The construction boom began after Hurricane Odile that stuck and severely damaged Los Cabos in 2014, according to Ramiro Palenque Bullrich, owner of 2Seas Los Cabos, a local real estate company that is a subsidiary of Christies International Real Estate. "Immediately after Odile, it was very cheap to get a building permit, so the number of hotels and residential units quickly multiplied," he said.
But half an hour's drive northeast and off the corridor, in an area called the Eastern Cape, is one side of the region that contrasts sharply with the busy vacation destination. Stretching from San José del Cabo to the town of Los Barriles, the Eastern Cape is a remote area with vast landscapes where the desert meets the Sea of Cortez and the mountains of the Sierra de la Laguna lie in the background.
It wasn't that long ago that this part of Los Cabos was largely unknown and taken offline, according to several experts. "A few years ago there was nothing in the Eastern Cape, and some parts had and do not have proper electricity," said Bullrich.
Recently, however, the Eastern Cape has become an emerging area that is causing quite a stir.
The shift is largely due to a new 1,000-acre resort community, Costa Palmas, that includes outposts of two well-known hotel brands, each with a residential component: Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts and Aman Resorts. Four Seasons unveiled its hotel and homes in late 2019, while the rest is expected to be completed over the next five to seven years.
Further developments are also underway in the Eastern Cape on the other side of the Costa Palmas.
Patricio del Portillo, director of research firm CBRE Hotels in Mexico, said the Eastern Cape appeals to home buyers because of its location on the Sea of Cortez, a body of water that has caught the imagination because of its deep blue color and rich marine life. The American author John Steinbeck wrote the travelogue “The tree trunk from the Sea of Cortez” published in 1951 after he had traveled here, and the discoverer Jacques Cousteau called it the “Aquarium of the World”.
