested in stocks in 1963 would have compounded to $12.36 by 2006, while the same dollar would have grown to $1.79 in real estate."
Mortgates and Real Estate Lending
After Subprime: Lax Lending Lurks Elsewhere (Wall St. Journal, Feb. 20th): "Mortgage lenders rely on FICO scores for conventional mortgages… Yields on junk bonds -- the debt of the least creditworthy companies -- have never been as low against comparable Treasury yields as now… emerging-market debt [too]. Defaults on these bonds are low, as they were in subprime a few years ago… Low returns on Treasury bonds have left investors clamoring for risky assets with higher returns. Subprime mortgages were only one area that fed the desire. Now, investors are forcing lenders to buy back some bad loans.... The risk many thought they had offset has returned to haunt them."
Subprime Mortgages and Market Datapoints (Barry Ritholtz in Seeking Alpha, Feb. 20th): "1) Nearly 1.2 million foreclosure filings were reported last year, a 42% rise from 2005… [or] one in every 92 U.S. households… 2) About 80% of subprime mortgages today are adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, that have… low fixed-interest payments in their first few years but then usually adjust to higher interest payments. 3) Creative new subprime loans… are now 47% of total loans issued last year… up from 2% of total mortgages in 2000. 4) Loan-to-value ratios, the loan amount expressed as a percent of the property value, have grown to 86.5% last year from 78% in 2000."
Treasurer Talks Foreclosures—Numbers High for Clifton County (Wilmington News Journal, Feb. 20th): "Ohio state Treasurer Richard Cordray said there are three main factors for the upsurge in foreclosures around Ohio. One cause is the slow growth in the Ohio economy and job losses. A second key reason is that there's never been any real regulation of the mortgage lending industry in Ohio. And a third factor is an increase in the complexity of some mortgage products."
Adjustable Rate Loan Resets, Skyrocketing Mortgage Payments for Homeowners (RIS Media, Feb. 20th): "Many households that took advantage of "teaser rate" loans-types of adjustable rate mortgages that hold down payments for an initial period, are facing resets of their interest rates that can cause monthly payments to balloon upward of 10% to 50%. A $1 million mortgage taken out 30 months ago that started at $2,528 per month, could jump to just under $7,000 per month… With California foreclosures up 160% since last year, and Marketwatch reporting $2 trillion coming up for adjustment this year alone, the demand for refinancing adjustable rate mortgages will be unprecedented."
Investors in Mortgage-Backed Securities are Failing to React to the Plunge in the Mortgage Market (Int'l Herald Tribune, Feb. 18th): "Residential loans [went] to $1.1 trillion last year from $586 billion in 2003. Many of these loans have been packaged into collateralized debt obligations… 81% of the $249 billion in collateralized debt obligation pools in 2005 consisted of residential mortgage products… Mortgage loan pools have held up even as the subprime mortgage industry has collapsed [because] a wide array of debt obligations provides a margin of safety… Major rating agencies have issued relatively few downgrades. [For example,] Moody's [has] provided greater credit enhancement on the loans. But… the cushion can be additional mortgages or loans (not cash)."
Global Alternatives To The Housing Slump
Development Fuels Staggering Growth in Tropics (Southwest Fla. Herald Tribune, Feb. 19th): "Caribbean nation-states, the Virgin Islands and parts of Central America -- think Costa Rica and Belize -- are undergoing staggering growth, fueled largely by high-end, coastal developments catering to wealthy Americans. Development in the Bahamas has helped yield nearly a 60% increase in cash assets at the country's commercial bank from 2002 to 2005 -- $66.3 billion to $105.8 billion. In the Dominican Republic, a 36.34% increase, from $161 billion to $220.6 billion during the same period... Local realtor: Three years ago, Americans accounted for only 15% of home buyers in the Dominican. The figure might be as high as 50% now."
The Real World (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Feb. 17th): "Peter Shuttleworth is a multi-national property coach… [who travels] to countries like Armenia, Russia and Panama, helping real estate purveyors professionalize their trade… As many countries found freedom, they looked for systemic help in making things accountable. A housing market requires law and order - not always common in emerging economies… American business executives are only too happy to help: Among them: realty brokers; developers and appraisers affiliated with the International Real Property Foundation in Chicago… and private mortgage insurers like PMI Group… Joining them soon in the international arena will be mortgage insurer MGIC Investment Corp."
Macro Impact, And Will The Housing Slump Cause A Recession?
Plumb Creek Timber: Trees are Forever (Steve Sjuggerud in Seeking Alpha, Feb. 20th): "In less than five months, the five timberland stocks I've recommended at one time or another in my newsletters are up an average of 45%... Plum Creek is up by 1,300% since 1989… I bet that in 20 years from now, pension funds will own more timberland assets than anyone else. As this shift occurs… the price of timberland will go way up… Timberland stocks have another way to make big money... land sales to real estate developers. Plum Creek plans to grow land sales to $500 million a year. That's just land sales to developers – not even their core business."
Vulcan Materials Buys Florida Rock for 45% Premium Over Current Price (Seeking Alpha, Feb. 20th): "Vulcan Materials Co. announced yesterday it had agreed to acquire Florida Rock Industries Inc. for $4.6 billion in a cash and stock offer that provides a 45% premium to Florida Rock's current closing price. Already the biggest producer of highway construction materials in the U.S., the acquisition allows Vulcan to expand into a Florida building market that has been one of the nation's most profitable in recent years - and also one of the hardest hit in the housing downturn of the last year… Shares in Florida Rock jumped $15.04, or 32.03%, to $62.00 on the news."
Stewart Earnings Tumble 51% (Inman News, Feb. 19th): "Stewart Information Services [real estate information and transaction management] reported net earnings for 2006 fell to $43.3 million, down 51% from $88.8 million in 2005… Revenues for 2006 set a record at $2.5 billion, up 1.7% from 2005. Despite the growth, the increased revenue from acquisitions, new agencies, commercial transactions and international operations was substantially offset by a decline in transaction volume... in certain major markets of the country along with rising interest rates… The softening of the national housing market hurt title orders in Q4, as orders fell 13.4% from Q4'05."
Housing is 'Wild Card' for Fed (Inman News, Feb. 19th): "In Bernanke's risk assessment… qualifying the growth and inflation forecast: "The risks to this outlook are significant. To the downside ... housing. To the upside, output may expand more quickly than expected..." Housing is a wild card. There isn't anything for the Fed to do about it, as the global dollar-recycling machine has suppressed mortgage rates at least a percentage point, way below their normal growth-cycle position above the Fed's cost of money. What better housing safety net could there be?"
