Real Estate - Over The Top
Most Exclusive Communities of Cabo San Lucas

By Carol S. Billups

As Los Cabos grows and evolves, new communities are springing up every day, so many that it’s difficult to keep up with them all. These new neighborhoods run from simple starter homes for Cabo’s burgeoning middle class to posh digs that would captivate royalty. Forget Jimmy Buffett, this is Warren Buffet’s Cabo.

This issue, we’re taking a peek at the top of high-end real estate, communities with a median home price well into the seven figures. Ever wonder what life is really like at the top of the food chain?

Let’s take a look.

Once you have a location with a great view, and add an expansive home with the finest quality materials and finishings, then spend thousands of dollars on luxurious furnishings, you still will have not achieved the level of sophistication of an A-list community. You need amenities: golf courses, yacht clubs, private day spas, and beach clubs. As developers compete to make theirs the ultimate offering, more varied and indulgent amenities become an integral part of the package. Security and privacy are taken for granted. These gated communities are generally closed to traffic other than residents and service providers.

Typical of the genre is Querencia, a private community just southwest of San José del Cabo. Here a new neighborhood is springing up on 850 acres with another 900-acre parcel being added. The heart of Querencia is the 18-hole Tom Fazio-designed championship golf course and the 12-acre practice facility. The recently opened clubhouse in the Club Village area features full service spa and fitness facilities, business center, lounges, private restaurants, a golf shop, tennis and pools, a yoga-Pilates pavilion and a serenity courtyard. The men’s and the women’s spas feature personal lockers for every member. The activities director plans special dinner parties, classes and events to keep owners constantly amused. The on-site concierge and property management department provide everything from maid service, airport transportation, pantry stocking (the high-end term for grocery shopping), landscape maintenance, and will help you plan your own parties. The vehicle of choice for getting around inside Querencia is a golf cart, many properties include “his and hers” charging stations. As the average age of Querencia owners is only 49, a Kid’s Club is available. All buyers of developer properties receive a social membership; golf is optional and limited to only 350 members. At Querencia, buyers have a choice of detached three or four-bedroom Club Villas or one of the luxury three-bedroom condominiums in Las Cabanas. Priced at about $2 million U.S., the Club Villas average 4,000 square feet of air-conditioned space. Outside you’ll find additional patios, private pool, fire pit, outdoor kitchen, and spa. Inside, the kitchens feature Viking appliances, granite countertops and custom cabinetry; the baths will feature stone and this year’s must-have: the outdoor rain shower. The fourteen Cabanas offer similar finishings in 2,800 square-feet of air-conditioned space at just over $1 million. At press time, custom building lots were not available but the developer is expected to release 25 additional building sites this winter. Lucky buyers will be offered complete building and decorating services.

Similar amenities and services will soon be available by the Discovery Land Company at El Dorado Golf and Beach Resort within Cabo Real in the Tourist Corridor. Here building lots range from $3 million to $14 million, with only seven left at press time. El Dorado offers villas (detached homes) from $3 million to $6 million, and 36 just-released condominiums, or casitas, from $2 million to $4 million with one penthouse at $10 million. El Dorado’s 18-hole Jack Nicklaus-designed course is ranked as one of the top courses in México. Like Querencia, membership is limited to 350 golfers.

A private gated community of 178 homes within Palmilla in San José, Villas del Mar hugs the famous Nicklaus “Ocean Nine” course with sweeping Sea of Cortés views. Here owners are eligible for Palmilla Golf Club membership, socialize at their private Club 96 Beach Club, which offers three pools, spa, gym, restaurant and designated space in the club restaurant’s wine cellar to store their personal selections. Preferred access to and signing privileges at One&Only Palmilla is another perk. The Entradas section, under construction, is unique in that all homes are on a single level: a rarity in Los Cabos. As you would expect, every detail is top quality and prices start at $2.3 million. Also under construction higher on the mountain are Los Haciendas: elegant two-story residences with an elevator and five bedrooms. Of course, there is a kitchen and dining room on each floor. All thirteen homes here are priced at $7 million each.

Punta Ballena is another elite community on the Tourist Corridor near Cabo San Lucas. A smaller development, Punta Ballena does not have a golf course but is perhaps one of the most secure and private locations in Los Cabos because it is also home to Esperanza, an Auberge resort, where celebrity guests are a dime a dozen. Full ownership opportunities here include lots from $500,000, four bedroom detached villas in the $3 million range, and “suites” in the Estrella complex for about $2 million for four luxurious bedrooms. When you own in Punta Ballena you may use Esperanza’s facilities where you can star gaze to your heart’s delight.

Just east of San José del Cabo in the small fishing village of La Playa, you’ll find Puerto Los Cabos, Questro’s new 2,000-acre master-planned community that is changing the face of both communities. Puerto Los Cabos will include Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman championship golf courses, a private 500-slip marina, a town center, hotels, resorts, an ecological reserve, a chapel, and residential communities. The marina and nine holes of the Nicklaus course are well underway. Most of the building lots are sold, however, a few properties remain in the prestigious Fundadores section. In the golf, beach and yacht clubs, which will include spas, restaurants and shops, exclusive areas will be set aside for Fundadores owners. Buyers in Fundadores may choose to belong to the private yacht club, which provides a slip in the private marina and dry storage, and dining, spa and entertainment facilities. All Fundadores beachfront lots are sold out.

Of course, developer inventory is not the only way to get into one of Los Cabo’s elite communities. If available, consider resales from private parties in Palmilla, Cabo del Sol, Pedregal, and Punta Ballena. Pricing is, of course, individual in such cases; and be sure to ask if golf or beach club memberships can be transferred. If you absolutely love a certain community, a resale may be the only route to your new home.

