Inaugural re-opening shows signs of tremendous economic recovery ahead

President, Rocky Point Home Builders

Thousands of tourists visited Puerto Peñasco for the first time in several months on June 16th as the city welcomed in Phase III of the pandemic response and opened its doors to tourists for the inaugural re-opening launch. The long-awaited re-opening comes as pandemic fears slowly subside allowing life resume back to normal, the economy to recover and tourism, the life blood of the city to resume.

The headline from June 16th is that the city will overcome the mandated shut down and tourism will return to normal. Longs lines of cars were seen at the sanitation checkpoint just outside the entrance of the city as tourist’s road-tripped down to Puerto Peñasco as the kick-off of the gradual re-opening of the city began. During the pandemic there was a feeling that the economy would not return to normal so to see the line of cars was a welcomed sight for business owners and residents.

This inaugural re-opening event was well organized by city authorities with strict protocol in place to ensure only people with a valid reservation at an approved hotel or condo enters the city. For example, At the sanitation checkpoint tourists’ reservation documentation were closely scrutinized, with names and license plates annotated and reservations confirmed before anybody could pass. Any papers out of order or not validated could resulted in being turned around and sent home.

The gradual re-opening of the economy was spurred on by Sonora Gov. Claudia Pavlovich when she announced back in May that a board of scientists and researchers of the State Health Committee started the formation of the state’s Economic Reactivation Plan and will be enacting its framework for re-opening the economy and the city.

The committee said if strict social distancing is maintained for 75% of the population then the opening of non-essential activities could start gradually with rigorous health protocols in place to include tourism. The conditions for economic reactivation are outlined is a step-step-step plan reactivating only between 17 and 34 percent of the population for a whole month while prioritizing municipalities, productive sectors and lower risk activities, said Gov. Pavlovich.

Puerto Peñasco’s response to the virus was aggressive while impressive. There was a fear that Puerto Peñasco would be hit hard with the virus and put a strain on the limited medical resources overwhelming the system.

However, in response to the virus, local government officials with guidance from the state of Sonora implemented a sanitary filter around the city which established roadblocks at all entrances essentially closing the city to non-residents and preventing them from entering. Other preventative responses included the closing of all non-essential business, beaches, parks, restaurants and schools.

Investment Opportunities

Before the pandemic struck Puerto Peñasco was having a record-setting year for tourism, real estate and the home construction market was booming. Things have cooled down as you can imagine during the lockdown but gauging the recent economic indicators the downturn only appeared to be temporary.

As you can imagine, there are no shortages of investment opportunities available in the real estate market. From large-scale land development to purchasing a couple lots and building some income properties, there is no better place to be at this moment in time that Puerto Peñasco. Building a home is not a difficult process if you work with a reputable company and construction costs can range from $70-$100 a sq. ft. which is about half the costs of construction in the United States. Also, prices for land are still at reasonable levels so now is the time to strike while the iron is hot as they say and take advantage of some recent reductions in pricing before they return to the higher normal prices.

About the author: Joseph Sanchez is president of Rocky Point Home Builders a design/build contractor specializing in custom home design, construction and engineered renovations and a real estate agent with RE/MAX Legacy. He resides here in Puerto Peñasco with his wife and three children and is originally from Chicago. For more information email him at sales@rockypointhomebuilders.com.

PHOTOS:

SANITATION TUNNEL – This inaugural re-opening event was well organized by city authorities (Photo courtesy of Periódico De Frente)

Lines of Cars – Longs lines of cars were seen at the sanitation checkpoint just outside the entrance of the city as tourist’s road-tripped down to Puerto Peñasco as the kick-off of the gradual re-opening of the city. (Photo courtesy of Periódico De Frente)

Welcome to Rocky Point – The headline from June 16 is that the city will overcome the mandated shut down and tourism will return to normal. (Photo courtesy of Periódico De Frente)