They're Building in Baja and Boomers are Buying (By Evelyn Iritana Los Angeles Times Staff Writer). ROSARITO, Mexico - February 21, 2006  For more than a decade, the high-rise tower at Calafia Resort and Villas was an empty shell, a stark reminder of oceanfront dreams gone sour. Built on the northern Baja California coast shortly before the Mexican peso crash of 1994, the project couldn't find any buyers.  Over the years, rumors abounded:  The developers had gone broke; the tower was leaning. Califia's owners denied those reports, but it didn't matter.  Even at prices that wouldn't buy a maid's quarters in Malibu, the developers couldn't sell the condos, with their floor-to-ceiling walls of glass and wrap-around balconies featuring 180-degree views of the Pacific Ocean. Until now, Luis Maizel and his partner, Igal Gordan, have nearly sold out the first Califia tower, where a two-bedroom unit costs $265,000, more than double the price of two years ago.  Three-quarters of the 48 condomin9iums in the 16-story second tower are sold.  And the developers are bout to begin construction on a third tower, one of several dozen oceanfront developments that are being planned along the 68 miles of rugged coastline between Tijuana and Ensenada. After years of languishing behind its more glamerous southern cousins - the twin resorts of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo - the northern Baja peninsula is coming into its own. Long considered a weekend party destination for Southern California studens and a low-rent getaway for American and Canadian retirees on a budget, the northern Baja coastline is undergoing a real estate boom fed primarily by Americans who are tapping their equity back home to buy a weekend getaway or retirement home south of the border. These aren't aging surfers seeking beachfront shacks or Midwest retirees fleeing the snow in thier Winnebagos, though those folks still come here in large numbers.  real estate agents say at least 80% of the people buying today on the Baja coast are baby boomers who are spending $300,000 and up to purchase high-rise oceanfront condominiums and large, single-level homes with enough room for kids, dogs and toys. By ashing out on America's home-equity explosion, some of Baja's newest residents are trying out early retirement. For Beth Bemiss and her husband, Henry Suri, life in San Diego had become a tiring whirl of long workdays and social obligations.  So last year, Bemiss, 55, owner of a small interior design company, and Suri, 51 a holistic health practitioner, decided to take advantage of the Southern California real estate boom and head to Costa Rica. The value of their condo in San Diego's Pacific Beach community ahd skyrocketed to $1 million, and the unit sold faster than anticipated.  On a whim, they decided to spend a month in Baja while they closed up their businesses and said their goodbyes.  After a few weeks of lazy days in the sunshine and exploring the Baja coat, they were hooked.  They still went to Costa Rica for two months, but concluded that they preferred Baja because it was less hot and humid and close to their families. Last April, they bought a two-bedroom ocean view villa at Califia for $190,000. About Mexico Officially United Mexican States, republic (1995 est. pop. 93,986,000), 753,665 sq mi (1,952,500 sq km), S North America. It borders on the United States in the north, on the Gulf of Mexico (including its arm, the Bay of Campeche) and the Caribbean Sea in the east, on Belize and Guatemala in the southeast, and on the Pacific Ocean in the south and west. Mexico is divided into 31 states and the Federal District, which includes most of the country's capital and largest city, Mexico City. Land Most of Mexico is highland or mountainous and less than 15% of the land is arable; about 25% of the country is forested. Most of the Yucatán peninsula and the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the southeast is lowland, and there are low-lying strips of land along the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, and the Gulf of California  In the south the deserts yield to the broad, shallow lakes of a region, comprising the Valley of Mexico, known as the Anáhuac and famous for its rich cultural heritage. South of the Anáhuac, which includes Mexico City, is a chain of extinct volcanoes, including Citlaltépetl , or Orizaba (18,700 ft/5,700 m, the highest point in Mexico), Popocatépetl , and Iztaccihuatl . To the south are jumbled masses of mountains and the Sierra Madre del Sur. People The great majority of the population are of mixed Spanish and indigenous descent and speak Spanish, the official language, as their first language. Various Mayan dialects are also spoken. Since 1920 the population of Mexico has had a very high rate of growth, almost entirely the result of natural increase; from 1940 to 1990 the population grew from 19.6 million to 81.1 million. *Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Copyright (c) 2003.