Homebuilders And Housing Stocks
Homebuilders: Earnings & Price Analysis (Barry Ritholtz in Seeking Alpha, Feb. 20th): "The Real-Estate-has-bottomed crowd [claim] the move off of the lows by the homebuilders as proof.... [But] a short-term stock move up after a sector gets shellacked is hardly proof that this economic sector has bottomed; with the homebuilders, it's more likely proof that they have been a crowded short… And the Homies have not only had a huge run in share prices, their earnings went through the roof also, peaking in 2005. Now, we are on the other side of that mountain… major builders earnings are right back to where they were before the big run up. [But] in 2002-03, rates were down and heading towards 46 year lows. Now, they are elevated and likely heading higher."
New Communities Needed, say Builders (The Reporter, Feb. 17th): "Calif. Building Industry Association: Sales at the state's major new home communities fell by 29% to under 86,300 homes during 2006, the median asking price still rose by nearly 4% to $450,990… Keusder Homes: The fact new-home pricing remains strong, even with builder incentives being offered, demonstrates that California's housing affordability crisis will only be solved by producing enough new homes and condos to meet the need… Although builders have drastically curtailed pulling building permits during the last few months, unsold inventory continued to rise by about 53% to nearly 16,800 homes between the end of 2005 and 2006."
Homing in on WCI Communities (Alex Garcia in Seeking Alpha, Feb. 16th): "WCI Communities (WCI) hired Goldman Sachs to explore options to increase shareholder value… including stock repurchase and the possible sale of the company: WCI's last 10-Q shows a 9 to 1 short term asset to liabilities ratio. Long term, it’s not as strong but shouldn’t be a problem… The company is trading at 8 P/E… in line with the industry's below market average. WCI is trading below its book value ($25)… has a backlog of 1296 units (mostly on rich Florida land) worth just over $1 billion… The company’s market cap is $968 million… [And Carl] Icahn is buying the stock."
Commercial Real Estate and REITs
Medical Properties Bringing Out 12M Shares (Globe St. Feb. 17th): "Medical Properties Trust Inc. is making a public offering of 12 million shares, with $91 million of the proceeds ticketed to finance deals for its Prime Healthcare Services Inc. affiliates. The REIT recently has completed $62 million of new healthcare real estate and expects to close on $29 million within the next month… Part of a sales agreement between Medical Properties and affiliates of underwriters UBS Securities LLC and Wachovia Capital Markets LLC… Medical Properties noted that if the forward purchasers can't borrow and deliver the entire allocation, then it will take over issuing and selling the balance."
Web Site of the DayMuch has been written in the media about identifying the bottom of the housing slump. It's impossible to predict, but at least one website tries. Housing Predictor is a website started by Florida internet developer Mike Colpitts. The site partners with Home Gain, a national real estate listing service, and Foreclosure.com another listing service with an emphasis on foreclosed properties, to provide real estate listings and housing market forecasts. More than 250 local housing market forecasts are provided on Housing Predictor in all 50 states.
The site was set up to tap in to the growing group of investors who are increasingly using the internet for their real estate research.
Some good news: Investors hear mostly about the price declines facing so many of the nations metropolises, but Housing Predictor also provides data about "at least ten states in which local housing prices are appreciating." At least ten?
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Housing Bubble and Real Estate Market Tracker
Housing Decline and Recession: A Proposed Relationship
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Dazzling birds of Costa Rica beguile visitors
Dazzling birds of Costa Rica beguile visitors
Thursday, February 22, 2007
James F. McCartyPlain Dealer Reporter
I spent some quality time with a few old friends last week.
The golden-winged warblers and great crested flycatchers were there. So were the cedar waxwings, Baltimore orioles and ospreys.
But I had to travel a long way to see them. Two friends from Northeast Ohio and I spent 10 days on a birding tour of Costa Rica - an Eden of the Western Hemisphere and the winter home of many of our familiar North American songbirds.
I'm pleased to report that Costa Rica is a gracious host for birds and birders alike, and its residents, known as Ticos, appreciate the migratory visitors as much as the indigenous species.
Blessed with a bounty of diverse wildlife habitats, Costa Rica, more than any other Central American nation, has had the vision to conserve its ecological treasures in an expansive system of national parks, biological preserves and privately held protected lands. About 800 bird species live in this country, which is the size of West Virginia.
What a joy it was to visit a tropical rain forest where Wilson's warblers and Philadelphia vireos flitted about in cecropia trees alongside Costa Rican species such as golden-headed and spangle-cheeked tanagers, and where summer tanagers and rose-breasted grosbeaks shared a ripe banana with compadres such as the chestnut-capped brush-finch and slaty-backed nightingale-thrush.
This was my third trip to Costa Rica, and fourth to Central America, so the sensory overload of seeing so many brilliantly plumaged birds was alleviated somewhat. But none of those previous journeys compared to this one for a simple reason: Paco Madrigal.
It would be hard to imagine a better birding guide and ambassador for his country. He grew up on the edge of the rain forest near the La Selva Biological Reserve on the Caribbean slope, where he acquired an encyclopedic knowledge of birds and their habits.
Every day, he amazed us with his ability to identify strange songs, to pick out birds camouflaged in tangled vines, and to whistle antbird calls, luring in these secretive and seldom seen skulkers of the dark forest floor.
With his skills, a mournful cry from the shadows of the Carara Biological Reserve turned into a little tinamou creeping through the leaf litter in search of insects. A persistent scream from above the forest canopy was revealed to be a semiplumbeous hawk. Scattered popping noises all around us at the Selva Verde Lodge were shown to be the wing beats of courting manakins.
And those weren't the most exotic species in Costa Rica.
The golden-browed chlorophonia was an eye-popping combination of lime green and lemon yellow that looked like a sherbet sundae with a cherry on top as it ate bright-red figs.
The aquamarine blues, vivid greens and scarlets of honeycreepers and dacnis made their plumages look as if they were illuminated by neon.
No spotlights could brighten a dark and misty Cloud Forest like a resplendent quetzal, trogon, motmot, barbet, toucan or cotinga perched on a moss-covered branch.
We love the flute symphonies of our wood thrush in Northeast Ohio. But that was before hearing the song of the black-faced solitaire, a deep-woods relative whose voice sounded like microphone feedback mixed with the hum produced by a finger rubbing the wet rim of a glass.
Our blue jays are colorful but hardly compare to the white-throated magpie-jays of Costa Rica, with tails as long as a peacock's.
The songs of our Carolina wrens are as perky a melody as you'll hear in North America. But wait until you hear Costa Rica's nightingale wren, whose song sounds as if it were composed by Mozart.
We see one species of woodcreeper in North America. Costa Rica has 15, some up to a foot long. And that doesn't include 20 similar species of spinetails, barbtails, treerunners, foliage-gleaners and leaftossers.
