Your father arrived in Cabo San Lucas in 1973 after driving the length of the peninsula from Tijuana. What do you remember him telling you about that decision — and did you ever doubt he was right to make it?

Mayte, My father lived in Mexico City and had the desire to move out of the city, this became possible when we lost my little brother to cancer and my brothers graduated from university, everything lined up and the research started in Ensenada, where we all went, all the family, but the weather was not what he and the family wanted, so the search continued, I stayed in San Diego but the rest of the family flew from Tijuana to La Paz, from there, they drove to Cabo where they all fell in love with the place. Two months later I came with them to check it out and we all decided this was the place to move to.

We found the perfect piece of property to develop, we walked it , up the hill, all the way to beach, since of course there were no roads, We were marveled by the views from the top of the mountain. The negotiation with its owner was successful and we were able to buy it.

You grew up inside a project that was still being built. What was it like to be a child in a “dream” that your father’s whole identity — and your family’s future — depended on?

I was already 23 years old when I moved to Cabo. I grew up in Mexico City, went to school there, to the Ibero University, worked for my father in Mexico City and then moved to Cabo where I was able to continue working for my father, now on support and sales of the developed properties. It was fun, a challenge to find buyers when we started.

My Father was an architect, he was the brains behind it all, he planned the community, the roads and designed the first homes; one of my brother was in charge of construction and development, another brother was in charge of sales for a while and then passed that responsibility to me. I have been on sales ever since.

3- I walked into your office and knocked on your door when BajaTraveler® was just getting started, and you said yes. What made you take that chance on an unproven publication?

BajaTraveler® had a very nice presentation, you were charming and professional, I had no doubt you would be successful, the magazine was interesting and designed for Baja! Perfect place for advertising our project.

The average home price in the San José Corridor jumped from about $4.2 million to $5.88 million in a single year. Is that growth healthy, or is Los Cabos pricing itself into a different kind of market than the one your father built?

Our Project is located in the heart of Cabo San Lucas, on the very corner of the Peninsula, we overlook the Bay and Marina and the Pacific Beach and Ocean. We are not in the corridor; homes here started small, since in the late 70´s early 80´s the market was comprised of fishermen flying down in their private airplanes from California and Texas, and bringing their yachts from California. Construction materials were scarce and the houses were built with simple finishes.

As time passed, better materials were available and we got a more sophisticated market that built large luxury homes, taking advantage of the affordable prices for the land and construction. But nothing is perfect, as demand raises, prices raised as well; hand labor became scarce which raised the price of labor and material. Appreciation and inflation helped to raise values, as well as the availability of more quality materials, more luxury finishes, all these allowed for high end real estate development of homes and projects.

 What does “luxury living” mean to a buyer walking into your office today, compared to what it meant twenty years ago?

Now days, Luxury living means quality of life. Being in a small developed area, with luxury finishes in the homes, house service, easy access to the beach, marinas, mountain trails and now luxury shopping, means Luxury living. Everything is close by, 15 minutes and you are there, anywhere you want to be. There is time to enjoy the Sunrise and the Sunset, in between there is a little work and a lot of fun. What else can we ask for?

This is Luxury living.

Pedregal has weathered hurricanes, including Odile in 2014. How does a community rebuild its sense of permanence and luxury after a disaster — and does that resilience become part of what you’re actually selling?

Resilience is what people who live here have. The energy of the place is contagious, when a disaster happens, the population gets together to takes care of the situation, we help each other and resolve the issues.

Your family expanded from Pedregal de Cabo San Lucas into La Paz with Pedregal de La Paz. What did La Paz teach you that Cabo San Lucas couldn’t — about a different kind of luxury buyer, or a different way of living well in Baja?

La Paz and Cabo have a totally different energy. La Paz society is more conservative, it has more history since it was already established as a town when Cabo was just starting to grow.

The younger generations are the ones that bought in the Pedregal de La Paz, as when in Cabo it started with the older generation, the ones that were already succesfull and some how sophisticated.

8. Water scarcity and infrastructure capacity are increasingly part of the conversation among sophisticated Los Cabos buyers. As someone who has to think about this at the community level, what worries you — and what doesn’t?

Water scarcity in Los Cabos happened because the area is desertic, there is water underground but it is either not enough or not well managed. The growth of the populations is exponential, every time they open a new Hotel, a new Condominium project, a new development, more and more people show up to live in the area, between the workers, service personnel and owners, there is more demand for services such as water, sewage and electricity and the infrastructure is not enough. Now it is obligatory to have a DESAL plant when developing a hotel, and sometimes even residential developments.

Pedregal de Cabo San Lucas established its DESAL plant about 10 years ago, in a joint effort between the Developer and the HOA. So we have enjoyed the service of water uninterrupted which provides Pedregal owners and residents a luxury quality of life.

Four generations of your family have now lived in Pedregal. What is the hardest part of keeping a place feel like a family’s home as it becomes one of the most sought-after real estate markets in the Western Hemisphere?

Simplicity is what makes the place feel like home, knowing the people that take care of it, the gardeners, the trash collectors, the HOA administrators, and of course knowing your neighbors. Pedregal is like a small town within the Cabo San Lucas town.

If your father could see Los Cabos today — the international buyers, the branded residences, the prices — what do you think he would recognize, and what do you think would surprise him?

I had the opportunity to drive my father through the Pedregal project a few weeks before he passed and he told me he was overwhelmed by the beautiful homes built and very proud to know that people believed in his dream and invested in it.