On the web site of the London Golf Show I see that the Silver
Coast is being represented by Bom Sucesso and they are joined by
The Lisbon Golf Coast.

I hear that if you would like to taste a good Portuguese wine,
you should drop by The Lisbon Golf Coast stand for a chat and a
glass of red where you will be made welcome. I've no doubt that
those interested in property investment will also be made welcome
at the Bom Sucesso stand.

The show is from May 1st to 3rd, 2009 at the ExCeL centre which
boasts the most advanced exhibition hall space in London.

Tickets are at:-
http://www.londongolfshow.com/tickets.cfm

Posted at 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ecological Park creates shorter route to Bom Sucesso

The "Parque Ecológico" is still under development, but locals
who travel regularly out to the Bom Sucesso golf course and
property resort are now using a newly built road. The road
through the forthcoming Ecological Park has not been officially
opened, and is not signposted at all so it's unlikely to be used
by many on the Silver Coast until it is.

Road opening is always popular, and 2009 is an election year,
but as yet I've not seen any reports of the road in the local
papers. Nevertheless the road is already being used as a short-
cut to both Obidos and Caldas da Rainha. I've no doubt the road
will be busy this coming summer as a short-cut through to the
beach.

Most of these minor roads never find their way onto the maps. so
here is a guide for the adventurous. From Caldas you need to
find your way from the unfinished part of the ring road near the
E LeClerc hypermarket in Santo Onofre, through Bairro, Santa
Maria and out to Arelho where you will turn right onto the road
from Obidos.

From Obidos the short-cut route is much easier to find, down
beside the river, past the railway station, bear left after
going over the railway lines, straight on passing through Arelho
and bear left and right around the airfield. Over the small
bridge over the river and turn right towards the new cycle path,
then follow the new road round to the left and up through the
forest.

At the end of the new road, you emerge having by-passed Vau
altogether, now turn right and drop down to the lagoon where you
will be at the back/current entrance to Bom Sucesso Design
Resort. Carry on if you want to get to the other golf course
developments of Perola da Lagoa, Royal Obidos, Falesia d'El Rey,
or the many beaches from Praia do Bom Sucesso through to Praia
D'el Rey.

The golf resort at Praia D'el Rey has always used it's back
entrance at "Praia Del Rei" as it's main entrance and will
continue doing so until the promised IP6 link road from Serra
d'El-Rei out to the future front entrances of both Bom Sucesso
and Praia D'el Rey is built. The link road will then be
strategically placed between the two resorts.

For now, it seems to me when driving it, that the Bom Sucesso
Design Resort has now got the shortest and prettiest route
to/from Obidos and the A8/A15 interchange.

Posted at 1:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

"Bird Migration" is to be the theme of the Plaza West shopping
centre, scheduled to open in the autumn of 2011. In addition to
shops and hotel, there is to be a strong leisure component in
communion with nature and the beauty of the landscape.

In the Assembly of 14th November 2008 the Obidos municipal
deputies unanimously approved the Arnóia detailed plan which
covers an area of 90 hectares including the installation of
Plaza Oeste.

The plan also includes the Convent of S. Miguel, municipal land,
plots, and the landfill belonging to the municipalities of
Caldas da Rainha, Obidos and Peniche. The plan took more than
five years to be completed and had to have the agreement of 12
entities. "We needed dozens of meetings, resources, advice and
negotiations," said the mayor, Telmo Faria.

This venture of the Belgian group "Wilhelm & Co" has for some
years been predicted to consist of a commercial area of 60 to 80
thousand square metres and have more than 80 shops, cinemas,
restaurants and places for entertainment. The retail park and
hotel will have around three thousand parking spaces, and
involve a total investment of about EUR 200 million. The project
envisages a golf driving range and given the proximity to the
Óbidos dam a small marina in order to maximize the use of
pleasure craft.

Plaza Oeste will be served by direct access to the A15 next to
the Gaeiras football field. As part of the land exchange to
facilitate the motorway access, the sports complex has been
upgraded at the expense of the developer, and already has a new
artificial grass field.