We have one resident hummingbird in the Eastern United States. Costa Rica has 51 species, ranging in size from a bumblebee to almost as large as a robin, with a rainbow of glittering plumages.
The debate continues over the existence of the ivory-billed woodpecker in North America. But its cousins, the pale-billed and lineated woodpeckers, are abundant in the forests of Costa Rica.
As odd-sounding birds go, few rival the three-wattled bellbird, a forest-canopy denizen that sounds more like an electric ring than a chime. And as we learned last week, they are more often heard than seen.
But not many of our target birds eluded our binoculars. We left Costa Rica dazzled by the memories of 380 species of birds and a newfound appreciation for the motto that embodies the Tico lifestyle, pura vida. Translated, it means "pure life."
For more information about birding in Costa Rica and Paco Madrigal, go to his Web site, www.cotingatours.com.
Sightings
the recent freeze of Lake Erie, the waterfowl and gull watching really has picked up at the traditional hot-water release sites. At Cleveland's East 72nd Street, birders are seeing good numbers of Iceland, glaucous, Thayer's and lesser black-backed gulls, plus canvasback, common goldeneye and greater scaup ducks.
A long-tailed duck, along with glaucous and little gulls, was seen from the pier at the Avon Lake power plant.
A common redpoll made a brief stop at John Pogacnik's Lake County feeders with a flock of goldfinches.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
jmccarty@plaind.com, 216-999-4153
http://www.cleveland.com/living/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/living/117205077544360.xml&coll=2&thispage=1
Quality surfing waves have both social, economic value
Quality surfing waves have both social, economic value
Environment News
What is a Wave Worth?
Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 17 February, 2007 : - -
Quality surfing waves have an enormous social and economic value that is often underestimated by political leaders and businesspeople. The surf apparel industry alone represents annual sales in excess of $8 billion dollars a year.
What was once considered a sport for beach bums and dirtbags has become a major industry, with a demographic that has completely changed since its early years.
These days, professionals from all walks of life take to the water, bring their families to the beach, and spend top dollar to travel to exotic locations around the world to enjoy the waves. In the United States there are currently over 2 million surfers, according to Action Sports Retailers, twice as many as there were 20 years ago.
Certain places in the world have been smart enough to capitalize on their surfing resources. Destinations like Puerto Escondido in Mexico, Bali and the Mentawai Islands in Indonesia, and the Hawaiian Islands in the US, have all experienced huge boosts to their tourism revenues by catering to the surfing crowd.
Located in Central America, the country was once as impoverished as its neighbors. In the 1980’s and 1990’s surfers began to travel to Costa Rica in droves, due to its multitude of high quality waves, warm water, and proximity to what was then the world’s biggest surf market - the United States.
Costa Rica used the image of surfing to promote itself to the world, and now boasts the healthiest economy and highest standard of living in the entire region.
Here are some statistics from Costa Rica’s Government Tourism Board:
Surfers Visiting Costa Rica in 2006: 100,278
Average Stay: 17 days
Average Spent per Day: US $122
Approximate Revenue Per Person: US $2074
Approximate Revenue for Costa Rica: US $207,900,000
Population of Costa Rica: 3,000,000
The lesson for governments and developers around the world is: don’t mess with the waves. They are a natural resource that should never, ever be sacrificed.
In the words of Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, Inc., “natural surf breaks should be treated as world heritage sites, and should never be destroyed no matter what the reason".
Read the full article by Will Henry at Save the Waves.org
More USA/Cen Amer. surfing news available hereCheck the latest West Coast Surf Reports and Forecasts
http://www.globalsurfnews.com/news.asp?Id_news=26323
LandAmerica opens in Costa Rica
LandAmerica opens in Costa Rica
RICHMOND, Va.
LandAmerica Financial Group Inc., a provider of real-estate transaction services, on Friday said it opened LandAmerica Commonwealth Title of Central America, headquartered in Costa Rica.
The office offers title, escrow and other real estate transaction services to customers in Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala, Belize and El Salvador.
LandAmerica shares closed up 18 cents at $63.88 on the New York Stock Exchange.
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8NB40I80.htm
Costa Rica's Pure Jungle Spa delights
Costa Rica's Pure Jungle Spa delights
Tucson, Arizona Published: 02.18.2007
By Mara Vorhees
I had spent the day lounging on the black-sand beach and biking through the monkey-infested rain forest. When I pedaled up to the Pure Jungle Spa, I was sweaty. My host, Denise, did not bat an eye.
The spa itself — just south of Puerto Viejo on Costa Rica's Caribbean coast — is set in an open-air, thatch-roof hut, lit by lanterns and surrounded by rain forest.
Denise ushered me into a Bedrock-style shower with an open window offering a jungle view. I half expected to turn on the water by tugging on an elephant's trunk.
After rinsing off, I was invited to soak my feet in hibiscus-scented water. Completely relaxed and refreshed, I was ready for the treatment: the spa's signature papaya facial.
While the mask set, Denise massaged my hands and head. The call of exotic birds, the patter of rain and other sounds of the jungle drifted in. More than a facial, this was an all-body, all-sense experience.
You can't bottle tropical paradise, but the Pure Jungle Spa comes close. All its products are locally made from organic fruit, virgin coconut oil and homemade cocoa butter.
The spa was an unexpected highlight of my stay in Puerto Viejo, a hippie haven famous for its big surf break, not for fancy spa treatments.
Costa Rica's Caribbean coast has long lagged behind the more developed Pacific coast. Two mountain ranges — the Cordillera Central and the Cordillera de Talamanca — bisect the country and isolate the "Caribbean side." But the divide is more than geographic.
Much of the region's population has Afro-Caribbean roots, stretching from Jamaican and Barbadian immigrants who came to work in the banana industry. Until 1949, the country was racially segregated, and the darker-skinned residents were forbidden from leaving the Caribbean. Neglected by the central government, the region trailed in obtaining infrastructure like electricity, telephone lines and paved roads. The disparity is still evident, with higher poverty levels than in the rest of the country.
In earlier times, only wave-riders and thrill-seekers were willing to brave the overland journey to this far-flung spot. By day, they would take on Costa Rica's sauciest surf, known as Salsa Brava; by night, they would build bonfires on the beach and sleep under the stars. The lack of telephones and electricity — let alone hotels and restaurants — didn't bother these hard-core adventurers too much.
Nowadays, Puerto Viejo's traditional clientele is growing up, and so is the town itself. Sleeping on the beach is no longer required. The road from San Jose is paved.
Four daily buses make the five-hour journey from San Jose to Puerto Viejo. Gray Line runs one bus a day. It's also an easy trip for rental cars.
