Panama dreaming

As the snow gets deeper and deeper, my mind occasionally wanders to warm places, and last night I ended up in Costa Rica, where friends of mine are developing property, and then in Panamá. I love history as much as I love warm beaches, and I discovered that the historic district of Panamá City, Casco Antiguo, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (one of 5 in the tiny country). It dates to about 1670, when it replaced the town of Panamá Viejo, which had been established in 1519.

In Casco Antiguo (also known as Casco Viejo), there is a hotel that was built in 1915 being rebuilt as a condominium for vacation rentals. Hotel Casco Antiguo will have 34 suites and amenities such as a roof-top pool and bar.

When I was in Istanbul in 1991, I stayed at a Ramada hotel in a similar situation (it had been 4 historic buildings – now a modern hotel in a historic district) and thought about the investment potential of such projects. You’ve all seen them – the early investors in historic districts that become world-famous – and maybe thought about some day being one of them. Buying into districts such as SoHo, Vancouver’s Gastown, or Old San Juan are far out of the range of most of us, but Casco Antiguo is apparently still affordable. The hotel Web site says that “You will own a fully-titled unit, receive a substantial portion of the unit’s gross profits and use it for up to thirty days per year at no cost” – that has gotten me thinking…