American and other investors are missing the boat,” says Luis Bustamante, president of CrediMexUsa.com and incoming president of Asociación de Profesionales Inmobilarios de Tijuana (API Tijuana Chapter), the equivalent of a board of Realtors. “How so?” is the obvious question.

I caught up with Bustamante when we were guests at the office of Sergio Tagliapietra, the state secretary for economic development for Baja California. Also present was Claudia Cobieya, the agency’s investment promotion director. The topic, you have guessed, was development. The secretary’s principal mandate is to create jobs for Mexican nationals. To do so, investments in various sectors must be attracted into the region.

The secretary noted that Alejandro Moreno, the state’s secretary of tourism, is doing an excellent job attracting serious investment in the tourist destination resort sector. (Spain invests about 25 percent more in such projects than their U.S. counterparts.) Moreno also praised the jobs U.S. and Mexican land developers were doing along Baja’s Pacific coast and the Sea of Cortes.

Activity along North Baja’s Pacific coastal corridor reveals 67 developments with 18,673 units and a combined sales value of $5.62 billion. This is not including units sold before the study was undertaken or projects in planning but not yet submitted for approval.

“In a few years,” Bustamante says, “from Tijuana to Ensenada there will be anywhere from 50,000 to 70,000 new full-time residents, 90 percent American, and on a given weekend that number will swell to over 100,000.” Then he asks, “What is there for them to do? Where are the clinics and hospitals? Health spas? Golf courses and driving ranges? Executive suite offices for those who wish to live here and work from home? Theaters? Shopping centers? Top-of-the-line stores and restaurants?”

The Baja real estate boom began in 2004. Houses that started construction because of it will begin deliveries in large numbers this summer and will continue well into 2008. So the time is now for attracting investment into sectors other than just more housing/condo developments.

Those investment opportunities will remain as long as U.S. housing prices stay near their peak and Baja’s housing prices remain a relative bargain.

Another necessary component is gradual growth in the value of housing in the United States so the resulting equity can be used to help finance homes in Baja.

Of the 67 developments along the Baja coast, four are the headline grabbers. Towering above the field is the Trump Baja resort. Not only is the project exquisite, but the mere name is almost a guarantee of a sound investment. The Rosarito Beach Hotel hotel-condo tower is almost Trump’s equal due to the hotel’s worldwide fame. The Salsipuedes project will attract high-end buyers with its dramatic ocean views. Porto Hussong, just on the outskirts of Ensenada, with its fractioning club and marina, also will attract the high-end buyer. These in turn will attract buyers into the many other quality projects.

The open question is how long those new residents will remain happy without improvements to the “quality of life” infrastructure.

Secretary Tagliapietra assures us he understands the issue and is working on it with his office. He recognizes that investments as described by Bustamante would in fact generate a substantial amount of employment and continue to attract further investment in various sectors.

While declaring he is not at liberty to disclose names, he reveals that two major U.S. hospitals are investigating an affiliation with Mexican hospitals in the San Felipe (Sea of Cortes) region. Separately, I have learned of ongoing research by a New Mexico health provider interested in providing elderly services in the Rosarito Beach area.

The four major developments are trying to meet the needs of their tenants. Trump’s towers will have first class amenities like the Rosarito Beach Hotel. Porto Hussong is no more than five minutes from the downtown area of Ensenada, and Salsipuedes will be a fully contained community with five villages offering restaurants, entertainment centers, restaurants and a clinic.

But at some point visitors and residents will want to “go to town” and experience other attractions, shopping and sights. The variety does not exist — yet.

Investors are concentrating on housing unit developments and hotels without an eye for the huge potential other investments represent. Bustamante proposes a conference organized by the various organizations with the participation of both the Secretariat for Economic Development and Secretariat of Tourism to expose the needs and possibilities.

While I agree with him, it would seem that exposure to the potential of the other investments is most needed in California (starting with San Diego), Nevada and Arizona.

“Oh,” says Bustamante, “that’s where you come in, Patrick.”

Dang, I knew there was a catch for my being invited to the meeting.

Patrick Osio Jr. can be reached at posiojr@sandiegometro.com. The veteran consultant also has issued The Mexican Perspective, an intensive primer on business culture and protocol. Copies are available at http://www.hispanicvista.com/sales/book_sale.htm.