Travels with Lonely Planet
● Mara Vorhees co-wrote Lonely Planet's latest Costa Rica guide. "Travels With Lonely Planet" is coordinated by Jay Cooke, commissioning editor. You can e-mail him at jay.cooke@lonelyplanet.com. For more travel information, visit lonelyplanet.c
http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/169371
Hotel Punta Islita Recognized by Conde Nast Johansens as Responsible Tourism Leader
Hotel Punta Islita Recognized by Conde Nast Johansens as Responsible Tourism Leader
NewswireToday - /newswire/ - San José, Costa Rica, 02/16/2007 - Hotel Punta Islita received the Most Excellent Eco Resort Award (Mexico & Central America) from global luxury travel guide Condé Nast Johansens on February 5th at the Bel Air Hotel in Los Angeles. The gala was co-hosted by supermodel Cindy Crawford.
The awards gala took place on February 5th at the Bel Air Hotel in Los Angeles and was co-hosted by supermodel Cindy Crawford.Awards were presented in 25 categories and were selected by the guide’s readers, hotel guests, and Condé Nast Johansens’ inspection team.
Hotel Punta Islita’s Executive Vice President, Eduardo Villafranca, remarked “High-end travelers are more involved in the places they visit, seeking authenticity and healthy natural surroundings.
These conscientious sophisticates value comfort, but not at the expense of the destination’s character or welfare. We are excited to be recognized as a responsible tourism leader and pledge to provide our guests with rewarding and fulfilling life experiences!
”This past January, Hotel Punta Islita was featured in both Travel + Leisure’s Best 500 in the World ranking and Condé Nast Traveler’s Gold List. Both publications noted Hotel Punta Islita’s uniqueness and commitment to a responsible tourism program that emphasizes the sustainable development of local communities and optimal resource stewardship.
Inaugurated in 1994 and a distinguished member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH), Hotel Punta Islita overlooks a secluded cove along the coastline of Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Its responsible tourism model has won international accolades including the Investor in People category of the 2006 Tourism for Tomorrow Awards bestowed by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) and the Small Luxury Hotel’s 2005 Caring Luxury Award. The hotel features 47 accommodations including deluxe rooms, suites, and villas.
Grupo Islita, Hotel Punta Islita’s parent company, is expanding its responsible tourism offerings with the planned November 2007 inauguration of El Silencio Lodge & Spa, a sanctuary for soft adventure and inspired wellness in Costa Rica’s central volcanic region. Offering a 500-acre private reserve, gently flowing rivers, and hidden waterfalls, it will embed 16 suites and a full-service spa in the thick of pristine cloud forest.
Agency / Source: Grupo Islita
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http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/14140/
Costa Rican Beach Jaco
Costa Rican Beach Jaco
Submitted by Adrian Dunbaker on February 15, 2007 - 9:37pm. Home and Leisure Travel
Stock Photo
Beaches in Costa Rica, like jaco, may well be one of the most important assets in the eyes of visitors. The beaches come in all sizes, shapes and types.
One of the most known beaches is called Jaco.
Jaco is one of the first beaches to become a real tourist magnet. It is also one of the closest beaches to San Jose.
The beach itself is a three km long beach with nice sand and the water is inviting. However, as always when swimming in the sea, check out current riptides as well as keep an eye on the tide.
Jaco has rapidly become one of the selected party beaches in Costa Rica and the long beach has a multitude of hotels, cabins and rooms for rent.
When visiting the beaches,
• Ask around for information about riptides, before you find them yourself.
• Also, check the time schedule for the local tide. The change in sea level is great and you can be pulled out to sea.
• Remember that the bottom end places to stay are cheap for a reason. Never leave valuable things behind.
• Mid to high end hotels can be of good quality, but check for ceiling fans or ac as well as warm or cold water.
• Remember that the way of cooking will not be the same as in a good restaurant and you may feel the urge to test many local delicatessens when on the beach. This may come as a surprise to your stomach!
• Get bottled water on your way to Jaco. To make sure you will not stand there with the salt from the sea in your month, and no place, where you can find something to drink.
You can travel to and from beaches like Jaco in many ways. Rental car, bus and even by air in some cases. Smaller local airlines fly between the airports in Costa Rica daily and can take you from San Jose to Liberia or some other places.
Inquire locally the get the correct schedules and prices.
By Kenth Nasstrom
Kenth Nasstrom lived in Costa Rica in the 80's and Costa Rica is like a home for him.
Visit www.costa-rican-information.com/costa-rica-beaches.html for more information about beaches in costa rica.
http://www.bestsyndication.com/?q=021507_costa_rica.htm
Surf Diva Makes The Cover Of The NY Times
Surf Diva Makes The Cover Of The NY Times
Posted 02.15.2007It’s not every day that a surfing company makes the cover of the Sunday edition of The New York Times, but that’s exactly where San Diego based surf school, Surf Diva, was featured last weekend.
The article, written by Matt Higgins, discusses surfing as a growing trend among business professionals and the business elite. He states, “Surfing, once the sport of Hawaiian kings, has come full circle. After becoming a counterculture activity for beach bums and bohemians, it has emerged as a status sport, like skiing and golf.”
Isabelle Tihanyi and Caroline Tihanyi were interviewed about Surf Diva Surf School, because the La Jolla surf school has experienced immense growth partly because of the surge in popularity of the sport. Higgins commented, “In addition to trips to Costa Rica, Surf Diva holds about 50 corporate clinics a year in Southern California. Packages can include accommodations, transportation, golf and spas.”
Higgins also states in the article, “This new species of surfer contributes to a booming market for vacation packages, instruction, equipment and real estate near some of the world’s best surf breaks. Like golf, surfing has become an ideal activity around which to discuss business. Surfers find plenty of time for talk while driving in search of good spots, while changing into and out of wetsuits in the parking lot, and especially while waiting between sets of waves.”
The article features pictures of Surf Diva students attending a Surf Diva Weekend Clinic, one of the school’s most popular year-round programs for women.
On being covered in The New York Times, Izzy Tihanyi said, “We give surf lessons to a variety of people here at Surf Diva, from young kids to adults. Our students come from all over the world and represent many different professional backgrounds. We have certainly seen growth in our corporate clinic packages over the last few years and our Costa Rica program, which also features yoga and massage, is selling out regularly.”
Coco Tihanyi commented, “It’s absolutely fabulous that we have been mentioned again in The New York Times and to be on the front page is an amazing accolade for the surf school. It’s also wonderful to see surfing being given such great recognition and coverage by The New York Times!”
