This Will Make the Price of Ecuador’s Coast Go Up…

18-Nov-2010

I like this.

By

An eternal optimist, Liu-Yue built two social enterprises to help make the world a better place. Liu-Yue co-founded Oxstones Investment Club a searchable content platform and business tools for knowledge sharing and financial education. Oxstones.com also provides investors with direct access to U.S. commercial real estate opportunities and other alternative investments. In addition, Liu-Yue also co-founded Cute Brands a cause-oriented character brand management and brand licensing company that creates social awareness on global issues and societal challenges through character creations. Prior to his entrepreneurial endeavors, Liu-Yue worked as an Executive Associate at M&T Bank in the Structured Real Estate Finance Group where he worked with senior management on multiple bank-wide risk management projects. He also had a dual role as a commercial banker advising UHNWIs and family offices on investments, credit, and banking needs while focused on residential CRE, infrastructure development, and affordable housing projects. Prior to M&T, he held a number of positions in Latin American equities and bonds investment groups at SBC Warburg Dillon Read (Swiss Bank), OFFITBANK (the wealth management division of Wachovia Bank), and in small cap equities at Steinberg Priest Capital Management (family office). Liu-Yue has an MBA specializing in investment management and strategy from Georgetown University and a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Marketing from Stern School of Business at NYU. He also completed graduate studies in international management at the University of Oxford, Trinity College.







By Ronan McMahon, International Living,

Last week, Ecuador’s president was in town. He wasn’t alone. Bahia has never seen so many people and such a carnival atmosphere. Restaurants and hotels were full. Visitors desperate to participate in the historic event camped on the beach. Many more watched on national television. Everyone was proud and excited.

Everyone was in town to mark the official opening of the bridge between Bahia and San Vicente. At 2 kilometers, the bridge is the longest in the country. It cost $100 million and the latest technology has been used.

The opening of this bridge has major significance for Ecuador’s north Pacific coast. If you like undervalued real estate, what I’m about to tell you will be of interest.

The stretch of Ecuador’s north Pacific coast between Canoa and the area just south of Pedernales is her finest. Getting here to enjoy the lush jungle canopy covered hills and empty beaches hasn’t been easy.

Previously, you had two options to get here. A seven-hour drive from Quito… or a short domestic flight from Quito to the city of Manta, followed by a drive up the coast. Problem is, you could never tell how long the drive from Manta would take. That’s down to the bay between Bahia de Caraquez and San Vicente. Until now, it didn’t have a bridge…which meant relying on ferries.

Some days, if you timed it just right, you’d only have a short delay waiting for the ferry. Other days, with low tides or a lot of vehicle traffic, you could easily spend four hours sitting in line at Bahia to get on the ferry.

This bridge has opened up Ecuador’s nicest stretch of coast. Expect real estate values to rise.

But, this bridge isn’t the only infrastructure upgrade happening. In, fact it’s just one of three.

Until recently once you reached this nicest section of coast on the other side of the bay, you bounced around on roads riddled with potholes. Today, work is well advanced on the highway upgrades between San Vicente and Pedernales. Only a small number of stretches haven’t yet been completed. These upgrades are part of a government plan to make the entire Ecuadorian coast drivable.

This modern highway has already made a huge difference in driving times and comfort along the coast.

The new coastal road from Quito to Pedernales is complete…waiting on an available date in the President’s diary before he officially opens the road and hosts another fiesta. This cuts the drive time from Quito to Pedernales in half, to three and a half hours. It means that more of Quito’s residents can come here for weekends and vacations …and foreign tourists, too.

This is Ecuador’s nicest stretch of coast. Prices stayed low because this area was difficult to get to. Now that this is the most accessible beach area to Quito, I expect that prices will change, too. It’s still not too late to get in at “pre infrastructure” prices.


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