Condos in Ecuador: Update on Primavera II

I had a minor, and perhaps even a major revelation this morning. A couple of friends of ours, Carl and Nancy Showalter, recently moved to Cotacachi, Ecuador, to make it their permanent home and base of operation.

Carl is a minister for a small church in Chicago that has an international audience through the internet.

Carl conducted his first Sunday internet service this morning from our 4^th floor penthouse, because his internet is not yet installed. A couple of his parishioners from Canada were here, too, visiting for a week, so we had a small congregational meeting right here in our home. It was really wonderful.

The subject of Carl’s sermon had to do with the next four years, the speculation that things may get much worse, economically, politically, and climatically and what to do to survive.

One doesn’t have to be a genius to figure out that signs are certainly pointing in this direction. I subscribe to several investment newsletters. One I like most is Martin Wise’s Money and Markets.

Virtually every day, Martin and his team of writers talk about the potential downside of the current economic condition, with soaring oil and commodity prices, inflation and the U.S. recession (which has not yet officially been announced). Many writers have predicted a recession or depression having the potential to be more severe than the depression of the thirties.

I also read several news sites, and each day, the drums of war against Iran get stronger and stronger. This came from a news article today:

Former White House spokesman Scott McClellan says the Bush administration’s war rhetoric against Iran should be taken ‘very seriously’.

Like many people, I have been concerned about the erosion of civil rights in the U.S., and wonder what will happen if there is another war, or if there is a terrorist attack in the U.S. I also wonder how people can continue to pay more and more for food and gas, in a climate of falling wages and housing foreclosures.

The second and third floors are two bedroom condos with a terrace. The first floor has two 3-bedroom 2 ½ bath units. In the first two buildings 8 out of 16 units have been sold.

So all of these thoughts bring me to the subject of the Primavera II condominium project underway here in Cotacachi. After 10 years of traveling the world teaching meditation, Linda and I have often wondered why we find ourselves here in Cotacachi, and for the most part, selling real estate to make a living. It seems to us to be a most incongruous concept, given our training, and not something either of us would have imagined ourselves doing at this stage of our lives.

Yet, during our years together, we have always felt that we are moved by Spirit to where we needed to be, to where we will find our work. Our faith tells us that this time here in Cotacachi, Ecuador, is no exception.

Each day as Jorge Quilumbaqui, the Primavera builder, moves steadily forward with his plans, undaunted by relatively slow sales, I am reminded of Kevin Costner’s movie, “Field of Dreams.”

“Build it, and they will come,” the protagonist is told by the “voice.”

I think Jorge is motivated by the same voice. In his calm, gentle manner, he moves forward. Last week, he began construction on the third of four 8-unit condo buildings.

Buildings One, Warmy Razu (Ice Woman) and Two, Taita Imbabura (Great Father)are nearing completion, just waiting for buyers to come and choose their floor tile, countertops, fixtures and cabinets

About two weeks ago, the city issued its final approval of the “horizontal plan,”the document needed before the builder can issue full title to buyers. All hurdles to issuing full title, 100% ownership to buyers, are now overcome.

The land for Primavera II will include virtually all the land shown in this picture, bounded by the trees. There is a small river at the border in the back.

A month ago, Jorge purchased an additional 1 ¼ acres of land contiguous with the existing project. Last week, the negotiation for an additional ½ acre of land was completed

By the time all land acquisitions are finished, the project will include nearly 2½ acres of land, four 8-unit condominiums, eight small two-story townhouses, a restaurant where Jorge’s son who is in chef’s school can practice his trade, a coffee shop and deli, and other construction to be determined.

Linda and I are convinced that this development will be one of the finest urban developments in all of South America, a model for urban living everywhere. Most importantly for us, Primavera II will have ample green space, mostly in the form of gardens, walking paths, and meditation areas. An additional feature of this development is that it is less than a 5-minute walk from the center of downtown Cotacachi.

At the end of the sermon today, Carl asked each of us present to say a few words to the large international audience. I found myself spontaneously saying for the first time, that Cotacachi, tucked into a beautiful valley between two huge extinct volcanoes known as the Mother and Father, is a sanctuary.

It is a sanctuary where a few people from all over the world can come to learn to live in harmony with the indigenous who mostly populate this region, people who are close to the land, who raise their own food, who live very close to the heart of God. We can also learn to live in harmony with each other, through the teachings that Rev. Carl and Nancy, and people like them bring as they come here to make Cotacachi their new home.

This is the view of Volcano Imbabura from the terrace of the penthouse condo Linda and I purchased.

Ecuador itself is a beautiful land, where the cost of living is less than a quarter of what it is in the States, where most of the food we purchase is grown within a 150-mile radius of where we live.

It is a land where public transportation can take us anywhere we need to go, and if we do choose to have a car (we don’t) we can purchase gas for $1.48 per gallon and diesel for $1 per gallon.

But more than that, here in Cotacachi, a sanctuary is forming, where the indigenous town leadership is creating a new model of participatory democracy that is being replicated in 163 cantons (counties) across the country. I am beginning to understand that our work here is to help prepare living spaces for people who want to move to this sanctuary.

Cotacachi is a place where people of heart can come, not only to share their hearts, but to learn from the indigenous whose teachings are finally re-emerging after nearly 500 years of suppression.

We live in exciting times, dangerous times. Cotacachi, Ecuador, is for now a haven of peace in the midst of a troubled world. I don’t know what the future will bring. But I do know that we are here for a reason that became clearer to me this morning.

I invite you to come and see for yourself, just as Carl and Nancy’s parishioners from Montreal did. Their final words today as they departed were, “we think we have found a nice piece of land where we want to build our new home.”

Linda and I are here to help in anyway we can.

Filed under: Condos in Ecuador, Cotacachi, Ecuador Real Estate