The mayor has explained that Plaza Oeste was originally planned
to be a lot closer to Obidos beside "Senhor da Pedra", but
accessibility in that location was problematic. The location
beside the Arno river allows direct connection to the motorway
without interfering with existing local roads.

At the meeting attended by the promoters of Plaza Oeste it was
stated that the project should begin construction in the middle
of 2009. They characterized it as a different project, which
will offer shopping, but also areas of leisure, using the nature
and beauty of the existing landscape. They highlighted the
strong sensitivity of the Belgian company to the environment,
already visible in several projects they have in Europe. The
area of leisure and entertainment will not affect areas of
nature reserve that must be preserved.

The promoters also highlighted the connection of existing
business to the potential in this region. "The project will
attract people within a radius of two hours and achieve this
with a strong component of leisure."

"We've surpassed the expectations of just a mall," explained the
architect and project manager of the company, Jose Santos, the
Plaza Oeste will include business, leisure and entertainment,
retail stores, restaurants, cinema and a sailing centre.

The upper levels will form the shopping centre, composed of a
hypermarket and stores devoted to home and fashion. A lower
level, near the lake's dam, will have the food plaza, cinemas,
recreational areas and an outdoor amphitheatre.

Various recreational activities are provided for such as bird-
watching, "radical activities" and walks in the woods. There is
also a "bold" proposal for connecting by cable car to the
historic area of Óbidos. "We envisage a stage floating in the
lake of the Arno River", the architect suggested. The project is
also to be presented in a fair in Cannes (France).

Jose Santos also expressed willingness to establish partnerships
with the council on joint initiatives.

In the neighbouring land work has already begun on the "Complexo
Escolar do Alvito" (Alvito School Complex) to be finalized early
next year and will receive children from the parishes of A-dos-
Negros and Gaeiras.

The president of the "Junta das Gaeiras", Eduardo João said that
he looks forward to the work of Plaza Oeste and that the project
will have several components - a hotel of five stars for a
resort of great quality, a retail park, a business forum with
cinemas with approximately 800 direct jobs. "It is a project
that includes many green spaces and terraces, water falls and
spectacular recreation areas, and I believe it is an advantage
for the region."

Coverage of the Assembly meeting which approved the Arnóia plan
was in the local Gazeta das Caldas. A previous report of the
expected project was in a Leiria paper, and The Jornal das
Caldas also reported on Plaza Oeste.

You can read coverage of some of the concerns raised by Heloísa
Apolónia of the green party, and the answers given by Pedro
Félix of the Câmara de Óbidos in January of this year also in
the Gazeta das Caldas.

In an April 2009 report entitled "The ego and self-esteem of
Gaeiras are high" the "Gazeta das Caldas" reported that the
president of the "Câmara de Óbidos", Telmo Faria regretted that
the Plaza Oeste investment of more than 150 million was "not yet
deployed".

You can also read a Gazeta das Caldas special report of the
project on the website of the "Câmara Municipal de Óbidos".

A few of the Obidos projects in planning and development.

Click on map for more details on golf resort projects underway.

Posted at 3:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From: "Sue Cook"
Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2009 19:46:27 +0100

David,

I have just been reading your Silver Coast blog with interest.
You seem to know a lot about construction in the area and I
wondered if you could answer my question. We have purchased a
holiday home, which may become permanent one day, in a little
village called A dos Negros, just above Obidos.

In February we were driving towards the house from Obidos and
found a large construction project going on close to what I
think is the ambulance headquarters. I think it was from Obidos
turn up to Gaeiras and A dos Negros and go over the motorway,
then along towards A dos Negros, then coming towards the Dam, I
think a bit before you go over the Dam and then into A dos
Negros, on the right hand side of the road. I'm not a hundred
percent about this but it was before the Dam.

We could not tell what it is but it is being built in front of
beautiful views. Someone suggested it is going to be a huge
shopping mall with hotel and watersports by the Obidos dam. I
did not think it was big enough and did wonder at anyone getting
permission to build a large shopping centre in a beautiful
countryside village area. I wondered if you know anything more
about the extent of the project and what it will contain.

Regards,
Sue.

Want a holiday, visit http://www.holidayhomeportugal.com/

Posted at 7:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)