$50M Real Estate Development Breaks Ground on Panama's Caribbean Coast

PANAMA CITY, PANAMA, September 09, 2010 (Press-News.org) Two Oceans Property Consultants has broken ground on Panama's most modern beachfront residential community. Called Emerald Bay, the $50 million dollar eco-friendly development lies on Panama's unspoiled Caribbean coast, just 90 minutes from Panama City. An approximately 100-room hotel is also planned for the development.

"Panama is the world's most unknown tropical paradise," says Peter Stehling, director of Two Oceans Property Consultants in Panama City, the developer and broker for Emerald Bay. "And this part of the northern Caribbean coast is the best kept secret of them all."

Indeed, Panama's attractions have been largely hidden from the world, obscured by politics and historical events. But now the world is waking up to an unspoiled tropical land area in a small and friendly nation with a first-world infrastructure, English as its second language and the U.S. Dollar as its currency. Along with a low inflation rate and a recession-proof income from the Canal, Panama enjoys a stable government and tax laws enacted specifically to reward investment and new residents. Beachfront condominiums and tourist properties have bloomed in recent years.

La Guaira, home to the new resort, is almost unknown to the outside world, although it's renowned in Panama for its scuba diving, coral reefs and white sand beaches. La Guaira's northern curve of coastline is protected from inland development by the huge rainforest of Chagres National Park that encloses it. The national preserve teems with exotic birds and wildlife, and shelters a pristine coastline terrain largely unchanged since Spanish colonial days, and available for private ownership.

Until a new highway shortened the time to 90 minutes, a trip from Panama City on the southern side to the northern Caribbean coastline used to take 4 hours. Suddenly, inaccessibility has vanished.

"This is an exciting time for all of Panama," says Stehling. "Panama City used to vacation in the Pacific resorts 3 hours away. Now the Caribbean coast is open, and closer."

Locals along the northern coastline are excited also. Emerald Bay will bring a large infrastructure to complement the restaurants and minimarkets sparsely arranged along the coast.

But Two Oceans brings something else as a developer that paradise sorely needs: solid experience with eco-friendly building technologies, and a commitment to sustainable practices. Emerald Bay employs a geo-thermal system for cooling, using an alternative energy source locally abundant. And the community is designed with a modern bio-wastewater system to protect the natural eco-system.

The project's condominiums, villas, apartments and duplexes are being built to high construction specifications using poured reinforced concrete for endurance, and PVC windows coated with UV blocker for variable weather and lots of sun. The properties are pre-wired with intercom, telephone and Internet. Corrosion-proof stainless steel is used for railings, and the buildings are capped with terra cotta roof tiles.

"Building green is the only way to build nowadays," says Two Oceans director Ulrich Schwark, speaking of the company's design philosophy. And he is very clear on one particular point: "We've seen paradise destroyed in other parts of the world. We don't want that here."

Occupancy of finished properties is expected in 24 months, with houses starting at $377,000.

About Two Oceans Property Consultants
Two Oceans Property Consultants, S.A. is an independent full-service real estate brokerage and development company focused on bringing local and international clients together. Two Oceans provides all services required for buying, selling, renting and developing properties in Panama, and specializes in beach properties, houses, and city apartments.

Two Oceans Property Consultants is based in Panama City, in Central Standard timezone, and is fluent in Fluent in English, German and Spanish. For information email info@twooceansproperties.com or visit http://www.twooceansproperties.com and http://www.emerald-bay-panama.com