12 more images below... |
Historic Hacienda in Tekit, Yucatan Mexico Natural Paradise For Hotel And Spa, 1,005 Acre Hacienda Asking Price: $550,000 USD (Negotiable - Financing Available) Location, location, location. Hacienda San Antonio Silil is situated in the heart of the Convent Route, the Hacienda Route, and Puuc Route, this hacienda is smack dab in the middle of the 3 main tourist routes in the Yucatan peninsula. Along the highway from Merida to Chetumal, it is also close to both the Caribbean Coast and the Gulf Coast, with colonial Merida just 45 minutes away. Tekit itself has a charming convent and church, and many old colonial buildings, and the colourful nearby market town of Tekit has a vegetable market whose colour and excitement rivals the fishmarket in Tokto, Rungis in Paris, or any of the markets in Shanghai. The area is also called the cenote zone, for its many beautiful sinkholes, many of which are swimmable. Running along the eastern edge of the property is one of the only extant narrow-gauge train lines, meaning that you can take the train from the main house all the way into town, or to many of the towns nearby, which in fact many people do.
This is a huge piece of land, and more acreage can be bought adjacent. Because of its privacy, the land makes for excellent hunting grounds, with abundant wildlife; a private nature resort; gentleman's horse farm; or producing landholding. Imagine your own private road of 2 kilometres leading to your own private hacienda. Nobody around for miles, just the sounds of nature all around you.
This property has one of the most beautiful and most enormous cenotes in all of the Yucatan, as big as the one in Chichen Itza. It is also one of the few properties that has its own small springfed lake, with turtles, ducks, and fish. There is also an extraordinary large cenote with crystal clear water and a white sandy bottom. The main well itself is a cenote with a 400 year old arch inside, and is connected to many caves. There are also several other smaller cenotes on the property. The property measures approximately 907 acres (367 hectares), and has not yet been fully explored. There is also a small Mayan burial site, located in the bottom of a deep cave, complete with traces of pottery and the original walls.
This property would make an ideal eco-hotel. With a full solar installation, and many casitas around the main house, which could all be converted into hotel rooms, it would have a very low impact on the environment, so the nature can be enjoyed in its full glory. The solar power also removes the need to use the expensive local power. With a backup generator, there can be more than enough electricity to satisfy requirements, and with 360 days a year of sun, plenty of rain, there will be no shortages.
We have developed some preliminary plans for the remodeling of the main house and are landscaping the grounds. We will be happy to sign over the plans to an eventual buyer.
The wildlife in the area abounds, with species of wild cats such as tigrillo, ocelot, margay cat, puma, and jaguar all found in the area. We have seen very large deer, an entire family of wild pigs called pecari, the stunning pavo de monte (an endangered species of turkey that looks like a peacock but with bright red tail feathers). It is also a birdwatchers paradise, with a huge variety of indigenous, endemic and migratory birds: the Yucatan has the second highest bird biodiversity in the world. Orioles, cardinals, starlings, parakeets, hummingbirds, and countless others--their song is incredible at dawn.
The Tekit area is famous for its honey production, and this land is large enough to support production of top quality organic honey on a large, commercial scale. In blind tastings, top honey from the Yucatan has been identified as the best in the world. With a constantly changing mix of wildflowers in bloom, the locals actually produce honey in vintages, according to the flower being pollinated, with each one having a unique character. The meliponia, the world's only stingless honey bee is endemic to the area, and produces a highly concentrated honey very rich in antioxidants. perfect export product.
The land has not been used actively by its previous owners, except to produce honey, but lends itself to citrus and other fruit--this area is known throughout Mexico for its high quality citrus. In fact, Coca-Cola produces its secret ingredient, lemon oil from the skin of a Sicilian lemon, at a large hacienda nearby. There are commercial plantings of citrus, bamboo, elephant grass, grass, mango, avocado, etc in the area, all of which could be done on a commercial scale to supplement the income of an eco-hotel business.
There are many important archaeological sites nearby, with Mayapan being the closest (10 minutes away). Uxmal is also close by. The Hacienda Temozon, a top luxury hotel, is also close at hand. The popular town of Ticul, for its colourful market and renowned pottery, is also close by. Here you are on the route of the convents, one of the important touristic routes through the Yucatan peninsula, as well as one of the main roads from Merida (regional capital) to Chetumal, now the gateway to the Costa Maya. the property would also make a base for an excellent hotel project.
This is an undisturbed natural paradise. There is no village nearby, no industrial activity nearby, and all the land is fully titled and freehold. Property taxes in the area are extremely low (less than your annual car tax).
