PARAISO DEL MAR---3,000 homes La Paz

I am reading the March 19, 2007 edition of Engineering News-Record and see this advertizement.

Want Ads...Position "Director of Construction"

Where...La Paz (El Magote)

What..1246 acres, zoned for 3000 homes and condo's, 36 holes of golf, large marina, and a retail pavillon.

$2 billion, 12 year master plan.

Congrats or Condolencies depending on your point of view.

[Edited on 3-28-2007 by tripledigitken]

Been in the works for years. Going forward at Mexican flank speed

Quote:

Originally posted by vandenberg Been in the works for years. Going forward at Mexican flank speed

I seemed to recall some discussion of developement out on El Magote.

Good point on Mexican speed. Wonder when they started the 12 year timeline?

The only development project I've heard of that's dumber than building 24 new golf courses in an area that can't supply its water needs now, is the idea of building two of them on El Mogote. Construction of any kind on Mogote is asinine -- it's hot as hell in the summer and cold and blowy in the winter. Also fundamentally unstable, Mogote is nothing more than a pile of accreted sand sitting on a slurry of mud, the kind of medium that amplifies earthquake tremors exponentially. There's a reason earthquake insurance is not available here -- the Sea of Cortez IS the San Andreas Fault -- and any lender who puts up money to develop Mogote is out of his mind. Two Billion Dollars? A billion is one thousand millions of dollars. Golf course fees and homeowner's association dues are going to pay for that? Somebody needs to get real.

Thanks for reminding me, Comitan. One of your old neighbors, a Canadian lady who had built her house in Comitan just prior to the hurricane of 1976, liked to tell the story of how the surge from that storm washed through the sliding glass door on one side of the living room, and exited through the sliding glass door in the dining room. To this day, no one knows for sure how many people died in that hurricane, estimates range from 3,000 to 15,000 dead, putting it up there with the hurricane that wrecked Galveston, Texas, early in the 20th Century.

There's also the old theory that El Mogote was once an island, and the fact that it's connected to the peninsula at all is due to sand washed up by one or more hurricanes, to create a narrow neck at the west end. The idea of bulldozing a channel through that neck and returning Mogote to its original status as an island was floated once upon a time but got nowhere, unfortunately. It would've provided circulation through the bay that would help the inner bay cleanse itself. I swam in the inner bay once -- and only once -- and got a hellish case of conjunctivitis, I was near-blind for a week. That took care of that vacation!

Well, if earthquakes and hurricanes posed a big obstacle to development, then California and Florida would be some pretty sparsley populated areas.

Sales and promotion. Build and sell. Then move the profits through a maze of transactions to who-knows-where. Then if there is an earthquake, or a tidal surge washes it all away, well, you know, those are once-in-a-thousand-year events so the area will be ripe for a second round of development.

Just be sure to post a bunch of signs saying how important the environment is, and have a couple of electric cars to drive around.

If the development hasn't happened, or does not happen, it is because the right combination of capital and promoters has not appeared. Fonatur's Loreto failed for years until some clowns showed up with capital and promotional skills. And once they get going, no one wants to hear about the weather, or earthquakes, or fresh water, or urban planning, worker housing, etc.

Confirmation of the validity of the old saying....Some people have more money than brains!! Any bets on how many of those buyers have ever experienced a hurricane up close & personal? Mogote is NOT the place to be during a hurricane, nor is any type of structure! People who buy property on the shifting sands of time deserve to end up with their assets submerged in the bay after the first storm!

El Magote

To build anything on Magote is a horrific decision......It is the second windiest place on the Baja Peninsula. I know this sandspit intamately from camping there many times over the years from kayak trips. During the months of December, January and Febuary( when most norteamericanos would want to be there) the wind blows 60 of those 90 days. And of those 60 days 20 will be "nuclear" meaning wind speeds out of the North of over 25mph, and blowing stinging sand everywhere.It will and can blow your shorts right off you!That fine sand makes a mess out of everything and the intrusion into your house will end up in your bedding!!......In the summer months there is absolutly no shade, and with predicted sea elevations rising and an increase in Eastern Pacific Hurricane activity, it all adds up to a bad location for any type of big major development. Then there is the water and sewage issues.The City of La Paz has a very poor track record here, dont expect much.People who invest there hard earned retiremment money here will become disenchanted...Because of its location this project will fail even if it is built. I for one will believe it --when I see it. The whole " Audabon friendly" is a bunch of greenwash fecal crap, and the developers know that as well.They are tearing up and building on prime birdnesting grounds. Really to bad. The big question is....Where will all the sewage end up? Maybe we already know that ansewer..... La Paz bay will end up with another six thousand peoples raw sewage dumped into it. Maybe they could rename their development.....Appocolyps.

Back in 2000, I was approached by a scion of one of the old- monied families about investing in Mogote on the certainty that casino gambling would one day be permitted there. I said thanks, no thanks.

I don't know if casino gambling is part of the developers' hidden agenda and I'm not accusing them of that. However, I am quite certain that the investment required to start from scratch and build the infrastructure that residential and commercial development would necessitate is so enormous, that casino gambling is the only revenue-producing activity there is that's capable of generating sufficient cash-flow to amortize the investment.

You people are FATALISTS. Be positive and keep sending me your pre-construction checks. Don't worry, I will take care of you. HAVE FAITH!

The developers were already caught & supposedly fined big bucks for cutting down mangroves a year or so ago...sounds like they didn't learn their lesson!! When I was over there last, they'd dozed virtually all the natural vegetation from the La Paz end of Mogote, leaving virtually nothing to hold the sand in place & the result was that the sand had totally covered & obliterated the "road" they'd cut. The developers care NOTHING about the environment, nor the interests of the fools who've bought into their lies & hype. Their interest is obviously ONLY the almighty BUCK! They haven't got one casa built yet & they've already destroyed the area. The sands are already blowing from the seaward side to the inner bay side & Mogote is already moving slowly toward La Paz with the daily breezes!! Can't wait to see the impact of the next hurricane force winds!!