The New York Times article can be viewed on Surf Diva’s website at http://www.surfdiva.com/newsdetail.asp?ID=21
For more information about Surf Diva, please contact Gina Corrie-Metcalf (858) 454 8273
http://www.twsbiz.com/twbiz/industrynews/article/0,21214,1590696,00.html
Costa Rica Marina Strategy Pays Off for South Florida Real Estate Team
Costa Rica Marina Strategy Pays Off for South Florida Real Estate TeamWednesday February 14, 9:49 am ET
Digital Capital Group's Bahia Escondida Succeeds as Bubble Bursts on U.S. Market
GOLFITO, Costa Rica, Feb. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- A few years ago, South Florida-based Digital Capital International Sales Group and developer Jim Lynskey began researching the possibility of creating a marina development in Costa Rica. What they found astounded them.
Despite being one of the world's most renowned sport fishing destinations, the country had nowhere near enough yacht slips to support demand. And that gap would only continue to widen. According to research by Parker Associates, a leading marketing and sales consulting firm, there were approximately 1,200 private vessel arrivals in Costa Rica in 2005 -- yet fewer than 325 marina slips to accommodate them. By 2010, more than 2,000 private vessel arrivals are expected, but less than 10 percent of the country's residential and resort development includes a marina. And, once they arrived in Costa Rica, where would these wealthy sport fisherman stay?
"We immediately realized we had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," said Phil Perko, president and founder of Digital Capital. So, Perko, along with partners Richard Cipriano and brothers William and Jim Lynskey, joined to create Bahia Escondida, a residential, resort and marina destination situated on Costa Rica's Golfe Dolce Bay in the famed south Pacific resort town of Golfito. The project began construction last October and sales have been so strong throughout the fall and winter that the team recently announced price increases to reflect current values. The team reported tremendous sales success at the recent Fort Lauderdale and San Diego boat shows and is excited about its participation in the upcoming Miami International Boat Show, scheduled for Feb. 15 to 19.
For years, Cipriano and the Lynskey brothers, all South Florida natives, had achieved significant success developing and marketing real estate throughout the southern Pacific zone of Costa Rica. But the incredible demand for a marina project, along with the real estate bubble bursting in the U.S. market, has helped them exceed even their loftiest projections.
"It's been a combination of perfect timing and the ideal team," said Cipriano, Digital Capital's Vice President/Broker. "William and I understand the Costa Rica buyer like no one else. Jim is a master at real estate development and government negotiations and Phil's exceptional talent and operations experience provide a tremendous boost to our efforts. It was just meant to be."
Digital Capital, with offices in Boca Raton and Miami, admits it was difficult to maintain focus and fortitude the past couple of years. While the South Florida real estate market was peaking, the team was dealing with Costa Rica's notoriously slow permitting process.
"It was a struggle at times but we knew it would pay off in the long run," Cipriano said. "All great things take time and patience."
Perko notes Bahia Escondida is primarily luring vacation homebuyers and real estate investors who are turned off by skyrocketing property taxes and insurance rates in the U.S. and what they perceive as overdevelopment in South Florida and the Caribbean.
Merging miles of picturesque beach coves, national parks, rain forests and world-class fishing, Bahia Escondida is nestled within the heart of one of the most bio-diverse locations on the planet. And the area's safe, natural harbor is located within the closest sheltered bay to the Panama Canal. In fact, due to insurance restrictions, Golfito is the only Central American bay at which Dockwise and Yachtpath International are authorized to deliver yachting vessels.
"Location ... location ... location. The old real estate adage is certainly true," Perko said. "Not only can buyers set out each morning to catch world-record marlin, sailfish and roosterfish, but they do it amongst breathtaking natural beauty and abundant wildlife."
Priced from $300,000 to $800,000, Bahia Escondida offers one-, two- and three-bedroom waterfront residences surrounded by picturesque views of Costa Rica's native rainforest and towering mountains. The low-rise buildings will be integrated within the unique Plantation Victorian-style village creating the quintessential destination for those seeking luxurious amenities in an authentic, laid back lifestyle.
Marina slips ranging in size from 45 to 220 feet are priced from the low $200,000s and will include golf cart concierge service and a high-speed fuel dock. When complete, Bahia Escondida will feature 217 marina slips and approximately 400 hotel and condominium units. Phase II is scheduled for introduction in 3rd quarter of 2007.
Bahia Escondida is accessible via daily commercial flights into Golfito from San Jose, Costa Rica. Coral Gables, Fla.-based OBM International is the project architect.
Digital Capital can be reached on the web athttp://www.digitalcapitalgroup.com.
For more information, call (866) 50-BAHIA or visit http://www.bahiaescondidacostarica.com.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070214/aqw050.html?.v=2
Fitness Together Opens 10 Studios in January: Personal training leader opens sites in California, Florida, Mass., Miss., Missouri, NY, NC, Washington
Fitness Together Opens 10 Studios in January: Personal training leader opens sites in California, Florida, Mass., Miss., Missouri, NY, NC, Washington and Costa Rica
Fitness Together, the world's largest personal training organization, opened 10 studios in January 2007. As a result, the Company now has 311 studios open and operating in five countries. The Company also has an additional 166 studios that are sold and planned to open in the next twelve months. The announcement was made by Fitness Together CEO Rick Sikorski.
Highlands Ranch, CO (PRWEB) February 15, 2007 -- Fitness Together, the world's largest personal training organization, opened 10 studios in January 2007. As a result, the Company now has 311 studios open and operating in five countries. The Company also has an additional 166 studios that are sold and planned to open in the next twelve months. The announcement was made by Fitness Together CEO Rick Sikorski.
Helvetica, sans-serif; TEXT-DECORATION: none" href="http://www.fitnesstogether.com/" alt="Link to website">We are leveraging our international presence to meet our goals of both national and international growth. We recently added an overseas studio in Costa Rica and look forward to opening other overseas locations in the near future
At each studio, certified personal trainers conduct one-on-one private personal training sessions with clients by appointment only. Costs for training packages vary depending on client needs.
Fitness Together's trainers develop individually customized, results-oriented programs to help clients achieve their goals through weight and resistance training, muscular endurance, muscular training and nutrition counseling.
Trainers also guide clients in weight loss management. "We are leveraging our international presence to meet our goals of both national and international growth. We recently added an overseas studio in Costa Rica and look forward to opening other overseas locations in the near future," said Fitness Together CEO Rick Sikorski.
Fitness Together opened studios in the following states/countries in January: California: SacramentoFlorida: JacksonvilleMassachusetts: BurlingtonMississippi: BrandonMissouri: Lees SummitNew Hampshire: PortsmouthNew York: Northport North Carolina: CharlotteWashington: West SeattleCosta Rica: CurridabatFT Arden Arcade, which opened on January 12, is located at 2648 Watt Ave., Suite 103, Sacramento.
The 1,100-square-foot studio has two private training rooms and a cardiovascular area. Babe Mooney owns and manages the site, which was built by Regino Construction.FT Mandarin is owned by Wesley Greet and is located at 11362 San Jose Blvd., Suite 12, Jacksonville.
