EASTER VISIT APRIL 2009 - PHASE 2 STARTED

Well the good news is in the title but what a very frustrating experience.

I attempted to drive in as if I owned the place rather than just a little bit of it but was turned away by a simple but resolute soul in a security uniform, who credited me with a much greater command of Spanish than I possess. Didn't even get a chance to say "mas despacio por favor" before he was heading back to his box / cage.

I had a slightly less frosty reception at what appears to pass for customer service but was firmly told that as Las Islas is a "distant prospect" (my words - not hers) I really have no business being there.

I was absolutely denied all access. Was I annoyed? About a 9.99 on a scale of 10.

These shysters, sorry property developers, have 70000 of my money and I am not allowed so much as a peak at what has been done to date. Outrageous is the nicest thing I can say about it, I was able to offer proof that I was indeed an "owner in waiting" but it made no difference.

I had also been told by a reasonable source that Terrazas had been withdrawn from sale and it was likely that people on later phases would be offered a transfer at a discount to either completed properties or off-plan alternatives at Condado or Mar Menor 2 where some completions are approx 2 years away.

I visited PWHQ were I met a very helpful lone salesman who has slowly become isolated with the loss of 9 colleagues over the last number of months.

I told the guy why I was there - to see what the story was with Terrazas and what alternatives were available. He told me that Terrazas is definitely available for sale but unfortunately he couldn't show me anything because the computer was down. Within a few minutes the same computer was able to print out all available properties on Mar Menor 2.

I try to be accurate on this blog in recording what I have been told by people, either good or bad and completely stand over all the info, stories, rumours as being a true account of what I have been told. The "real" truth or otherwise is obviously in the eye of the beholder. Draw your own conclusions.

I told him that I have no interest in Condado so he took me through the options at MM2. My Terrazas property is 3 bed 1 bath @ 260000 so he was showing comparable properties which were 2 bed 2 bath with good size terraces which would complete within 12-24 months (completions are available within 4 months but that doesn't suit me.)

They seem a little more spacious however all but a few were considerably more expensive than mine. There were also many smaller apartments with smaller terraces available but it appears they are generally more expensive than at Terrazas. Accordingly, if it is desirable to transfer, unless a discount becomes available (isn't at this stage) it is going to be an expensive process.

The salesperson assured me that Terrazas is not in doubt and told me that his best estimate would be that phase 2 will be completed within 18 months and that Las Islas should complete within a further 12 months. Discounting the possibility of further delays that means completions on the islands at the end of 2011 rather than end of 2010 as I was recently told by the Customer Service department.

The good news, yes there is some, is that phase 2 has started and there are maybe 30 guys there working on phase2 to the side of the road leading into the Town Centre further away from phase 1, in other words the right hand end of phase 2.

The picture below shows some temporary storage and if you enlarge the photograph you will see that a fence has been erected to separate phase one during construction.


The following photo shows a little of the area that they are working on at present. There really wasn't too much to see but is very encouraging to see a start made to phase 2 and hope that this will provide happy news for anyone on phase 2 who happens to read this.



Further good news is that despite my doubts there is plenty of evidence of work on the entire golf course. Despite the fact that much of it is a long way from readiness it is great to see that the intent is there to provide 18 as I had feared that Terrazas may have continued as a 9 hole course for some time to come. There are even some cart paths in place at the southern end.

The one concern I would have is that albeit my view was limited at ground level, from what I could see of the more advanced holes near phase 1 they still look an woefully long way from readiness.

The following shots were from from various angles around the perimeter and I have labelled them to give an idea of location, remember phase 1 is at the north end of Terrazas.

East Side

South Side

West Side

Finally and another thing I view as a positive sign, I noticed that down the east side where sales are definitely off the radar at present there have still been changes since my last visit in August.

I noticed that they have done a substantial degree of planting and there are nice chunky trees, possibly cork but I'm no expert, on the many small roundabouts at what were to be the U shaped apartment blocks down the east side.


I hope this is a useful update and an encouragement to those on phase 2. As usual any comments or additional information would be very welcome.