Grand Residences, Puerto Morales

[Phydeaux]

Just curious - has ground been broken? Anyone here buy in?

Any thoughts on how the inbound Dragon Mart will change the landscape & culture of the area?

 

[Phydeaux]

http://youtu.be/CQFEY9RIRJA

 

[urban5]

Down here for week 51, met with Host and she said groundbreaking begins Monday January 2. Reason given for the delay is there was a glitch with final permit that has since been resolved.

 

[BoaterMike]

http://youtu.be/CQFEY9RIRJA

Nice touch, Phydeaux. That should help get you that Cynic of the Year nomination. At least, you get my vote.

 

[alfie]

Anxious to see the video of the ground breaking ceremony on the Royal Channel.

 

[Phydeaux]

Anxious to see the video of the ground breaking ceremony on the Royal Channel.

I'll be down in a few weeks & will report back.

 

[ocdb8r]

Down here for week 51, met with Host and she said groundbreaking begins Monday January 2. Reason given for the delay is there was a glitch with final permit that has since been resolved.

How convenient...permit problems delay groundbreaking just until the economy starts to improve.

In any case, glad to see the project finally getting going. Do we have any idea what the projected timeline for construction is?

 

[alfie]

120 upscale units at an average of 1 million $$ a pop will take a couple of years to build. The economy is still on edge, so I bet it will take longer if sales are slow..Playa del Carmen is awash in new condo developments that are not sold, as is Cancun...why the Royals would even venture into such a model is difficult to understand, especially with the Royal Mayan coming on stream. Even if the Royal management does not pick up the resale, someone will, dumping yet another 200 units on the market...then you have to look at developments at Puerto Cancan, Playa Blanca and Tulum, the area is simply awash in all kinds of space, with few buyers...if the economy in Europe is faltering, and the economy in America is slow, to say the least, who are the buyers?

 

[ocdb8r]

Well...7 months later, any updates? I can't seem to find any new information or updates. Are they still selling these as fractionals only? Anyone know current pricing? Have they set an opening date?

 

[KarenLK]

We drove by the site in March, which is basically an empty lot, and we were told that the permits were coming soon.

 

[pjrose]

They're actively pushing it, and showing the model at The Sands. I thought the million dollar prices (1.5 - 2.5 million) were to have the same villa for all year, plus of course the ongoing cost of maintenance fees for each week.

On the price list I saw, most of the annual memberships appeared to be sold, but that could be that someone bought one interval for a given unit, hence it is no longer available for the whole year. The three and four bedroom ones have lockoffs, so presumably rentals will be available.

 

[BoaterMike]

There was a photo on the blog showing dirt being moved. This will be a long project.

 

[pjrose]

They're actively pushing it,. . . .

There was a photo on the blog showing dirt being moved. . . .

hee hee hee.....that's not quite what I meant by them "pushing it".....

 

[BoaterMike]

hee hee hee.....that's not quite what I meant by them "pushing it".....

I see what you did there. I can't imagine that the conversion of existing RR owners to the GRs has gone that well. It's not for me anyway.

Related: House Hunters International on HGTV featured Puerto Morelos on a show Tuesday. I am sure there will be various re-airings. They will have another edition in early August as well as in winter.

Mike

 

[ocdb8r]

We drove by the site in March, which is basically an empty lot, and we were told that the permits were coming soon.

Well, I guess I won't hold my breath. I'm dying for a Royal Resort with BBQs (and these at one point included BBQs on the terraces).

Thanks for all the updates. I'm anxious to see some REAL progress on this resort and to find out how they end up selling it. Obviously planned at the peak of the property boom, I am curious how many full-year ownerships they have sold and what sort of intervals they are now selling. Have they indeed started trying to sell just individual weeks? The last I saw was that they were selling 4 week fractionals, but nothing less.

 

[Jan Handlers]

They do sell 2-week intervals.

 

[Phydeaux]

There is an update re. the Dragon Mart in todays Por Esto, if anyone is interested. Lenghty article, thus no rough translation here. Bottom line, looks to still be in the delayed pattern, more dicussions taking place. When this goes through, and in my opinion it's just a matter of time, I still wonder of the impact on the Grand Residences.

 

[KarenLK]

What is the dragon mart?? And on my way to look at Por Esto...

 

[alfie]

The Dragon Mart is being built on highway 307 north of Puerto Morelos, across the highway from the beach side. Perhaps they expect an influx or Asian money into the area..

 

[Phydeaux]

The Dragon Mart is being built on highway 307 north of Puerto Morelos, across the highway from the beach side. Perhaps they expect an influx or Asian money into the area..[/QUOTE]

Yep, with an initial investment of $150 million dollars for the project and the generation of 5,000 direct jobs, not counting the Chinese community workers who occupy the housing complex of 4,000 homes that are included within the project of 840,000 square meters, I guess you could say that.


http://dragonmart.org/english/index.asp

 

[Phydeaux]

Update suggests Dragon Mart construction to commence next month. Anyone here that travels to Cancun, Playa, or Riviera Maya? If this indeed is built, things are going to change...

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/giant-chinese-complex-raises-eyebrows-mexico-005130657.html