Rainha Golf and Spa Resort - 200m €uros more invested in Silver Coast Property, when?
On the 14th May 2007 "Leiria Económica" reported that a Portuguese subsidiary of New World Investments was investing 200 million euros in the construction of the Rainha Golf and Spa Resort, in 170 hectares of land between Foz do Arelho and Serra do Bouro. (The land between Green Hills Disco and the water storage at the top of the hill shown in the image.)
Green Hills Disco shown bottom left - Click for larger image at Google
The reports at the time in "Diário de Leiria" were of 800 jobs during the construction phase, and 350 when fully operating. The resort would consist of a five-star hotel with 120 beds and seven suites, two tourist villages with 360 apartments and 550 houses, and an 18 hole golf course. Properties reported as totalling more than 2000 beds.
The construction of "Rainha Golf course" was reportedly going to start later in 2007 with all the work on property development not getting under way until the end of 2008, or the first quarter of 2009. The delays due in part to difficulties in the purchase of dozens of parcels of land. Diario de Leiria reported that Marques Pereira, lawyer and representative of the company in Portugal, said that "95 percent of the land had already been purchased."
As I previously reported (with various links and Rainha Golf contact info), A Gazeta das Caldas article of 13th October 2006 on the Obidos Council web site mentions a dinner where Dennis O'Sullivan, represented a company "New World Investments" linked to the Baden Powell family who were promoting the project. The lawyer "Álvaro Baltazar da Silva Jerónimo" a member of the Municipal Assembly for Caldas da Rainha was also reported by the Gazeta das Caldas to have been engaged to contact some of the folks who own the land, because some may have emigrated or moved away.
The Gazeta das Caldas reported here, that in the January 20th 2007 edition of Expresso, the supplement dedicated to the tourism fair in Lisbon (BTL), published a map showing "Rainha Golf and Spa" was planned for Serra do Bouro. The new tourist complex was then dependent on development of a detailed plan because the Caldas PDM (municipal development plan) did not provide areas for tourism development. The president of RTO (Oeste Regional Tourism) had obtained guarantees from Councilor Maria da Conceição that the process was "on track" and she believed that "we need everything to go well so that within a year and a half or two years work would be underway."
Now we are in the second quarter of 2009 and the project has not started by the dates predicted, but it is now rumoured locally that finally all the land needed has been acquired. Reports in the local media of the commencement of the project are notably absent.
The Gazeta das Caldas while reporting (here) on plans for the much needed new regional hospital, gave details of the projected total of 14,991 tourist beds in all the developments around the Obidos lagoon, made up as follows:-
Caldas da Rainha - Rainha Golf & SPA 4,642 beds
Óbidos - Quinta do Bom Sucesso 3,362 beds
Óbidos - Pérola da Lagoa 456 beds
Óbidos - Quintas de Óbidos 950 beds
Óbidos - Royal Golf & SPA 2,500 beds
Óbidos - Falésia D'El Rey 3,081 beds
Given the amount of property already constructed on Pérola da Lagoa, the number quoted of 456 beds seems strangely small. The figure for Rainha Golf & SPA seems somewhat larger than earlier estimates.
Comments
I see in the Gazeta this week that Antonio Carneiro of Turismo do Oeste says that Rainha Golf is delayed "due to financial reasons".
See my article here:-
GolfeOeste invests 200 thousand euros in Silver Coast for 2009
The above message posted by: David | June 18, 2009 3:07 AM