What does a billion dollars look like?
Two hundred people in suits and ties and pants suits at the Ventana De Mexico in Tucson Arizona -- developers, investors and bankers all coming together for three days for Baja and Sea of Cortes investment summit.
The previous such gathering in Tijuana just eight months ago ended up with 1.5 billion -- that's with a "B" -- dollars in deals being signed.
That's a lot of pesos.
It's also the "other" US-Mexican border story. Debate the immigration issue all you want, but the increased visitation and investment by Americans in Mexico is well on its way to fueling an estimated 7.2 billion dollars in investment in the Sea of Cortes area in the next two years. And this isn't just visit and leave.
This is visit and stay -- not only to live, but to put dollars into the ground. One development alone in the Puerto Panasco is five thousand acres -- and that's just one of 52 developments in the same region.
While investment in Mexico is not new, the areas along the Baja coast and the Sea of Cortes are -- and most of it's aimed at the influx of "baby boomers" from the U.S. But not those baby boomers -- ones with lots of dough and big boats. This is a middle-class invasion -- Americans looking for convenient, less-expensive, safe places to retire.
There's also the "rebound" story. Whatever money heads south of the border inevitably heads back north -- Mexican visitors to Tucson alone account for 360 million dollars in economic impact. Twenty-two million Mexican visitors a year spending a million bucks a day.
Yes, what does a billion dollars look like?
You can see it up close on "On The Money" Friday evening at 7 p.m ET, as "Mike On America" visits Tucson and the Ventana De Mexico.
Adios!
Questions? Comments? mikeonamerica@nbcuni.com