San Miguel

About San Miguel:

San Miguel covers 15.5 square kilometres immediately south of the town of Naranjo, and its centre sits at 1,040 metres, practically level with the canton seat. Three national roads cross it. Route 1, the Bernardo Soto, runs through San Miguel Oeste past the EUSSE service station, east toward Grecia, Alajuela and San José and west toward San Ramón. Route 141 passes through on its way north through Naranjo to Zarcero and Ciudad Quesada, and Route 715, Calle Rosario, ties Naranjo to San Miguel and El Rosario before carrying on into Palmares. If you don’t drive, a local bus links Naranjo with San Miguel Este from early morning until late afternoon.

The district divides into San Miguel Este, San Miguel Oeste and San Francisco, and takes in smaller places such as Palmas, Quesera, Bajos, Bajo Seevers, Linda Vista, Camacho, Las Rosas and the Ciudadela El Estadio. Its landmark is the Escuela República de Uruguay. The school dates back to 1888, and its present Art Deco building, designed by José María Barrantes Monge and built between 1937 and 1940, was declared national architectural heritage in 2015; from the balcony in its central tower you look straight out at the Cordillera Central. San Miguel Oeste has a primary school of its own, the district has a small football stadium, and the fiestas patronales still bring people out every year. Banking, the market and the big supermarket runs mean a short trip up to Naranjo.

This is coffee country, and coffee still covers a good part of the slopes. Some of the fincas that change hands come with their own small processing setup and cement drying patios next to the plantation. The newer pull is the highway. A few kilometres east on Route 1, in Tacares de Grecia, Evolution Free Zone houses medical-device and manufacturing companies and was planned around a workforce drawn from Naranjo and the other western towns, a point the sellers of lots in Hacienda Natura are quick to make. Much of the land near the highway slopes, and that slope is what gives the condominium lots their views over the valley and, from some of them, toward the volcanoes.

San Miguel had 4,657 residents at the 2011 census, more than three times the 1,357 counted in 1973, after El Rosario had been carved out of it. Most are Costa Rican families, and the village market belongs to them: houses and small lots on public streets, bought, sold and rented in colones. The second market sits behind the gates. Buyers from outside the canton come to Hacienda Natura for the guards, the shared amenities and the on-ramp to Route 1, and homes there are usually priced in dollars. Expect the two to feel like different towns, even though they share a district.

Houses in San Miguel:

In San Miguel Este and Oeste, most homes are detached family houses, each on its own lot facing a public street. Bigger properties appear as well, such as a three-bedroom house with 264 square metres of construction on a lot of nearly 950, or a bank-repossessed home of 820 square metres with four bedrooms, a BBQ rancho and covered parking for six cars on more than 6,000 square metres of land. Inside Hacienda Natura, new three-bedroom houses come with balconies, a two-car garage and the pool and courts a few steps away. When you weigh houses for sale in San Miguel de Naranjo, ask for the construction permit file and compare it with what is actually built, and on a bank sale remember that you take the house exactly as it stands.

Rentals in San Miguel:

Rentals follow the same split. In the villages you will find small apartments, some new and furnished, let by the month in colones with services included, and three-bedroom apartments in San Miguel Oeste with a laundry area. Furnished family houses with private gardens are let in dollars and cost several times as much. Before you line up rentals in San Miguel, Naranjo side by side, ask what the monthly figure covers, because water, electricity, internet and furniture can each be in or out.

Land and Lots in San Miguel:

Village lots are small and practical. Plots of 150 to 220 square metres on the streets of San Miguel Oeste, with services at the frontage, are sold to families building a first home, and a few lots of more than 1,000 square metres turn up in quieter corners. Above that come quintas of three to five thousand square metres, gated and planted, and the occasional coffee finca. Do the sums per square metre before you decide: a small serviced lot on a main street can cost more per metre than a sloping lot in Hacienda Natura, which then adds a monthly fee and the extra cost of building on a gradient.

New Developments in San Miguel:

The district’s big project is Hacienda Natura, a gated condominium whose entrance sits off the Bernardo Soto in San Miguel Oeste, about a kilometre from the Naranjo exit toward San José. It is laid out in four stages with some 289 lots, and owners get round-the-clock guards at two gatehouses, quick-pass lanes for residents, cobbled streets, fibre-optic internet, a pool, multi-use courts, BBQ ranchos and trails through the green areas. Lots range from just over 400 to more than 1,000 square metres, many of them on a slope, and finished houses already stand among them. If a lot in Hacienda Natura appeals to you, read the condominium rules and confirm the monthly fee before you sign, since both shape what you can build and how you can use it.

Commercial Property in San Miguel:

The highway gives San Miguel a commercial market of its own. A 2.6-hectare parcel right on Route 1, next to the EUSSE station, with direct access and all services, is offered for commercial, industrial or residential projects. Further in, a 1.9-hectare complex with a house, twenty guest cabins, a restaurant, a pool and a casino area is offered for rent. Anything that fronts Route 1 depends on what the MOPT allows for access and setback, so get that in writing before you draw up plans.

FAQ:

• Is Hacienda Natura in San Miguel or in El Rosario?

  The entrance is in San Miguel Oeste and the condominium is usually sold as San Miguel, but some of its lots are offered as El Rosario, the district that was split off from San Miguel. Read the district and the finca number on the cadastral plan, look the property up at the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario), and ask the Municipalidad de Naranjo for the land-use certificate under the district that actually appears on the plan.

• Will I get a water connection for a new house in San Miguel?

  Ask before you pay anything. San Miguel Este is supplied by its community ASADA, so find out which board or aqueduct serves the street you are looking at and get the availability letter for that lot. The municipality will want that letter when you apply to build. Inside Hacienda Natura, ask the administration how the condominium is supplied.

• How close is San Miguel to the town of Naranjo?

  Very close. The district lies immediately south of town, and Route 141 and Calle Rosario both run between the two. A local bus connects Naranjo with San Miguel Este through the day, so the shops, banks and onward buses in the canton seat are within easy reach.

• Is San Miguel practical for working at the free zone in Tacares?

  It can be. Evolution Free Zone sits on Route 1 in Tacares de Grecia, a few kilometres east, and from San Miguel Oeste or Hacienda Natura you are on the highway almost at once. Drive the trip at shift time before you commit.

• Are rents in San Miguel quoted in colones or dollars?

  Both. Village apartments and houses are let in colones, often with services included, while furnished family houses tend to be quoted in dollars. Ask whether the deposit follows the same currency as the rent.