When Greed Wins, Zihuatanejo Loses

The end of Zihuatanejo as we know it is in sight. "The Related Group", a Miami-based developer, cut the ribbon with the governor and local functionaries yesterday for a project I warned about here about a year ago called "Punta Garrobo". They have plans, and evidently permission, to build 600 condos, 100 houses and 2 hotels between Las Gatas and El Riscalillo along the fragile peninsula that separates Zihuatanejo Bay from Bahía de Potosí.

So for all the lodging owners already struggling because they are unable to sufficiently rent their properties or fill their hotel rooms, things will get much worse when this project is finished. And for all the folks who come here to enjoy the natural beauty of Zihuatanejo that includes snorkeling at the little beach of Manzanillo Bay over the hill from Playa La Ropa, enjoy it while it lasts because the blasting and earth-moving that will have to take place to put in the development and all its infrastructure is possibly the death knell for the fragile marine ecosystem that has managed to exist in spite of the crap we pour into the oceans and all the resources we extract from it.

#PobrePueblo

From the previous discussion on this subject.
No Pier news, but...

Truly tragic!

¡Que pena!
What with that new road going through this year, I assumed that the Punta Garrobo deal was already baked in. I wonder if I'll be able to walk down to Playa Manzanillo again next spring, or if even more signs and excavations will be there…

Horrible news Rob.

Very sad news!! Can't we start a protest in the fall when more of us are there?

Bigger airport needed, wider roads, more stores, more restaurants and lots of jobs created. Blah, Blah, Blah. Oh well, it was a good run. I guess it's time to start looking for another hidden Zihua.

I don't think building will start soon
Tourism in Guererro is in reverse compared to the rest of Mexico

I don't think building will start soon
Tourism in Guererro is in reverse compared to the rest of Mexico

Which is why the fatcats are pushing for this just like they are pushing for the Puerto Balsas development and even seeking Chinese investment, because the Chinese will do business with anyone as long as they think they can get leverage on them. They seek the long-term strategy. They've been buying illegal ore from narcos in exchange for crystal meth precursors with little muss and fuss using Puerto Lázaro Cárdenas and Puerto Manzanillo.

Right now the real estate prices are devalued after years of violence and the accompanying slow-down in tourism that really began after 9/11 (although this is where public functionaries try to fool everyone by showing increased tourism numbers that don't reflect the decreased purchasing power of the poorer tourists who are replacing the more affluent tourists, but one look at all the deteriorated shopping centers in Ixtapa provides the proof) so since they already acquired the properties at deflated prices thanks to influyentismo they want to trick buyers into thinking they're getting a good deal, and it will be until the property values continue dropping from overdevelopment, but by then they and the developers will have made a bundle and moved on to the next scam.

The poorer tourists ? Do you mean Mexican .
Just because working people in the rest of North America have made wise choices so they can afford to travel when work is done does no mean they are affluent

The poorer tourists ? Do you mean Mexican .
Just because working people in the rest of North America have made wise choices so they can afford to travel when work is done does no mean they are affluent

I fear you confuse yourself by making erroneous assumptions.

Because more affluent Mexican and foreign tourists now come in fewer numbers, the local, state and federal governments try to maquillar reality and justify their overpaid positions and simulated work by pointing to the increased numbers of warm bodies arriving here, mostly by bus, ignoring their decreased purchasing power that has caused the closing of many local businesses who have been in operation for decades. Even the Ixtapa hotels owned by large corporations have resorted to lowering their room rates to below what Zihuatanejo hotels can afford to since the Zihuatanejo hotels can't recover their losses by slick accounting practices using profits from other destinations. So whatever benefit should have come to Zihuatanejo via the less affluent tourists is negated by the unfair practices of the Ixtapa all-included hotels.

The poorer tourists ? Do you mean Mexican .
Just because working people in the rest of North America have made wise choices so they can afford to travel when work is done does no mean they are affluent

No, at 70 cents to the US dollar, he might have meant you.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-banning-ranch-coastal-commission-20160906-snap-story.html

Rob, I for one would rather rub elbows with Mexican Nationals on a one or two day vacation than the wristbanded AI's in Ixtapa.

Rob, I for one would rather rub elbows with Mexican Nationals on a one or two day vacation than the wristbanded AI's in Ixtapa.

Maybe you would, but the town's economy will still die and take Zihuatanejo's businesses and their families with it, and all that will be left are hillsides full of impoverished people with no viable businesses to work for.

The rack numbers in Ixtapa's A-Is remain in the high percentages by lowering their rates and attracting less affluent people in addition to other less affluent tourists coming here by buses. Previously even Ixtapa's A-I tourists would cross the street and eat in the Ixtapa's restaurants and purchase goods in Ixtapa's stores. But their numbers are waning well below a sustainable level and the result is more business closures.

Zihuatanejo has a population of over 100,000, and we are pretty much 100% dependent on tourism for our jobs and income. So when Mexican tourists with less purchasing power come in place of previous tourists with more purchasing power then all of a sudden we have an unsustainable economy. Even though there may be more warm bodies to look good for the "happy stats" the tourism officials like to supply, the reality is that Zihuatanejo is getting poorer and more and more businesses can't afford to stay open. Along with the government allowing our hillsides to be stolen by squatters, the failing businesses leads to increased poverty that also increases the tendency towards criminality and lawlessness. It's a no-brainer that we've already seen happen in Acapulco. But Acapulco has been a gold mine politically and economically for corrupt politicians, so they LOVE that model for Zihuatanejo. Meanwhile, my family, friends and neighbors all watch as the value of our patrimony decreases.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-banning-ranch-coastal-commission-20160906-snap-story.html

Birds of a feather...