MT Design-Jimmy Nguyen Construction built the studio, which opened on January 9. The 1,500-square-foot studio has two private training rooms and a cardiovascular area.
FT Burlington opened on January 29 and is located at 184 Cambridge Street, Burlington. Marty Cook owns and manages the 1,285-square-foot studio, which has two private training rooms and a cardiovascular area. Lanzo Construction built the studio.
FT Brandon, which opened at 1127 Old Fannin Road, Suite B, Brandon, has two private training rooms and a cardiovascular area. The 1,600-square-foot studio opened on January 22 and is owned by Paula Burgess and Beth Rhodes. Rhodes also manages the studio.
Nicholas Acoustics & Specialty built FT Bradon.FT Raintree, which opened on January 8, is located at 1301 SW Arborwalk Blvd., Suite B, Lees Summit. The 1,600-square-foot studio has two private training rooms and a cardiovascular area. Kurtis Green owns the site.
FT Portsmouth, the first studio in New Hampshire, opened at 767 Islington Street, Suite 1B, Portsmouth. The 1,200-square-foot studio has two private training rooms and a cardiovascular area. Mark Bierschied and Pam Vacca own the studio, and Bierschied acted as general contractor.
FT Northport, which opened on January 16, is located at 395 D Fort Salonga, Northport. The 1,200-square-foot studio has two private training rooms and a cardiovascular area. Joseph Melillo owns and manages the site, which was built by LoDuca Associates.
FT South Park is owned and managed by JD Brooks and is located at 1600 East Woodlawn Road, Charlotte. Elmtree Construction built the studio, which opened on January 17. The 1,400-square-foot studio has two private training rooms and a cardiovascular area.
FT West Seattle, which opened on January 23, is located at 4546 California Ave., Suite 203, West Seattle. The 1,008-square-foot studio has two private training rooms and a cardiovascular area. Bonnie Katz owns and manages the site, which was built by Panterra Construction.
FT Curridabat, which opened at Frente al Indoor Club, Contigyuo al Banco BCT, Curridabat, has two private training rooms and a cardiovascular area. The 1,184-square-foot studio opened on January 8 and is owned by Mauricio de la Espriella. Manrique Sanabria Villalobos manages the studio.
Fitness Together has franchises in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Washington, D.C., Wisconsin and Wyoming.
About Fitness TogetherFitness Together is part of Fitness Together Holdings, Inc., the world's largest wellness organization. Fitness Together was founded in 1996 by fitness leader Rick Sikorski, is built on three main foundations: strong corporate support, proven operating systems, and excellent leaders.
There are over 300 Fitness Together franchise locations throughout the United States, Israel, Ireland, Costa Rica and Canada and nearly 480 scheduled to open. Fitness Together Franchise Corp. also includes Elements Therapeutic Massage. For additional information, log onto www.fitnesstogether.com or call 877.663.0880 ext. 10.###
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Worldwide property boom hits emerging markets
Worldwide property boom hits emerging markets
Wednesday 14 February 2007 06:12
Something funny is going on in Pattaya, a Thai beach resort where funny things tend to happen.
Previously best known in the tourism industry for its sleazy nightlife, Pattaya is enjoying South-East Asia's first second-homes property boom, and the buyers are primarily wealthy Europeans and Americans.
Last year, the resort sold more than 230 million dollars of beachside condominiums, mostly to foreign buyers.
Although modest by international standards, the construction boom - there are about 300 condominium and residential projects under way in the Pattaya neighbourhood - has already raised concerns about exacerbated water shortages and rising crime against foreigners.
And the boom is pricing locals out of the market.
"Four or five years ago, you could buy any condominium unit for about 30,000 to 35,000 dollars," said Clayton Wade, managing director of the Premier Homes Real Estate Co and a longtime Pattaya resident.
"They have all at least tripled. " The prices are being ramped up by the dearth of reasonably priced vacation homes in the United States and Europe, a growing global market for beachside property and a lot of speculation, including some money- laundering activity.
"We've got plenty of monkey business in this town," Wade conceded. Similar housing booms are taking place at Thailand's other beach resorts - Hua Hin, Samui and Phuket - and to a lesser degree in other South-East Asian destinations, notably on Indonesia's Bali.
And the take-off in second-homes sales is not limited to South-East Asia. Europeans are flocking to Croatia and Bulgaria to snap up Mediterranean villas that are cheaper than what's on offer in Spain.
Americans are going south to Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua and Honduras in search of affordable getaways. The global migration from the developed world has been unleashed by a number of factors.
For starters, there are a lot more wealthy people in the wealthy countries, and much of this new wealth has been generated off property.
According to estimates by The Economist magazine, the value of residential property in developed countries increased by more than 30 trillion dollars from 2001 to 2005, an increase equivalent to 100 per cent of those countries' gross domestic products.
The Economist's dire prediction in 2005 that this property boom is the world's biggest bubble that is about to kaboom has yet to be actualized. Instead, the bubble has spread to more remote shores.
"Globally, what's happened now is there are a lot of people not just buying a second home but finding that investing in real estate makes money," said David Simister, chairman of the real-estate company CBRE? Richard Ellis in Bangkok.
Simister is selling luxury properties on Thailand's Phuket island, some of which are fetching up to 5 million dollars.
The foreigners who are buying these properties are often reselling them at a huge profit. "People are very savvy investors," Simister said. "They know property is an appreciating asset and absolute beachfront or ocean view is a finite commodity. " In other words, the property boom has gone global.
It helps that the world is a much more connected place and that even far-flung locations are often easily accessible.
At your 5-million-dollar villa in Phuket, you are an hour's drive from an international airport that can take you to any country in the world.
And rather than queueing at a travel agent's you can book your ticket via the internet from your home computer while watching CNN on cable TV and munching on some Kentucky Fried Chicken, home-delivered.
This is all good news for the rich. Construction on luxury condominiums and villas is also good business for local economies, providing jobs and new markets for local suppliers of goods and furniture. But there are downsides.
Take a look at Spain, which boasts the biggest second-homes industry in the world, worth more than 4 billion euros (5. 2 billion dollars) in sales annually.
Foreign buyers have driven up housing prices at double-digit rates, making homes largely unaffordable for most Spaniards.
About 30 per cent of Spain's young adults live with their parents.
Sales of prime property to individual investors can also mean lost opportunities for the local tourism industry as the example of Galle, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Sri Lanka, shows.
"We are having a huge problem as foreigners have purchased homes in Galle city, posing a serious setback to the local tourist industry," Mayor Kelum Senaratne said. "At least 40 houses have been purchased outright by foreigners in the Dutch Fort in Galle, and they are making renovations according to their own will despite the fort being declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO," the mayor said.
