The dance, yoga and exercise studio I showed two days ago is on the second floor of this building, which is the Centro Commercial Plaza shopping center. There is a night club up on the top floor under the pointed part of the roof. The shops and offices in this building are condominiums, with several real estate sales offices, a pharmacy, and other businesses.This building is a good illustration of the growth of Tamarindo. Construction of shopping and business buildings such as this show that Tamarindo is no longer a sleepy Costa Rican fishing village that evolved into a small beach town. The contrast between new, modern buildings such as this and the older, traditional buildings will be illustrated further by my photos to be posted tomorrow and the following two days.
Interesting architecture. I'm impressed by the eclectic mix of shops and offices and other tenants in this one building.
ReplyDeleteKate,
ReplyDeleteYou are right about the eclectic mix in one building. In the U.S., you would rarely find a dance studio, pharmacy, real estate offices, the property management company the manages our two condos, and a night club all in one bulding of this size. Countries such as Costa Rica do not have zoning and the shopping centers seem to have a wider range tenants without the restrictions that would normally be in commercial leases in the U.S.
For example, in the Plaza Conchal shopping center that I showed a couple of weeks ago (the one with the murals of wildlife), there are two banks and a very nice art gallery, plus lawyers' offices and the local newspaper, but there is also a tatoo parlor.
In the U.S. you would expect that a beach town would have a tatoo parlor, but you would not expect to see one in the same building as banks and lawyers.
That eclecticism is part of what makes foreign countries interesting and enchanting, as least in my view.
I really like the modern look of this building.
ReplyDeleteI like it too!
ReplyDeleteFascinating to see the development taking place.
ReplyDeleteBanks, lawyers, and a tattoo parlor. It makes perfect sense actually. All three things can cause a tremendous amount of pain and stress.
ReplyDeleteStu, you have a way of looking at things that I quite enjoy.
ReplyDelete