Take the example of Jim and Natalie Merritt of Dallas and Palm Beach. A regular Cabo San Lucas visitor for 27 years, Jim knew he and Natalie would eventually find the right property, and when 10,000-square foot Casa Verde came on the market, within 24 hours they had bought it. Set on the Pacific-side cliffs in Pedregal, an antique gate within a wall gives no hint of the grandeur it conceals. The first sight when entering the home is a heart-stopping view of waves crashing onto the beach far below. The upper level features an open floor plan and when we say “open” in the high-end world that means that not only do the living, dining and kitchen spaces flow into one another, in most of the elite homes, pocket glass walls disappear to combine indoor and outdoor living areas.

Built and designed by Antonio Carreras of MCA, Casa Verde features cascading twin swimming pools—the upper infinity pool spills into the lower pool over a wall featuring a mosaic of frolicking whales—two master suites, two indoor kitchens, two outdoor kitchens, games room, and a wine room. Tucked into the side of the mountain where it is protected from the elements, a winding staircase leads to the home’s wine grotto, the door of which is built of actual wine crates. Kept at a constant temperature by a dedicated electrical system backed up by an emergency generator, the room guards not only prized vintages, but the host’s cigar humidor. An oriental rug and comfortable chairs make this Mr. Merritt’s favorite retreat.

To redo the villa, Mr. Merritt looked to Julie Villalobos Reite, of Reite International Design. Based in Newport Beach and now accepting clients in Los Cabos, the Mexican-American Ms. Villalobos Reite is an award-winning interior designer and American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) member who’s equally at home on both sides of the border. Mr. Merritt, who knew of her previous hotel, resort and spa master planning and residential design work, gave Julie free reign. “The entire home was a dream opportunity for me to show the house in the way it should be seen,” noted the seasoned designer. With Reite International Design’s understanding of Latin culture and how business is done in México, along with their strong connections within the design industry, the Merritt’s home was completed on schedule.

Got a taste for the good life but want to limit your investment to less than one million dollars? You may want to consider one of Los Cabo’s new high-end fractional resorts. Fractional ownership provides all the perks and pampering of the elite developments, but instead of buying the entire home you purchase only a fraction. There are two types of properties being offered as “fractional.” Deeded fractional, in which you actually take title and receive U.S. title insurance, is true real estate. With deeded fractional ownership you and several other parties will take title to a specific unit, however your contract with the developer may state that you will actually use whatever unit is available when you are in town. Your contract might give you the right to visit your property at a particular time every year, or for more flexibility, you may choose a “floating” period in which you may come at any convenient time as long as space is available.

Puerto Los Cabos is also home to Misión La Serena, a new fractional high-end community. Under construction on 7.5 acres of beachfront, low-density Misión La Serena will have just 40 three-bedroom and 35 two-bedroom attached villas. With the first building due in 2007, this resort features concierge service, spa, fitness center, beach club, and golf and yacht packages. Each unit comes with a vehicle; there will be several restaurants in the complex. Developed by Casa Real, and overseen by CEO Manuel Espinoza, Misión La Serena is a family resort offering service equal to the finest hotel. Unique to Misión La Serena, each building incorporates a roof top terrace with fire pits and barbeque areas for socializing with neighbors and friends. Owners here may choose from packages from three to twelve weeks. Ranging in price from the low $100,000s to half a million dollars, deeded fractional is indeed a more affordable entrée to the good life.

On the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas, Capella Pedregal is the latest in elite deeded fractional ownership. A private enclave of 51 residences, 31 will be offered as shared-ownership. This new amenity-rich enclave is within the gates of Pedregal and close to town. A short ride through a tunnel from Marina Boulevard to the Pacific Ocean beach, the development will feature a boutique hotel and a world-class spa. At Capella, each residence will be assigned a personal Majordomo who will provide services as shopping, preparing snacks, greeting owners at the airport, and attending to every detail. The concierge will provide golf access; and the development will have its own fleet of 61’ Viking Sport Fishers and 70’ three-bedroom cruising yachts based in the Cabo San Lucas marina, merely yards from Capella. Owners need only pay for fuel and provisions and can book multi-day excursions if desired. The one-eighth share, at a cost of approximately $500,000, allows the owner to stay for five weeks guaranteed, with additional time on a space-available basis.

You’ll find Montecristo Estates high on a ridge within the 1,800-acre Cabo Pacifica resort, also home to Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach and Pacifica Holistic Retreat and Spa. Since converting to deeded fractional, sales of these freestanding hacienda-style luxury villas have been booming. Work is progressing on a new Jack Nicklaus-designed Signature course at Pacifica, unique in that most of the greens will be built horizontal to the Pacific Ocean. At the cost of premium ocean front building lots, developer Ernesto Coppel set aside prime real estate for 13 oceanfront or ocean view holes. The public should hurry to experience the course once it opens: it’s rumored that it will likely go private within several years. Montecristo’s two-story villas include private pools and Jacuzzis, rain showers, plasma TVs, full gourmet kitchens and a fireplace, with personal concierge services, a private clubhouse with pool, and use of all Pueblo Bonito resorts in Los Cabos.

For a select few, these elite communities are the heart and soul of Los Cabos. Luckily for the rest of us, there are other communities, which, if not quite so grand or packed with amenities, offer similar features at more moderate prices. Think of it as ordering a pizza: the more toppings you add, the higher the price. If you factor out golf, private clubhouses, spas and restaurants, you’ll find much more affordable properties that still offer privacy, security, up-graded materials and spectacular views. Even in mid-range properties developers are adding granite counters, marble floors, and experimenting with limited high-end amenities. You may not have it all, but you may find you have exactly what you need.