Social scientists have expressed concerns that this new migration of wealthy foreign homeowners into the developing world could end up causing more social problems, such as competition for water resources and rising crime, than the economic opportunities are worth.
"Governments think about [property] development in terms of investment, job creation, incoming dollars but not in terms of the social impact on the local population," warned Allen Cordero, professor at the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences in Costa Rica.
http://jurnalo.com/jurnalo/storyPage.do?story_id=17691
Robert August And Free Wheelchair Mission Join Forces In Costa Rica
Robert August And Free Wheelchair Mission Join Forces In Costa Rica
Posted 02.14.2007
Free Wheelchair Mission has partnered with Robert August, surf industry icon and star of the groundbreaking surf film Endless Summer (1965). The partnership is designed to raise awareness and participation within the celebrity community, a powerful collection of spokespersons and philanthropists with a proven track record of attracting the attention of the general public to charitable causes.
Free Wheelchair Mission has funded and coordinated the delivery of over 150,000 wheelchairs worldwide, including areas of extreme need such as Iraq and Afghanistan. In late February of 2007, the organization is delivering a shipment of 10,000 chairs to Costa Rica, where Robert August’s Surf & Turf charity event kicks off its seventh year. The weeklong golf and surf competition raises and distributes thousands of dollars for orphanages and schools in Costa Rica.
“I’ve been involved in Costa Rica for many years,” said Robert August, “and I am truly touched that Free Wheelchair Mission has set its sights on such a wonderful people. I know many personally who will be affected by their work. The world is still a wonderful place thanks to people like FWM.”
Robert August, son Sam August, and female surf sensation Mary Osborne are scheduled to host and participate in the distribution of these mobility-giving chairs, as well as narrate a series of short form video documentaries on the two-day event. These video segments re being produced by Endless Fun Productions, and will stream over Free Wheelchair Mission’s website, as well as be made available to broadcast outlets around the country and podcasts on the web.
ABOUT FREE WHEELCHAIR MISSION
Free Wheelchair Mission, the Orange County, California based non-profit organization is committed to providing the transforming gift of mobility to the physically disabled poor in developing countries. Free Wheelchair Mission creatively partners with like-minded international humanitarian and indigenous organizations and plans to distribute 20 million wheelchairs by the year 2010. Started in 2001, the organization has distributed more than 180,000 wheelchairs worldwide. For more information, visit www.freewheelchairmission.org.
ABOUT ROBERT AUGUST
The 1965 film Endless Summer quickly became a cult classic with more staying power than the same year’s Oscar-winning best film. Dave Brown’s film established Robert August as the ultimate surfer and adventurer, and affixed the name in the surf industry. Robert traveled and surfed, as well as established Robert August Surfboards, which to this day is a leading brand found on every beach where there’s surf.
ABOUT ENDLESS FUN PRODUCTIONS
Sam August partnered with Shea McIntee and Brennan Slavik to create a production house devoted to surf and world travel. EFP DVD releases include Robert August 30th Anniversary: Tribute To A Legend, and Endless Journey Continues, Vol 2. They are also in development on the broadcast series, The Global Stoke, a travel and adventure program in association with Heavy Trick Media and Apparent Gravity Media. They are located in Huntington Beach. For more information, visit www.endlessfun.com and www.heavytrick.com.
http://www.transworldsurf.com/surf/pressrelease/article/0,19929,1589774,00.html
Carlton Hospitality Group confirms active Caribbean hospitality transaction pipeline
Carlton Hospitality Group confirms active Caribbean hospitality transaction pipeline
Feb 13, 2007
H&MM Week In Review
New York, NY (February 13, 2007) - Carlton Hospitality Group (CHG), a division of The Carlton Group, is fast becoming one of the leading financiers of Caribbean hospitality transactions, according to Chairman Howard L. Michaels and CHG President John Bralower.
Confirmation of this vibrant activity and expertise is Carlton's Caribbean pipeline of hospitality transactions, which currently exceeds over one billion dollars of equity and debt transactions, the firm said.
In 2006, CHG closed the following Caribbean hospitality transactions:
- $245 Million Acquisition Financing of the Westin Resort, Aruba - Carlton arranged financing for the acquisition and repositioning of the Westin Aruba, a 478-key luxury resort located in Palm Beach, Aruba, in an off-market transaction.
- $70 Million Equity Financing of AtlanticA, Dominican Republic - The firm arranged financing for the development of an upscale resort in the Dominican Republic. The resort will contain seven villages located on 2,200 acres along the Northeastern Dominican Coast, with over $10 billion in projected sales. CHG will also provide hospitality advisory services for the entire master-planned community.
- $50 Million Acquisition Financing for Luxury Resort and Residences, Costa Rica - Carlton arranged financing for the acquisition and pre-development of a luxury resort and residential community in Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
In addition, CHG is the exclusive advisor for the following Caribbean transactions:
- $650 Million Acquisition and Development Financing of Luxury Resort and Residences, Guanacaste, Costa Rica - Situated on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, the development is planned as a luxury resort community that will possess two five-star hotels, world-class spas, a golf course, and 270 residential lots and over 600 villas.
- $310 Million Acquisition and Development Financing of Luxury Resort and Residences, Puntarenas, Costa Rica - Located within an hour of San Jose, the resort is planned to have a luxury hotel, spa and residences situated on a hillside site that blends beautifully with the eco-friendly environment of Costa Rica.
- $300 Million Development Financing for Phase II and III of AtlanticA, Dominican Republic - The financing will be used to develop a 350-key luxury resort, an 18-hole signature golf course, 350 for sale residential units and a high end retail promenade, as well as a marina village.
- $200 Million acquisition and development financing of Long Bay Resorts, Anguilla - The financing will be used for development of a five star luxury resort located on 21.5 acres of pristine beachfront in Anguilla.
- $230 Million acquisition and development financing of Sugarmill Bay Resort, Antigua - The financing will be used for development of a five star luxury resort and residences located on 35 acres on a spectacular site in Antigua.
- $49 Million Acquisition Financing, Dominican Republic - The financing will be used for the acquisition of a newly built 21-story, 228-key, business hotel located adjacent to Malecon Center, a mixed-use complex for retail shopping, cinema, and commercial office space.
Carlton's Hospitality Group (CHG), a division of Carlton Advisory Services, specializes in the arrangement of debt and equity financing for lodging and mixed-use real estate projects which contain a hospitality component.
CHG also provides advisory services on the acquisition and disposition of existing properties, on issues relating to the branding of and selection of operating partners for new development projects, as well as the repositioning of existing assets. The CHG has closed several billion dollars of lodging and mixed use transactions involving residential, condominium, extended stay and fractional components, as well as resorts located throughout the continental US, Hawaii, Mexico and the Caribbean.