Are there infrastructure plans in place besides a few roads? That's a lot of sewer and water capacity. At the top of a rocky hill. Is there such a thing as environmental impact studies for a project that size?

Rob, do you have any sense how far along the planning is?

Gravity should take care of one part.

Exactly
Working outside in rain, snow and heat and getting paid with a devalued currency

> Gravity should take care of one part.:

Exactly.

Are there infrastructure plans in place besides a few roads? That's a lot of sewer and water capacity. At the top of a rocky hill. Is there such a thing as environmental impact studies for a project that size?

Rob, do you have any sense how far along the planning is?

There is a lot that is shady about this deal. Starting over a decade ago when the land was hastily rezoned for tourism development it appeared that before anyone even knew about it many of the choicest lots had already been sold, but this is just speculation going around the local gossip mill. What is known is the last mayoral election saw the loser of the primary election of one party betray his party and support the opposition candidate who is now mayor. Next thing everyone knew the newly elected governor of the betrayed party appointed him director of our long obsolete para-state trust agency that was supposed to be responsible for installing urban infrastructure and then selling the lots, but for over 30 years it has been doing exactly the opposite and instead has been a political trampoline fraught with problems including charges of cronyism, vote buying and corruption. The first thing the newly-appointed party betrayer did was allegedly award his own construction business a contract to build the road from La Ropa to the highway coming from the airport that the developer had conditioned his investment on. But the para-state functionary apparently forgot to abide by the conditions of an environmental impact study. But at least now there's a road there. Meanwhile many of the squatter communities who the para-state agency has promised to regularize (read buy votes) remain without infrastructure. Apparently fat cats get first dibs when the right palms are greased.

At the moment the only infrastructure I'm aware of is the road. The wastewater treatment plant at La Ropa is already obsolete and recently neighbors have alleged it's been discharging either untreated or poorly treated water into the estuary. We are already rationing "potable water" throughout Zihuatanejo-Ixtapa. And NONE of the outlying communities have functioning wastewater treatment plants!

This is my comment on the matter that I have posted to some local real estate agents apparently eager to make some sales:

No estoy de acuerdo con este desarrollo en esta península tan frágil ecológicamente y que forma parte de la atracción principal de Zihuatanejo. Pero más importante es que este megaproyecto es de beneficio principalmente al constructor y algunos funcionarios públicos. El beneficio a la economía zihuatanejense sería de muy corto plazo hasta que termine la construcción destructiva. La realidad económica de Zihuatanejo es que apenas durante 4 semanas del año podemos llenar nuestra oferta hotelera. Durante el resto del año no hay suficiente turismo para la gran mayoría de alojamientos. Veo las cifras año tras año. Veo las puertas cerrar en muchos negocios, algunos solo por la temporada baja, pero demasiados para siempre. Negocios de gente de aquí quienes lejos de ser los primeros beneficiados del desarrollo de Ixtapa, siguen perdiendo su patrimonio en beneficio de gente e intereses foráneos. Si ni podemos llenar los alojamientos que tenemos, de nada sirve aumentar la oferta. Esto va en contra de la ley económica de la oferta y la demanda.

Tengo la firme convicción que el bienestar de la comunidad siempre debe ser lo primero en decisiones de la planificación urbana y el desarrollo sustentable, pero este proyecto en mi juicio no trae este beneficio. El resultado al largo plazo sería más albañiles traídos desde otros lugares abandonados y contribuyendo a la pobreza general como ha ocurrido con todos los proyectos que hemos visto desde 1974 hasta la fecha. También tendríamos otra zona ecológicamente deteriorada al modo del desarrollo en La Majahua, otro desarrollo muy parecido. Pero lo peor es que contribuiría a la ruina económica de más inversionistas tantos locales como nacionales e internacionales quienes van a ver su mercado ya frágil sobresaturado y sus inversiones devaluadas como ya tenemos años viendo en el mercado inmobiliario local durante ya demasiados años.

Sobre todo no tiene sentido construir ningún edificio más con nuestra infraestructura ya colapsada en muchos aspectos. La verdad yo estoy en favor de una moratoria contra cualquier nueva construcción hasta que pongamos nuestra propia casa en orden.

Es el punto de vista mío y de mi familia así como de muchos amigos y otros residentes.

Saludos

Thanks. That answers my question about infrastructure (other than those rudimentary roads you see flying in and out). It's a shame. I hope it languishes. And languishes. And dies. As those things can do.

Sadly you are correct on this one Rob...I saw the tourism of the 80's, 90's and post 9/11 and it is true that there are more people in Ixtapa and Zihua in both peak seasons, for the mostly US/CDN tourism tourism and for the national season but in both cases there are more and more tourists with less spending power and a case can be made that this is not helping the region even if more tourists are coming. Ixtapa is a shadow of itself compare to the 80's when all the boutiques and restaurants were busy and all the streets were full of people from morning til late night. Now the buildings are falling apart throughout the hotel zone and many look abandoned and/or need some paint. The grass is still manicured and the beaches nice but for those of us that have seen the ups and downs of this area it is sad to see where it's standing now and I'm afraid it is only going to get worst. And Zihua will feel the downward economic pressure too...

Santiago which north of Manzanillo has a like proposal more than 10 years ago
It was a huge housing project which was to surround the old Club Maeva and devastate the jungle etc
The project isn't there

This is a very aggressive Florida development company. Not only will it happen, it's going to happen fast.

So they are a real "they paved Paradise and put up a parking lot" American development cartel