Country Article / Postcards
18-hole Retirement in Panama
Date: 12/13/2005
Lee and friends touring the work-in-progress Tucán Country Club and Resort.
Dear International Living Reader,
At the end of the International Real Estate Forum in Panama City last month, I joined a handful of IL readers on a real estate excursion, put on at the end of the Forum. To be honest, all I wanted was a free ride to Casco Viejo, Panama City’s old historic center…but I’m sure glad I got on that bus--I met Dinesh Vaswani, developer of the Tucán Country Club and Resort.
Dinesh had a fleet of 25 golf carts waiting in front of the clubhouse so we could tour the lush, tropical grounds in the genuine style of a golfer. The fact that Dinesh is even building here, on this former Canal Zone country club, is evidence that he's a step ahead of the pack.
I've seen this before, in Nicaragua, where, in the midst of the scramble to develop oceanfront properties, one forerunner will initiate a golf community to fill a void that everyone else had passed over (see Calling All Golfers, Surfers, and Swimmers, below). As in Nicaragua, this is an idea whose time has come in Panama.
The Tucán Country Club and Resort has a lot going for it, starting with the fact that every property for sale here has a golf course view. Also, the properties back up to a lush stretch of primary and secondary rainforest, so you can enjoy the wildlife and bird life that's so abundant in the area. In fact, the site was actually designed around the existing trees, to preserve the tropical ambiance. Add to this the fact that you get awesome views of the Panama City skyline, you're minutes from town, and less than an hour from Panama's best beaches, and you've got a combination that's hard to beat.
This is Panama City's only golf development, and the course will remain private (there are two other golf courses in the city--one private and one semi-private). It's been completely updated (it used to be the course used by U.S. military officers), and promises to be one of the most technologically advanced courses in the region when it's completed. To me, this looks like a good opportunity, but I tend to be drawn to first-of-a-kind projects, due to their obvious potential.
Tucán is offering lots with condos, townhouses, and villas. The condos here begin at 1,340 square feet, from $198,000 (including a lifetime family golf membership), which seemed reasonable to me for a golf community in a first-class city. Prices go up from there (way up), to the point where you could purchase a custom Mediterranean-style villa of over 5,000 square feet with a two-car garage for more than $500,000.
For more information on the Tucán Country Club and Resort, you can contact our Panama Office at http://www.il-ireland.com/il/questionnaire/tucan/
Lee Harrison
Roving Latin America Editor, International Living
Rate this Postcard:
Rating: /5 ( votes cast)