Escazú

About Escazú:

Escazú covers 34.5 km² on the western side of the Gran Área Metropolitana. It borders the canton of San José to the north, Belén to the northwest, Santa Ana to the west, Alajuelita to the east, and Mora and Acosta across the ridge to the south. Route 27, the toll highway to the Pacific, runs through San Rafael and links the canton with central San José and with Juan Santamaría airport. Inside the canton the spine is Route 105, which starts in Barrio Palermo, ties the three districts together and carries on to Alajuelita. Route 167, the road into the capital before the highway existed, is still the alternative east, Route 121 heads west to the centre of Santa Ana, and Route 177, the radial to Alajuelita, was rebuilt through much of 2026.

The canton was created on 7 December 1848 as Escazú y Pacaca, and at first it reached all the way to Puriscal and Turrubares. Puriscal split off in 1868, Pacaca became the canton of Mora in 1883 and Santa Ana left in 1907, which is why today’s Escazú is so compact. Until 1940 the name was spelled Escasú; the switch to a z owes a good deal to the priest Antonio Forn, who argued his case with Irazú and Tarrazú. About 7,100 people lived here in 1950. By the 2011 census there were 56,509, as San José spread west and the farms on the lower slopes filled with houses.

Commerce, services, hotels, finance and real estate now carry the economy, and few cantons in Costa Rica have lost farmland as fast. Microsoft, the Inter-American Development Bank, Telefónica, Banco General, Davivienda and Grupo Roble run their Costa Rican offices from here, so do COMEX, ARESEP and SUTEL, and Texas Tech University has its Costa Rica campus in the canton. South Korea, Sweden, Belgium, Turkey, Uruguay, Qatar and Barbados keep embassies or consulates in Escazú. Multiplaza, Avenida Escazú, Plaza Tempo and Escazú Village cover the shopping, Hospital CIMA the private medicine, and bilingual schools such as Blue Valley in Guachipelín draw families from across the west side. Farming holds on in San Antonio, where coffee, vegetables and fruit are still grown, and every March the boyero parade takes painted oxcarts from the Parque Central to the Plaza del Boyero.

The land rises from about 850 metres along the Virilla and Tiribí in the north to some 2,420 metres on Cerro Cedral, the corner Escazú shares with Alajuelita, Mora and Acosta. The north and northeast is gentle ground that takes almost any use, the middle band builds well but erodes easily, and more than a third of the canton is so steep it belongs in forest. Much of that steep ground lies inside the Zona Protectora Cerros de Escazú, created in 1976 and shared with five neighbouring cantons, and the Agres, Chiquero, Cruz and Convento rivers all rise up there. Between May and October the afternoon downpours show how well a slope, a retaining wall or an access road really drains, so see a hillside property after heavy rain. Buyers are Costa Rican families and professionals, executives and diplomats posted to the offices and embassies, and foreign residents who want schools, a hospital and the airport within easy reach.

Houses in Escazú:

What a house looks like depends on where in the canton you stand. On the flat north side of San Rafael, around Trejos Montealegre, Palermo and the Costa Rica Country Club, single-family homes sit on lots of 1,500 m² and more, the largest and most expensive in Escazú. Further west, residentials such as Las Vistas, Rosa Linda, Villas del Lago and Altos de Escazú were built into the slope and sell on the view. Guachipelín has newer urbanizations, Real de Pereira, Alturas del Cielo and Loma Real among them, where lots stay under 800 m² and houses stand closer together. In Escazú centre and lower San Antonio the typical home is on inherited family land, on a lot of 250 to 1,000 m². So houses for sale in Escazú run from a plain family home to estates priced in the millions of dollars.

Apartments in Escazú:

Apartment buildings cluster in San Rafael and Guachipelín, close to Route 27, the malls and the office parks. Towers offer one- to three-bedroom units with pools, gyms and guarded parking, with penthouses at the top of the range. For buyers who want few neighbours there are boutique condominiums such as Riverwalk Escazú, in the hills of Jaboncillo, with just six residences and three-bedroom units of about 170 m². Many apartments in Escazú are bought to let to executives and families on corporate postings. Read the building’s rules on short and long lets as carefully as the floor plan.

