Blue hairs in the blue chairs… retirement communities for PV

From Upstate House:

Snowbirds usually are able to be away from home for long periods of time, often can afford to purchase a second home, and have even been known to use their primary and second homes for creative tax purposes and income streams.

David Collins, chairman of Active Living International, a company specializing in the research and development of active adult communities, is an expert in predicting where snowbirds prefer to land. His company’s recent assignments have included a study of the over-50 housing market for Mexican developer CEMEX …

The Mexican project, called Sensara Vallarta, is the first “50-plus” active adult community developed in Mexico and contains 250 luxury condominiums inside the grounds of the El Tigre Golf Course near Puerto Vallarta. The complex, designed by Mexico City architect Jose Vigil who conceived many of the homes in nearby exclusive Punta Mita area, is a 15-minute drive from the Puerto Vallarta airport.

Why Puerto Vallarta? What makes this destination the choice over so many wonderful communities in the sun south of the border?

“In addition to the sun, Puerto Vallarta is all about access,” Collins said. “There are more than 15,000 air flights a year now, and the prices are still reasonable for the type of person our developments target. Cancun definitely is a market, but it’s more of a hotel market. Los Cabos is really more higher-end and not that easy for a lot of people to get to.”

Active Living International’s presence has led to additional interest in the Puerto Vallarta area for developers of the over-50 market. Front Porch Development, a Burbank-Calif.-based company specializing in the senior market, is partnering with Mexico-based Plenus on Luma, a 440-residence community on the ocean in Nuevo Vallarta.

A phenonomal percentage of the “remittances” going south are sent by gringo retirees, and this can be expected to continue.  I’d be a little concerned about the “upscale” nature of these developments, which sound like they want to San Miguelize the place.

Should be fun to watch from wherever us “downscale” retirees end up… assuming we can afford to retire, let alone get through the month. 

AHEM…