Concrete Home Building Council - 06/20/2005 (Plain Text Version)CHBC Chairman View Graphical Version | Subscribe
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Editor... In this issue: U.S. Developers Set Their Sights on MexicoThe Mexican housing sector is an exciting place to be for companies interested in expanding their bottom line! U.S. companies, such as Loreto Bay and Active Living International are poised to do business; investing billions of dollars in the Mexican residential housing market. One of the reasons American developers are investing in Mexico is because of the concerted effort by the Mexican government to strengthen important institutions. Whereas many Americans have been weary of property ownership in Mexico in the past, under the Fox administration, property rights and contract laws have been strengthened and the mortgage finance market is strong and growing. Loreto Bay is currently developing condominium style housing on 8,000 acres along three miles of beachfront on the Baja California peninsula. The Mexican government is happy to pitch in too, with over $200 million dollars already invested in infrastructure at Loreto Bay. National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) member David Collins also sees opportunity in Mexico. As president and founder of Active Living International, a company that specializes in active living retirement communities, Collins and his partners, Grupo Suite, will invest nearly 100 million dollars in Nuevo Vallarta for Mexico’s first ever active living community, Sensara Vallarta. With Grupo Suite, he has already spearheaded the launch of Spain’s only active adult community, called Sensara. With the success of Sensara, already receiving recognition as “Best Retirement Community Development in Europe” at the 2004 Home Overseas Awards in London, and winning a platinum award from NAHB, Collins expects to duplicate his Spanish success south of the border. Developers like Sensara Vallarta are planning to offer retirement options to some of the 1.2 billion people that will be over the age of 60 by 2025, double the current figure of 629 million. Mexico is a great location in which to offer these options. “The weather is fantastic year round, prices are low, there is good health care, and it’s a short plane ride from home”. So, what gave Collins the inspiration and confidence to invest in Mexico? As a participant at NAHB’s 1st International Housing Conference of the Americas in Mexico City in 2003, Mr. Collins had the opportunity to meet and network with other U.S. and Mexican housing sector entrepreneurs and realized that “Mexican and American businessmen shared the same objective – we want to do business and wether in Mexico City or Orlando, we’re looking for opportunities. It opened my eyes to the range of possibilities that exist in Mexico”. Subsequently, Mexico’s giant cement company, Cemex, commissioned Active Living International to conduct a market study on the development of 10,000 retirement housing units. Collins said that every day he feels the impact of important housing sector reforms that facilitate business in Mexico for foreign nationals. With title and insurance companies, such as Stuart Title and investors like Calpers and Prudential Real Estate Investments, he feels confident that Mexico has the necessary institutions and investors in place to guarantee success. This year the 3rd International Housing Conference of the Americas will again offer opportunities for networking and exploring business ventures for NAHB members looking to expand into Mexico. Join us at the Four Seasons Hotel in Mexico City on November 3-5, 2005. Be sure to attend if you are interested in expanding your business to Mexico! For more information about the 3rd International Housing Conference of the Americas, please visit www.nahb.org/mexicoconference. For more information or to contact us directly, please visit www.NAHB.org | ©2005, National Association of Home Builders |