Mansions of the World - Update
July 18, 2013
We all are interested in the Mansions of the World project in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It has been discussed since 2008, when Grand Luxxe contracts with four Residence Weeks (one full floor) were associated with rights to use rooms (units) in the Mansions of the World when it was completed.Announcements of starting the projects appeared on a few websites since then. These are listed on Mansions of the World.
Last year, we saw construction activity begin. The property was scraped and the underground parking area was excavated.
Then, in December, 2012 and later confirmed in March, 2013, we learned that construction had stopped....or maybe the better way to say it....construction has slowed significantly.
Our most recent photo, which was taken on June 23, 2013 shows that only the front end loader has moved across the lot and the property is cleaner than it was in March.
Mansions of the World Construction Site - Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires, AR - Mar 22 2013
MOW Construction site June 24 2013 Adj.jpg
We asked about the changing economy in Argentina and whether that is the reason for the slow down in construction. Here is what a local had to tell us:
Bob , basically there is an informal market for USD. The official USD is valué at 5,2 argentinean peso but there no posibiliy for the common citizen to access to this USD. IF you want to buy USD you have to pay 9,4 pesos. And IF one developer want to invest in argentina in USD, the goberment pay to the developer at official price (5,2). This is the reason that all construcción is stopped.Thank you for your explanation.
B.r
So, what we anticipate, based upon our photo updates and our friend's comments is construction progress is likely to be very slow until there is a change in the Argentinean government's intervention to attempt to reduce inflation and stabilize its currency.
Please understand that we are only speculating. Even though the speculation might seem plausible, there is no assurance that the reasons for the delay are in any way related to the theory presented above.