NewsWhore
06-22-2007, 04:20 PM
Santo Domingo will soon be unrecognizable by anyone who has been away for five years. As reported in Clave Digital, in the so-called Poligono Central, the booming residential-commercial area between Winston Churchill, Ortega y Gasset, 27 de Febrero and John F. Kennedy avenues, there seems to be a high-rise apartment building going up on every one of the 184 blocks, replacing single-dwelling homes. Clave Digital says that 182 "towers" have been approved for the area, according to Vencian Ben Gil, City Planning director for the National District Municipality (ADN). These include 26 towers for Piantini, 16 for Paraiso and 28 in Naco. The towers reflect the distribution of wealth gap in Dominican society, with some penthouses going for US$3 million. [Maintenance fees are just as high, with some at US$1,000 a month, while luxury building dwellers are also subject to paying for "electrical potency," about RD$15,000 a month without consuming a single kilo. Thus high cost of living in these towers, makes them off limits for all but the very wealthy.]
There is also a change in mindset. Realtor Melido Marte told the newspaper that Dominicans have lost their fear of heights. He points to the highest towers that have gone up in another area, Anacaona Avenue, with the 38-floor Caney, the 30-floor Margot, and another 55-floors colossus due to start construction there. On Anacaona Ave. there is no limit on the height of the towers.
A report in today's Diario Libre says that the seafront Avenida Espana could be the next area authorized for high-rise construction. Avenida Espana is adjacent to the Sans Souci Marina project. A group of private investors, led by the Sans Souci company (Vicini Group) and the government have announced investments of US$700 million in the Santo Domingo port over the next three years. There will be a US$50 million investment in the terminal alone. The investment will include the construction of a marina, hotels, apartments and a casino.
Realtor Melido Marte attributes the boom in real estate lending to the fact that new banking regulations prohibit banks from lending money to their shareholders and as a result there is more external lending. He also says that interest rates are currently at a low. He says the pension funds deposited in banks are keeping these rates down.
He comments that the DR is also attracting much foreign investment. The 18-floor Plaza Quisqueya at the corner of Winston Churchill and Gustavo Mejia Ricart Avenues, for instance, is a US$60 million investment by the Venezuelan Grupo Allard Industries in coordination with Grupo Varma, which belongs to engineer Miguel Vargas Maldonado, former Minister of Public Works in the previous government and current PRD presidential candidate, as reported in the Clave article. There is also lots of Spanish investment in several towers.
Marte also explained that nevertheless most of the investment is from wealthy Dominicans who prefer investing in real estate than in Wall Street or depositing the money abroad.
In the interview, Ben Gil of the ADN acknowledges that the municipal authorities have not made provisions for the increased demand for parking spaces and greater traffic flow. "If we continue increasing the number of vehicles without parking or mass transit, the city of Santo Domingo will become uninhabitable. If we do not embark on integrated planning, the options for saving the city will be few."
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)
There is also a change in mindset. Realtor Melido Marte told the newspaper that Dominicans have lost their fear of heights. He points to the highest towers that have gone up in another area, Anacaona Avenue, with the 38-floor Caney, the 30-floor Margot, and another 55-floors colossus due to start construction there. On Anacaona Ave. there is no limit on the height of the towers.
A report in today's Diario Libre says that the seafront Avenida Espana could be the next area authorized for high-rise construction. Avenida Espana is adjacent to the Sans Souci Marina project. A group of private investors, led by the Sans Souci company (Vicini Group) and the government have announced investments of US$700 million in the Santo Domingo port over the next three years. There will be a US$50 million investment in the terminal alone. The investment will include the construction of a marina, hotels, apartments and a casino.
Realtor Melido Marte attributes the boom in real estate lending to the fact that new banking regulations prohibit banks from lending money to their shareholders and as a result there is more external lending. He also says that interest rates are currently at a low. He says the pension funds deposited in banks are keeping these rates down.
He comments that the DR is also attracting much foreign investment. The 18-floor Plaza Quisqueya at the corner of Winston Churchill and Gustavo Mejia Ricart Avenues, for instance, is a US$60 million investment by the Venezuelan Grupo Allard Industries in coordination with Grupo Varma, which belongs to engineer Miguel Vargas Maldonado, former Minister of Public Works in the previous government and current PRD presidential candidate, as reported in the Clave article. There is also lots of Spanish investment in several towers.
Marte also explained that nevertheless most of the investment is from wealthy Dominicans who prefer investing in real estate than in Wall Street or depositing the money abroad.
In the interview, Ben Gil of the ADN acknowledges that the municipal authorities have not made provisions for the increased demand for parking spaces and greater traffic flow. "If we continue increasing the number of vehicles without parking or mass transit, the city of Santo Domingo will become uninhabitable. If we do not embark on integrated planning, the options for saving the city will be few."
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)