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The Cinta Costera project is nearing completion on the Bay of Panama. The project to treat all of Panama’s sewage before it reaches the bay in well underway. The long term goal of letting today’s youngsters swim in the Bay of Panama like their great grandparents did is in sight.

All of this is happening at the same time that condos on the Bay of Panama are coming back down in price.

Cinta Costera

In late 2007 Panama began the long awaited construction of a coastal strip, the Cinta Costera, along Avenida Balboa, the main avenue on the Bay of Panama. Heavy equipment moved in, fences went up and men went to work dumping rock and gravel along the shoreline. Next they began to add dirt and level the ground, compacting as they went.

The project has been going on now for over a year and the bay front has changes. There is rock fill from San Felipe to Costa del Este. There has been a fair amount of controversy as there appears to be more parking and less green space than some had imagined.

Palm trees are planted and the statue of Nuñez Balboa is wrapped in scaffolding ready to be taken apart and moved. The current administration is trying to finish up before elections in May and the ensuing changes.

Ministry of Public Works Project

The Ministry of Public Works (MOP – Ministerio de Obras Publicás) web site for the Panama Cinta Costera project describes the project, Cinta Costera y Nueva Vialidad (Costa Strip and New Roadway System).

Initial plans for Panama’s Cinta Costera project are to widen and improve the Avenida Balboa roadway with more lanes, use of parallel streets, and use of entry and exit ramps at busy areas. The roadway improvement are likely going to continue for some time after the major part of the Cinta Costera is done.

Sanitation in Panama

Those watching the progress of the Cinta Costera could not miss the huge pipes being buried under the rock fill. These are the outlets for Panama’s new sewage treatment system.

On March 2, 2006 the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) approved a loan of 45 million dollars for the Panama City and Bay of Panama Sanitation Project to expand the sewer system in Panama City, Panama improving sanitation in poor neighborhoods reducing contamination of rivers crossing Panama City. As of March of 2008, $6,165,047 in US dollars had been disbursed.

According the IDB’s press release the Panama City and Bay of Panama Sanitation Project is project one of three with a total expected cost of 360 million dollars. The total set of projects is meant to build a system to collect, treat and dispose of sewage in the Panamanian capital. The project will be carried out by the Panama Health Ministry with onsite work done by IDAAN, the Panama water and sanitation public utility.

Like the roadway project this work too will take a few years more.

Condo Prices on the Bay of Panama

What will not take any more time is for prices to fall on the bay. The worldwide credit crunch has reduced the number of North Americans coming to buy Panama real estate. Thus there are too many units coming on line and too few buyers. Prices are being rolled back two years and more.

ABPanama has set up a distressed property site to help pair distressed sellers with buyers with cash. For those interested in high end Panama real estate these next few months represent the opportunity of a generation.

If you are a property owner caught in a cash crunch or a buyer looking for real estate in Panama come to see us at ABPanama. We have over 23 years experience managing real estate portfolios and we do business throughout Panama.