MEXICO CITY -- Mexico's next tourism hot spot -- the next Cancun or
Los Cabos, perhaps -- could be an 8,000-acre plot of land five
miles south of Loreto.
Mexican tourism officials said they ratified an agreement with
Canadian and American developers to construct The Villages of
Loreto Bay, a mixed-use resort community that will include 5,000
homes, hotels, golf courses, shops and recreational facilities
along the Sea of Cortez near the historic town of Loreto. About
5,000 acres will be preserved for open space or recreational
purposes.
Construction is scheduled to take place in stages over the next
15 years. Officials said 60 homes in the development have already
been sold for approximately $30 million.
The principals in the Villages of Loreto Bay project are
Fonatur, Mexico's tourist development agency, and the Trust for
Sustainable Development, led by Canadian developer David
Butterfield and American developer James Grogan, who is chairman of
the Arizona Tourism and Sports Authority.
Loreto, about 300 miles north of Cabo San Lucas, was among five
Mexican communities selected by Fonatur in the 1970s for tourism
expansion. The others were Cancun, Huatulco, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo and
Los Cabos.
To contact reporter Jorge Sidron, send e-mail to [email protected].