By Doreen Hemlock | South Florida Sun-Sentinel – South Florida’s Nikki Beach, known for its celebrity-studded, late-night parties at beach venues, is extending its hip brand to Central America. The company’s new hotel division said it broke ground on an $80 million project at Panama’s Pacific Coast beach known as Playa Blanca. The venture, which promoters call “the sexiest project in Panama,” is due to open its first phase in December 2008, featuring a deluxe condo-resort with 144 rooms and suites, a spa, gym and other amenities. Panama-based RG Inmobiliaria will develop the Nikki Beach Resort & Residences Playa Blanca, which will eventually encompass 500 units. Nikki Beach said it also plans a second hotel later in Panama, in the capital of Panama City. The groundbreaking comes amid a real estate boom in Panama, with some analysts calling Panama City “the next Miami.” Skyscrapers are rising fast across the capital’s skyline, including one by Donald Trump. A nation of almost 3 million people, tropical Panama has boosted business incentives in recent years, partly to offset the loss of U.S. military revenues after the U.S. handover of the Panama Canal in 1999. (more)

Besides tax breaks and a warm welcome, international investors say they also like Panama’s expanding operations at the Canal, political stability, sophisticated financial center, low crime, widespread use of English and the U.S. dollar, plus costs lower than U.S. rates.

Based in Miami Beach and owned by Jack Penrod, Nikki Beach already has grown its club-restaurant network to span Hollywood, Fla., New York City and Reno in the United States, as well as Mexico, Portugal, Spain, France, Morocco, Italy and other overseas locales.

Its months-old hotel division also plans resorts in Costa Rica, Mexico and Grenada in the Americas, Portugal and Spain in Europe and Cape Verde in Africa.

SOURCE: Don Winner @ Panama-guide.com

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Source: VIP Panama