By definition, the subject of this Blog is about my life
here in Loreto (hence the name) and so the time has come to finish this
season’s series of posts, as I prepare to leave my home here in the Baja and
embark on my summer schedule of travel in my “home away from home”, my Travel
Trailer which has been stored for the winter just north of the US border.
Looking back over the past 8 months, in many ways this has
been the best winter I have spent here in Loreto since I first purchased the
“chalk on sand” which was to become my home here almost 10 years ago. During that time I have watched the
completion of over 600 homes, in spite of the precarious Real Estate market
throughout North America, from which the original Developer of Loreto Bay was
an early casualty. What followed were
several dark years of uncertainty when the future of our development very much
hung in the balance.
One of the early positive steps was the decision by about
120 Homeowners with unfinished homes in the second phase of the project to
proceed with completing their homes independently, at a higher cost than had
been originally quoted by the now defunct Developer. This added about twenty percent to the then current
total of finished homes and was a big vote of confidence in the future of the
community. The next significant event was
the arrival of Homex, a large Mexican residential construction company that
purchased most of the remaining assets of the original Developer and the
ensuing announcement of their plans to build a new project, projected to be 800
homes adjacent to Loreto Bay.
Then a little over two years ago the members of our Home
Owners Association voted almost unanimously in favor of an infrastructure
completion program, a two year project to finish important aspects of the
development that had been left incomplete since the departure of the original
Developer. This was a huge vote of
confidence by the community in the completion of the vision that we had bought
into in the first place. It includes
some important maintenance and upgrades to essential services as well as adding
two Community Pools to the original one, completing flagstone paving along half
of the Paseo and adding street lighting along with even more extensive
landscaping of common areas.
This entire two year completion program, which is due to be
finished by the end of this year, is on schedule and under the $2 million
dollar budget, which has been collected through a special assessment to our
monthly HOA fees, and represents a tangible investment by the Homeowners in the
future of their Community. But in
addition to the “bricks and mortar” that this project represents, in my mind it
will be viewed in the future as an even more important step forward in the
history of Loreto Bay – the point that we as Homeowners fully realized that we
were responsible for ourselves and the community where we had purchased homes,
and we were no longer dependent on a “Developer Daddy” to take care of us!
As those of you who have been following these posts over the
past winter know, this Season has had other highlights – many of which I have
written about here – from the lavish Food and Wine Festival to impromptu
get-togethers for a pot-luck dinner.
Since, in the day, Loreto Bay was originally marketed mainly to
pre-retirement Baby Boomers, many of those Homeowners still have not retired
yet, although every season there are more people spending more time here as
they finally reach their “golden years” and are able to join their friends and
neighbors here for more than a few stolen weeks out of a busy working year.
As more Homeowners reach retirement and can spend months
here instead of weeks, the Community grows and becomes more vibrant and diverse
as the mosaic of their interests and passions are added to those who are
already here to make this an increasingly colorful and dynamic place. With the promised increase in airline access
to Loreto starting in November, we anticipate that it will become easier to
book more convenient flights here next winter, than it has been in over four
years. The significance of this improved
access is that in recent years most of the available seats have been booked far
in advance by residents in Loreto Bay and the surrounding area, leaving few
seats available for Visitors to come to Loreto for the first time, if they did
not plan sufficiently far ahead.
With increased tourism will come a much needed improvement
in business for the Hotels, Restaurants and other services in the town of
Loreto and that will have a major impact on employment and prosperity in and
around Loreto. Incidentally, it also
follows that this anticipated increase of Visitors to Loreto will also have a
“trickle down” affect on the Real Estate business in Loreto generally and
Loreto Bay specifically, as an increasing number of people will be introduced
to the special nature of this beautiful place and choose to make it where they
will find their retirement home.
As I write this, another important step in the progress of
Loreto Bay is about to begin. Work
should restart this summer on the completion of the two Posada buildings that
have been sitting unfinished near the center of the Community for over 4
years. With two main floors of
commercial space and a total of 44 condo apartments, most of which were sold
prior to the start of construction, the eventual completion of these two four
storey buildings will be another landmark in the evolution of Loreto Bay and
transform what has been an eyesore for years into a focal point, while adding
another 10% to the number of homes in the Founders Neighborhood.
So as I wind down the best Season so far, here in Loreto
Bay, and look forward with cautious optimism to next season and an increasingly
thriving community within a resurging town, I am reminded of a somewhat dark
comment I have used here in recent years; “the difference between pioneers and
settlers is the arrows sticking in their backs”! Having lived here since the early days of the
development, and having been involved in the Real Estate market for most of
those years, I have seen an amazing transition from the early “heady” days when
the vision began, through the uncertainty about the future, to the slow but
steady progress back from the brink, and now the air of optimism and growing
enthusiasm about what lies ahead!
Taking a moment at the end of another Season to reflect on
where we have come from and appreciate where we are heading – that is certainly
one of the most important parts of “Living Loreto”!
P.S. In conclusion for this season, I would like to express
my sincere thanks for the continued and growing support by you, the Readers of
this Blog. Since the modest beginnings
near the end of 2008, my Blog has reached a loyal following that literally
reaches around the world, and this season has been the most successful so far,
based on the number of hits each week.
While I sometimes feel the burden of obligation to come up
with another topic for my weekly posting, once I actually begin the writing
process, this has become one of my favorite pastimes over the past five years and
I have you to thank for helping me learn what writing skills I have developed
over that time. Sometime this summer
Living Loreto will pass the 100,000 hit level (yes, people continue to read
these pages even when I am not posting new material) and while I am looking
forward to a hiatus from writing over the summer, I pledge to resume these
jottings again in the Fall when I return again to “Living Loreto”!