Rentals in Escazú:

Renting is a large part of this market. In San Rafael and Guachipelín, apartments and condominium houses go furnished, by the month and in US dollars, to executives, diplomats and families who have just arrived. In Escazú centre and San Antonio you find simpler unfurnished flats, often let in colones to local tenants. Before you sign, get in writing whether the rent covers the condominium fee, water and internet, how long the lease runs and in which currency increases will be charged.

Land and Lots in Escazú:

Land is scarce in the north and gets bigger, and harder to build on, the higher you go. In Guachipelín and San Rafael most lots sit inside condominiums, sized for one house and bound by the residential’s own rules. In the centre, small plots of a few hundred square metres come up on family land, while on the slopes of Carrizal, Bello Horizonte and San Antonio view lots of a thousand square metres or more are common. Near and inside the protected hills very little building is allowed, and on the gravel roads of the south simply reaching a parcel can be the hard part. If you are pricing lots for sale in Escazú, get the municipality’s land-use certificate first and talk money afterwards.

New Developments in Escazú:

New construction is almost all vertical and concentrated in San Rafael and Guachipelín. Towers and mid-size condominiums sell off plan both to owner-occupiers and to investors who intend to rent, and boutique projects such as Riverwalk Escazú aim at buyers who put privacy first. Before paying a reservation, take the permit number to the municipality and confirm it, read what the contract says if delivery slips, and see a finished project by the same builder.

Offices and Commercial Space in Escazú:

Escazú is one of the main office addresses in Costa Rica. Avenida Escazú, Plaza Roble and Plaza Tempo lease office floors beside Route 27, and the towers around Hospital CIMA are full of medical consulting rooms. Retail space is split between the malls, the ground floors of San Rafael’s mixed-use buildings and street-front premises along Route 105 in the centre. The municipal business licence is granted per address, so ask whether your activity fits that exact unit before you commit.

FAQ:

• Which of Escazú’s three districts suits me?

  San Rafael is the commercial north: towers, gated condominiums, malls, offices, Hospital CIMA and Route 27 next door. Escazú district, which everyone calls San Miguel, keeps its town grid around the church, with family houses on smaller lots and buses to San José. San Antonio climbs toward the Cerros, with more land, views and farms but steeper streets. Spend a weekday in each before you narrow the search, because they live like three different towns.

• Can a foreigner buy property in Escazú?

  Yes. Costa Rica gives foreigners the same ownership rights as citizens, residency is not required, and because Escazú is inland none of the coastal concession rules apply. The sale is signed before a Costa Rican notary and recorded at the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario).

• What should I check before buying on one of Escazú’s slopes?

  Look at the ground before the view. On the hillsides of northeast San Rafael, around Tena, Palma de Mallorca, Vista Alegre and Bello Horizonte, the soils are shallow and fragile, and further south a parcel may fall inside the Zona Protectora Cerros de Escazú. Rivers and streams carry protected strips where nothing can be built. Ask whether the house drains to a public sewer or a septic tank, request the land-use certificate, and compare the cadastral plan with the record at the Registro Nacional.

• How easy is it to reach San José and the airport?

  Route 27 runs through San Rafael and is the fast way both into the capital and out to Juan Santamaría airport and the Pacific coast. Route 167 is the older alternative into San José, and buses link all three districts with the city centre. The real constraint is the morning queue at the highway ramps and around Multiplaza, so judge a location at peak hour, not on a Sunday drive.

• Is there still farmland in Escazú?

  Some, mostly in San Antonio, where coffee, vegetables and fruit are still grown and Bebedero keeps a rural feel. What is left sits on steep ground in the south, often on gravel roads and partly inside the protected hills. A farm there can make a home with land, but expect strict limits on building and on subdividing.