Carlton Advisory Services, Inc. is a national real estate investment banking firm prominent in debt and equity placement, investment sales, and commercial and residential loan sales. Its clients include some of the most active developers and institutions both nationally and in the New York metropolitan area. Founded in 1991, Carlton has consummated in excess of $30 billion of transactions since 1998.
Contact: Michelle Manoff/ Rubenstein PR/ 212-843-8051/ mmanoff@rubensteinpr.com
http://www.hotelmotel.com/hotelmotel/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=404559
Work begins on Pacific route in April, ministry says
Work begins on Pacific route in April, ministry says
By Arnoldo Cob Moraof the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Transport officials said Tuesday that the bulk of the money for the San José-Caldera has been allocated and that work on the 77-kilometer (48-mile) stretch will begin in April.
This is the long-awaiting highway that will provide a faster route to the Pacific and probably will have an impact of real estate prices along the route at the beaches.
Travelers headed west out of San José to Caldera are expected to save almost an hour after the completion of planned highway.
Officials announced that beginning in April the project will begin.
It is in three stages: improvement of the section from San José to Ciudad Colón, a new highway from Cuidad Colón to Orotina, and improvement of the Orotina-Caldera highway.
The highway includes the Autopista Próspero Fernández, which runs from Parque La Sabana to midway between Santa Ana and Ciudad Colón as a four-lane divided road.
The bridges have been constructed in the new section for more than five years, but various legalisms and the acquisition of property have stalled construction.
The work will be done by Autopistas del Sol, which holds a concession. The firm has 60 persons ready to start to work. All the machinery, including gravel and asphalt plants already are in the country, said a release by the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes.
The cost will be approximately $200 million dollars. Funding was approved for the project by the Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica, that will provide 80 percent of the needed capital, said the transport ministry.
The bank loan will be paid back to the Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica with money collected from tolls. The fee is expected to cost around $3.60 for the entire trip, said the transport ministry.
Rodriguez roars to the top in Costa Rica
Kai Fieberg Costa Rica Open
Cariari CC, San Jose
Costa Rica
08 Feb 2007 - 11 Feb 2007
Rodriguez roars to the top in Costa Rica
11 Feb 2007
Miguel Rodriguez©Enrique Berardi
A bogey-free 66 allowed Argentina’s Miguel Rodriguez to open a solid four stroke lead with 18 holes left to play at the Kai Fieberg Costa Rica Open 2007.
The 33 year old, at 10 under par 203, shared the best card of the day at Cariari Country Club with Chile’s Felipe Aguilar, who now holds second place at 207.
Alvaro Ortiz, the Costa Rican amateur who led by one at halfway, dropped back into a tie for third place after adding a one over par 72 to his earlier rounds of 68.
Alongside him on five under par 208 are Gustavo Acosta of Argentina and Tim Milford of England, who scored 70 and 67 respectively.
“It really went quite well for me today. I had no bogeys and luckily I was able to stay and play relaxed,” said Rodriguez, whose scores have improved through every round of the US$175,000 event co-sanctioned by the European Challenge Tour and Tour de las Americas.
After missing the cut in Colombia last week, the man from Buenos Aires made the trip to Costa Rica full of doubts. However, a 70-67 start for the first 36 holes changed his mood and now he is targeting his first Challenge Tour title.
“My lack of confidence was huge at the beginning of the week, so I only thought of hitting fairways and greens. Fortunately, I have made some very good shots wherever I have had the chance of attacking,” he said.
After paring the first three holes, Rodriguez started to roll by hitting his tee shot at the par three fourth hole to within three feet of the flag. That birdie gave him the outright lead, which he never surrendered.
Another birdie at the par five eighth saw him to the turn in 33 and on the back nine he played even better, carding birdies at 12, 13 and 16 for another 33.
By contrast Aguilar had arrived at Cariari Country Club in much better heart after registering three top five finishes in his last five Challenge Tour events.
He started his latest attempt at securing a first Challenge Tour title with scores of 73 and 68 before Saturday’s 66 moved him into sole charge of second place behind Rodriguez.
Despite bogeying the first hole, the Chilean managed an outward half of 32 after birdies at the third, seventh, eighth and ninth holes.
The 32 year old picked up further shots at the tenth, 12th and 16th against a bogey at 13.
Looking ahead to Sunday’s final round, Rodriguez, winner of the 2005 Venezuela Open, added: “It’s been about two years since the last time I was in this position. I think that tomorrow I just have to go out and play the same way I have been playing. I only need to hit fairways and greens and let the others try and do the birdies. I have been playing really well, so I just hope to follow that same path.”
http://www.europeantour.com/default.sps?pagegid=%7BAEFB93B0%2DEFF5%2D4C05%2DAB0F%2DFD08D947D944%7D&infosid=3&eventid=2007706&reportid=55689
Go Green in Paradise - Costa Rica's Lapa Rios Ecolodge
Go Green in Paradise - Costa Rica's Lapa Rios Ecolodge
Feb 09, 07 1:21 pm
OSA PENINSULA, Costa Rica—
Sustainable tourism is heating up the travel industry – but long on the forefront of eco-friendly luxury is Costa Rica’s Lapa Rios Ecolodge, nestled within over 1,000 acres of Central America’s last remaining lowland tropical rainforest and overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
For travelers with a green conscious, Lapa Rios has been providing the ultimate harmonious escape since 1993 and works diligently to continually enhance and update their acclaimed Sustainability Program.
By offering interactive tourism with greater respect for the social-cultural and ecological interests of local communities, high service standards and the ability to protect and regenerate the natural environment and local customs, Lapa Rios grants guests the unmatched feeling of doing the planet good – while providing a perfect slice of paradise to soak up and enjoy.
Built as a private nature reserve, Lapa Rios blends seamlessly among its surroundings, featuring 16 suiita-thatch bungalows perched 350 feet above the churning sea, and a main lodge that houses a fine-dining restaurant and bar – all hidden beneath the dense, tropical canopy.
Not only do guests contribute to the conservation of the rainforest with a stay at Lapa Rios, they are offered the opportunity to learn about and truly experience a sustainable environment at its best.
From Sunday night “sustainability chats” – where local conservationist groups discuss environmental issues with guests – to Tico Cooking Classes that feature Costa Rican cuisine, Lapa Rios ecolodge thrives in educating eco-minded travelers.
Some activity options offered at Lapa Rios include:
The Sustainability Tour:
A “behind-the-scenes” look at the daily practices of Lapa Rios – including biodegradable building materials and the bio-gas produced by pigs.
The Carbonera School Tour:
Allows guests to visit the community school and meet loca