There are the remains of an old henequen hacienda on the property, including several miles of rail beds (that served the old narrow gage rail) that have been elevated, which create a beautiful path through the property--and excitingly are connected to the only still fully operational narrow-gauge rail line into town, very useful for supplies or fun rides. These old rail beds could very easily be cleaned and restored--there are literally kilometres of them. We have cleared the main ones around the house and those leading to the main cenotes, but they offer an easy way to traverse the property, on horseback, on foot, on a mountain bike, or on a quad bike, or better still on a new narrow gauge rail train as has been done at Sotuta de Peon--a working henequen hacienda nearby. There is the main house, the water tanks which have all been repaired, the cooling tower, the machine house, and a few workers cottages. The main attraction is the natural setting, which is undulating terrain with incredible natural features, clean air, big sky, and incredible wildlife.
The current price of $550,000 reflects the state of the main buildings, which although they are technically habitable, need to be restored. We will be starting the restoration of these buildings in October in phases, starting with the outbuildings and then proceeding to the main house. We will be raising the price in line with the work that we do, with an eventual target price of $1m. We are willing to provide some limited form of seller financing, and also to undertake the work. We can also turn over plans, contractors, and the like so that the buyer can complete the project on their own.
The property is comprised of two separate, adjacent parcels, the hacienda itself (318 hectares) plus an additional piece of land (89 hectares), for 407 hectares, or just over 1,000 acres. The property has clean title, clear ownership, and title insurance is available now in Mexico. The main hacienda has the pond, the huge open cenote, and a mid-size closed one with beautiful water, as well as a cave and another small cenote. The extra land holds the access road to the property and we are told several further cenotes, but we have never explored this other property.
We have planted an extensive range of plants, trees and shrubs, which are now settling in. includes 200 citrus trees of a wide range of varieties including Sicilian lemons, blood oranges, pomelo's, juicing oranges, navel orange, ruby grapefruit, yellow grapefruit, mandarin oranges, limas, limes, creole (key) limes, etrog lemon, pink lady lemons, etc. We have planted 75 mango trees of a wide variety including alphonso (seed from india), atulfo, and many other varieties. Avocado in 5 varieties number 30 trees. Both avocado and mango have been grown from seed which will give them a productive life of 40 years rather than the typical 15 years for a graft.
We have planted 20 tamarind trees, 10 pomegranates, 150 zapote negro, 20 zapote blanco, 20 chicozapote, 10 mamey, 10 ciruela, 10 ciricote, and several other local fruit varieites. We have also planted 250 shade giving trees that are local: including almonds, ramons, piich (the giant elephant ear tree), ceiba, cedro, and many other. We have planted 100 hibiscus, 500 bougainvillea, 300 palms of a wide variety, 100 bananas, 250 helliconias and gingers of a wide variety--pink, white, red, lobster claw, bird of paradise--traveller's palms and on and on.
We have planted many, many other ornamental plants, and have also sown grass seed for high traffic, that is sun tolerant, and shows strong resistance in this climate. We have planted yuccas, climbing vines, galan de noche, and some flowering shrubs with heavenly scents, including gardenias, limonaria, and jasmine. We have planted 500 oleander of red, white, pink, and lilac varieties.
We have a gardening team in place that is caring for these plants, watering them, keeping them trimmed, and who can easily be brought over by the new owner. We have also planted 500 local trees known as cathedral bells, with flower year round and have just been found to be ideal for bio-diesel production--so as well as being pretty, you could make ethanol from them!
This property at its current price is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to acquire an estate at a reasonable price, finish it, and end up with an asset of much greater value.
 | | About This Property | |
| Category: | | Investing/Development | | Address: | | Tekit
Yucatan
Mexico | | For Sale By: | | Owner | | Construction Year: | | 1800 | | Needs Renovating: | | Yes | | Area: | | 1,000 m2 | | | Bedrooms: | | n/a | | Bathrooms: | | n/a | | Sleeps: | | n/a | | Stories: | | n/a | | Parking Spaces: | | 99 | |
| | Features - Amenities | |
| - Lake Waterfront
- Private Lake,
- Incredible Hunting And Wildlife,
| | - 7 Cenotes (4 With Water),
- Caves With Stalactites And Stalagmites,
- Solar Power Installation, Two Grundfos High Volume Water Pumps (150,000 Litres Per Day), Tanks And Irrigation Canals All Restored To Original Splendour,
| | - Wooden Doors Recovered And Repaired
- Mayan Burial Site In A Deep Cave
| | | Pictures (click to view a larger image) | |
| | Contact - More Information | |
| | Search More Listings | |
|
