San Felipe

About San Felipe:

San Felipe is the western end of Alajuelita. Escazú lies to the west, Hatillo in the canton of San José to the north, the district of Alajuelita to the east, and Concepción and San Josecito to the south. National Route 177 runs through it and is the direct road to Escazú; in May 2026 its one-kilometre stretch from the Montescazú shopping centre to the entrance of Nuevo Horizonte closed for eight months of works that add storm drains, sidewalks and new paving and widen the bridge over the Agres River to two lanes. Buses on the San José–Alajuelita–La Aurora line end at La Aurora opposite Super Bellotas, and another line runs from San José through Hatillo to La Aurora. Since March 2026 a 45-metre bridge over the Quebrada La Guaria has joined Barrio La Guaria with Juan Pablo II, on the Alajuelita side, where there was no crossing at all before.

The district was created with the canton by Law 58 of 4 June 1909 and named after Philip the Apostle, patron of its church. It absorbed the old district of Tejarcillos in 1935 and handed part of its land to Concepción in the 1990s. Growth came late and fast: 4,727 residents in 1984, more than 27,000 by 2000, and enough today to make it the eighth most populous district in the province. Escuela San Felipe has taught the district’s children since 1966. In November 2022 a former pasture and rubbish tip in Corina Rodríguez reopened as the Parque Corina Rodríguez 1986, built with ₡956 million from the national housing institute’s community grant programme.

San Felipe sits at about 1,110 metres, and its barrios run into one another with little open ground left between them. Alongside those already named there are Alajuelinda, Aurora, Bellotas, Bulevar de La Guardia, Juan Rafael Mora, Joaquín García Monge, Los Pinos, Nuevo Horizonte, Peralta, Tiribí, Verbena and Vista Clara, plus the hamlet of Palo Campano. A few straddle a boundary: Esquipulas is shared with San Josecito, while La Guaria and Vista Clara are split with the district of Alajuelita. The DEKRA vehicle inspection station in Barrio Aurora is a common reference point when locals give directions. South of the district, the canton climbs into the Escazú hills, which Alajuelita’s plan regulador sets aside as a protected zone.

The market is local. Older houses are sold between Costa Rican families and priced in colones, and a house with a rental unit already built is a popular buy because the rent helps cover the mortgage. The new condominiums are sold in dollars with bank financing, and their pitch is a guardhouse, two parking spaces and a short drive to La Sabana and Escazú. Vistara aims higher, at buyers who want to live close to Escazú Village and Bello Horizonte.

Houses in San Felipe:

A typical house in an urbanización such as Los Geranios has one storey, three bedrooms, one bathroom, a garage and around 90 square metres built on a small lot. Some have been extended over the years, and a common format is a family house with a separate apartment on the same lot, sold as a home with income attached. Prices are almost always in colones. Ask to see the municipal permit and the cadastral plan for every extension before you make an offer.

New Developments in San Felipe:

Terra Verbena, by Solución Urbana, covers 55.4 hectares 700 metres east of the inspection station, opposite the La Aurora electrical substation. It is planned in six stages with 1,593 single-family lots of 102 to 120 square metres, three house models (the one-bedroom Ónix at 43 m², the two-bedroom Ámbar at 56 m² and the three-bedroom Zafiro at 63 m²), two parking spaces per house and a 24-hour guardhouse, with 48 apartments and a commercial lot planned for later. New homes in San Felipe at Terra Verbena are priced in dollars plus a monthly condominium fee, and resales from earlier stages already turn up. Vistara, by Casa Favorita Inmobiliaria on the El Llano side, is the district’s top end: houses finished in 2024 on lots of roughly 194 m² with about 240 m² built, priced at around three times a Terra Verbena house, and a second tower of two-bedroom apartments sold off-plan.

Rentals in San Felipe:

Most rentals are small apartments built beside or above a family house, often one bedroom with a kitchen, bathroom and laundry area, in urbanizaciones such as La Guaria. Rents are quoted in colones. Whole houses come up less often. If you are comparing apartments for rent in San Felipe, check whether the unit has its own water and electricity meters and whether there is room for a car on the lot.

Land and Lots in San Felipe:

Vacant land is scarce in a district this built up. What does reach the market is usually a residential lot of around 200 square metres on the El Llano side, or an occasional larger parcel sold for a small condominium. The plan regulador now sets the density allowed on each lot, from low-density zones of up to 60 homes per hectare to high-density zones of 121 to 375. Check the zone and the restrictions map before you price a building project.

FAQ:

• Is the house I like in San Felipe free to sell?

  Not always. A home built or bought with a state housing bond carries a registered limitation that blocks resale for ten years without authorisation from the housing finance bank. In some older housing projects in the canton, families are still waiting for individual title. Pull the property record from the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario) and look for limitations and the owner’s name before you pay a deposit.

• Can I build a rental apartment on my lot?

  That depends on the zone your lot falls in under Alajuelita’s plan regulador, adopted by the municipal council in 2025. Each zone sets density, minimum lot size, coverage and height, and any site marked as a risk area needs a report from the national emergency commission before the municipality will issue a permit. Ask the Municipalidad de Alajuelita for a land-use certificate first.

• How do I get from San Felipe to San José or Escazú?

  Buses run from La Aurora to central San José through Alajuelita, and a second line goes through Hatillo. By car, Route 177 is the short way into Escazú, though its stretch between Montescazú and Nuevo Horizonte was closed for works from May 2026, with detours in place. The new Quebrada La Guaria bridge gives La Guaria a direct link to the Alajuelita side.

• How big are the houses at Terra Verbena?

  Between 43 and 63 square metres built, on lots of 102 to 120 square metres. The two- and three-bedroom models have two bathrooms and an internal garden, and every model has parking for two cars. Measure your furniture before you commit.

• Are there schools and green space nearby?

  Escuela San Felipe, founded in 1966, is on the district’s central street. The Parque Corina Rodríguez 1986, opened in 2022, gives the urbanizaciones on that side a public recreation park, and the new condominiums have their own green areas and playgrounds.