I am going out to Murcia rather unexpectedly in April for 5 days so I intend to take a good look at Terrazas and will post some photos on my return.
I thought prior to going out I would get my thoughts together on what news and rumours have been circulating since my last visit. I will try to confirm whatever possible on my return but so far this is the situation as I understand it.
As we all know completions have been proceeding on Phase 1 properties for about 2 months now. There have been many comments on the various forums that I use and invariably people appear to be delighted with their properties albeit some have the usual teething problems with utility connections.
In terms of forums I get most of my information from Eye on Spain, Polaris World Forum and the less well used Living the Dream. I also find Spain Expat quite good for more general information on aspects of Spanish life.
Photographs are harder to find and the best I have come across is http://www.fotothis.com/ which I understand is run by a snagging company. They require you to register but it has not resulted in any contact from them.
Back to phase 1, I have seen some of the early owners have been posting their intention to try to get together so that they can present a united front to Polaris World when it comes to starting a community with all the admin that comes with it. They are hoping to avoid appointees of PW charging over the odds for facilities as they develop, hoping in that way to keep down community fees. Sounds like a good idea worthy of support.
In terms of facilities I understand that a temporary bar and clubhouse were delivered to Terrazas but when I last heard they were empty. It seems quite clear that only 9 holes of the golf course are being developed at present, the nine visible from phase 1.
It is difficult to see anything further being provided in the near future and apparently any complaints are being addressed by suggesting that the comprehensive facilities at La Torre are close by. I noticed on the El Valle forum there was a statement quoting Mr. Polaris himself as saying "PW have not forgotten that El Valle is the flagship resort and that when the financial situation improves there will be greater facilities provided." He also said "building the Town Centre now would be a financial disaster" and given that he lives there it is pretty sure that Terrazas will be at the back of the queue in terms of providing a town centre. It would appear that the sign at Terrazas (beside the sales office) saying Town Centre Coming Soon is just window dressing.
For those of us waiting patiently for the Las Islas phases to be built, possibly even within the next decade or two, there is at least evidence that the lake has been formed and therefore it seems unlikely that they will be cancelled.
It seems to me that we are in for a very long haul before we see Terrazas taking on any shape resembling the showroom model particularly with regard to facilities.
The main encouragement is that fact that PW are still building houses with apparently 1000 now at work on Mar Menor 2. A look at the fotofthis site will show that it is progressing although it looks far from complete. My understanding is that this workforce is destined for Terrazas on completion of MM2. It looks like that is some months away and the start of phase 2 therefore doesn't appear iminent.
PW Customer Service are still saying that Terrazas will be complete by the end of the summer 2010. No doubt they also tell people to expect visits from the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny.
I will post again before too long and if anyone gets to read this perhaps you might leave a comment just for my benefit to know I am not just talking to myself. Thanks.
Still here !!
ReplyDeleteWe too are las Islas, and comb the same forums for snippets of info.
Have decided to take a 3 day break out there end April - have forwarned Polaris of our imminent arrival at their headoffice to collect our bank guarantee ( 3 years and still waiting....). They responded with the usual cr.p that "it is in progress, not solely down to them etc etc"- the only time they respond is when we threaten to make our physical presence felt with them!!.
See what happens..........
We too are on las Islas!We keep checking that u are still with us as polaris and our agent are in the same place as our bank guarantees!!Look forward to your blog continuing as we thought we had lost you and you are now our adopted sensible person!!!Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteChris and emma
Dave
ReplyDeleteKeep the blog going!
Funnily enough we are also still waiting for the infamous bank guarantee to appear.
Oh well, let's just hope that we don't need to use it!
I'm sure one day when all the facilities are built and the euro is trading at £1:Euro1.50, we will all look back and smile about these dark days.
We signed for a penthouse apartment March 2007 with a promise of completion March/April 2009 thinking things would be more or less on time we even bought the air con units at the request of P.W. as you can imagine we are not happy that phase 2 is not started. We were over in February visited the site which was like a ghost town we have engaged a Spanish solocitor will keep you informed
ReplyDeletekeep up the good work dave polaris are the most annoying company i have come across .rang last saturday had a debate with one of the girls about phase 2 and she said she would block my number if i rang again quite funny really. would not of minded if i were abusive.she became annoyed when i asked about why phase 2 was always next month then next month then another month hang in there dave goose
ReplyDelete