Coasting along Panama's Pacific

By Sorrel Downer of the Financial Times Http://www.FT.com

Published: March 22 2008 00:40 | Last updated: March 22 2008 00:40

The steamy glamour and air of infinite possibility that lure people to Panama in search of a new life is not exclusive to its capital, Panama City. High-end residential developments up the Pacific coast and on the islands scattered off it promise to deliver the requisite combination of oceanfront setting, high-tech communication systems, stylish architecture and cosmopolitan multiple home-owning neighbors.

Until last year the stickiest property honey-pots were Bocas del Toro, an archipelago close to the Costa Rican border on the Caribbean side, and the cool, misty mountains around Boquete.

Much of Bocas is beyond redemption, an erstwhile backpacker haven now overcrowded in parts, overpriced and polluted after a frenzy of amateurish property speculation and budget development.

And Boquete, synonymous with retired North Americans in gated communities while affordable, with plenty of two-bedroom villas still under $200,000) comes up short on desirable properties. hedonistic pura vida and tropical Oomph.

But Central American Panama has more to offer, and lately it's been the deserted Pacific coastline that has piqued the interest of developers looking for space to create self-contained exclusive dream home enclaves.

Fortuitously, the allure of peace and obscurity has also attracted the rich and the famous – rock star Mick Jagger, actors Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, Angelina Jolie, and New York hotelier Paul Stallings among them – and developers and buyers are converging on the lush and rolling Azuero peninsula.

It's real cowboy country, with a long convoluted coastline and a smattering of sleepy pueblos: easily accessible if you own a small plane or four hours by car from Panama City if not.

The most watched of the region's residential projects is Azueros, an 880-acre development at the peninsula's tip masterminded by the owner, French architect Gilles Saint-Gilles, a man more often associated with the restoration of French chateaux and exquisitely designed Saudi palaces.

Saint-Gilles is designing a community; his holistic master-plan with attention to everything from reforestation to exterior wall palette is intended to produce an environment in which international settlers can enjoy a tropical lifestyle in harmony with nature, without compromise on style and design aesthetics.

The distinct residential zones share his trademarks: simple lines, open stairs, delicious surprises: doors and windows opening on to colors and spaces; windows like giant letter boxes that open to slices of ocean. There is an emphasis on local "noble, natural and breathable" materials, curving Venetian plaster walls and inlaid pebble mosaics, all washed with honeyed light and set apart by topnotch craftsmanship (an on-site workshop has been set up to provide training in traditional techniques).

Exterior walls can be any color as long as it's khaki, terracotta, salmon or a variation on white. Didactic perhaps but the varied landscape has a real sense of cohesion as a result.

And Saint-Gilles is quick to stress there's scope for personalization. "Azueros attracts a diverse group of people," he says. "While adhering to the harmonious general design concept, they're interested in putting some of their own personality into their houses and a great deal of work is invested in personalizing each property."

Some opt for fundamental changes – adding more rooms, one replacing a mezzanine wall with a mashrabiya, a type of Arabic window made out of wood and allows cool breezes to enter homes. For others the changes are cosmetic – stone floors replacing terracotta, lime plaster interior walls substituting wood paneling.

"There's a great diversity in the form of each house," says Saint-Gilles, "The varied terrain also contributes to the diversification. Cohesion is not created by conformism and ennui."

There is nothing so far that can match Azueros for dreamy style and quality but there is a sudden plethora of self-contained developments aimed at hedonistic second-homers and young retirees along Panama's Pacific coast.

The first batch radiates some distance from the well-established tourist destination Playa Coronado, 84km south-west of Panama City, and includes the 700-acre VistaMar, with golf course perimeter condos starting from $312,900 and ocean-view homes and smallish lots from $700,000-$900,000.
West of Coronado there are several home and holiday multi-purpose 'fun in the sun' developments such as Playa Blanca Beach Resort, Spa and Residences which plan to offer 1,600 modernist condos, 160 villas and a hotel plus a Nikki Beach resort that will include five-storey blocks of ocean-view residences for those reluctant to leave.

Those in the second batch, closer to the Costa Rica border, are mainly in the planning stages have a more family-orientated community feel but include the ambitious Las Olas Resort Community – along 18 miles of Playa La Barqueta – with hacienda-style oceanfront homes priced around $399,000 for three-bedroom apartments and $599,000 for four-bedroom flats.

Residential development has also begun on the Pearl Islands which, like the Azuero Peninsula, have the benefit of being both pleasantly remote and easily accessible.

A 20 minute flight or two-hour sail from Panama City will get you to Isla Viveros, endowed with the typical tropical bounties of turquoise seas, fine sand and palm trees, and soon to feature a cluster of 550 buildings including beachfront mansions amenities including shopping malls, a clinic, hotel, marinas and a Jack Nicklaus golf course. Lots start from $300,000 and houses from about $750,000.00.

There's a sense that in meeting the entirely understandable demand for rural properties, something is being lost.

The people behind Azueros hope to have a bustling village at the scheme's heart, complete with artists' studios, cafés and shops selling estate-grown organic produce along its cobbled streets but, uniquely, it eschews golf courses and orchestrated fun, and instead celebrates the peace of the natural setting.

A large area of land has been set aside as a natural reserve, reforesting is under way and already the air is filled with the sound of toucans, kiskadees, the screech of hawk eagles, rustling trees and the thump of waves. This is an idyllic convergence of high design and tropical living for lucky and discerning sophisticates.

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