Las Olas Ecuador development

No money leaving these pockets. We would never buy into what 'will be'....only what already is.

homebaseecuador wrote:

It also has one of the lowest debt levels as a percentage of GDP in all South America so I think it is well position to ride out a slip in oil prices.

And the Chinese can't wait to come to the rescue, just ask Venezuela.

mugtech wrote:

homebaseecuador wrote:

It also has one of the lowest debt levels as a percentage of GDP in all South America so I think it is well position to ride out a slip in oil prices.

And the Chinese can't wait to come to the rescue, just ask Venezuela.

Yes, they will mugtech. Ecuador's oil industry was considered by many to have already been "bought and paid for" by the Chinese long before this current multi-billion dollar "loan" to Ecuador this month.

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/ … =baef-8435

SawMan wrote:

mugtech wrote:

homebaseecuador wrote:

It also has one of the lowest debt levels as a percentage of GDP in all South America so I think it is well position to ride out a slip in oil prices.

And the Chinese can't wait to come to the rescue, just ask Venezuela.

Yes, they will mugtech. Ecuador's oil industry was considered by many to have already been "bought and paid for" by the Chinese long before this current multi-billion dollar "loan" to Ecuador this month.

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/ … =baef-8435

Russia, Haiti, Cuba, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, are also some of the countries that have low debt per gdp levels. Not sure I'd want to jump up, move, and invest a bunch of money in any one of those countries. It's a pretty simple question, but if Ecuador has all these wonderful/profitable sectors, and there is a plethora of countries wanting to invest in Ecuador, then why does the President run to China for a loan every time there is a little bump in the road? Seems logical that if things are economically as wonderful as portrayed, then Ecuador would start weening itself from Chinese loans.

gardener1 wrote:

Nice. And yes I have been to Ecuador.

But that has nothing to do with the fact that their major export commodity and the base of their domestic income - oil - has recently dropped in value by half. Which one might think, is not good news for the domestic economy. Or domestic investment in roads, or water resources, or other kinds of infrastructure necessary for the happy functioning of a gated, golf club, foreigner expat community.

Tell me again about Randy Russ' expertise in south American economic development?

Oil is an issue for Ecuador and for many other countries.  My $CAD lost nearly 15% to the $US in about  a year, so I know what I'm talking about.  Why some countries are and will be more affected than others?  Diversification of their economy.  For me, it makes great sense that Ecuador is investing to develop his tourism industry.  Will people stop going to Dubai for shopping and spending their money in stupid man-made attractions? No (by the way, I don't know why...).  Then, with all the beautiful ressources that Ecuador has, I'm sure a proper tourism infrastructure will bring a constant flow of $$ that will allow the country to grow is economy and be less and less dependant from oil.

I will give you my opinion about Randy Russ and why I think it's a plus that he never developed a project in South American.  I'm currently living in Mauritius.  A small paradise island in the Indian Ocean that once relying solely on textile and sugar cane and who's now one of the most high-end destination for vacationers and retirees on the planet.  It's also a financial offshore with over 10k business and has a growing BPO industry (business process outsourcing) in which I work.

Here, I rent a fairly nice house that was build roughly 7 years ago.  Roughly 3,000 sq.f., nice pool, 5 bedrooms (4 en suite).  It was built by locals and I must say that the typical house in Mauritius looks very the same way as the typical house in Ecuador.  Our septic tank overflowed 6 months ago.  It hasn't been emptied in 6 years!  The owner, who's a bright local entrepreneur said, it must be a problem because these septic tank doesn't need to be emptied!?!?  We are using only 2 of the 4 showers in the house.  The two we are not using as smelling really bad if we don't put water every two days.  Why?  They don't put siphon in showers!!  Instead, they are using a kind of shower cap that acts like a siphon (but maybe hold 50ml of water which evaporates in a day or two...).  When you remove the shower cap, you have the direct link to the septic tank!  Lighting is all LED (cheap from China) and the manufacturer said it was lifetime guaranteed, so they installed it without thinking it might break down... which it does last year.  "We need to change the transformer" the electrician said.  Only problem, they put it in the wall without any indication... After making holes in walls here and there, they decided to put halogen tracks with visible wire all around the house!!

Do you think this kind of mistakes would have been done by an experienced North American contractor?  No way Jose!!

I agree with the fact that "the way it works" in Ecuador is different than the way it works in the US or Canada, but Las Olas as a great team of local people and recently partnered with Dicoplan, a large civil work company that build the bridge between Bahia and... the other city I forgot the name...  So I'm sure these guys know how to deal locally.

Would I buy a house from a local contractor in Ecuador?  No!!  Why?  Because they just don't know how to build the kind of house I want (and I assume, most of us wants).  I raised many questions when I met David and he's aware of all the problems of houses build under the tropics.  High humidity, UV, salty air, corrosion, etc.  I also visited a model house in the Monticristi Estate.  Nice looking, good structure... but the finishing?  beurk!  Cheap cabinets, cheap windows, cheap faucets, etc.  In a year or two, it will be leaking everywhere...  So yes, I think an experienced American contractor brings a lot of value to a project in a developing country if he's having good local staff.  You get the best of both world.

SawMan wrote:

mugtech wrote:

homebaseecuador wrote:

It also has one of the lowest debt levels as a percentage of GDP in all South America so I think it is well position to ride out a slip in oil prices.

And the Chinese can't wait to come to the rescue, just ask Venezuela.

Yes, they will mugtech. Ecuador's oil industry was considered by many to have already been "bought and paid for" by the Chinese long before this current multi-billion dollar "loan" to Ecuador this month.

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/ … =baef-8435

They announced last week $250B investment in South America for the next 10 years
http://www.businessinsider.com/r-chinas … nts-2015-1

j600rr wrote:

SawMan wrote:

mugtech wrote:

And the Chinese can't wait to come to the rescue, just ask Venezuela.

Yes, they will mugtech. Ecuador's oil industry was considered by many to have already been "bought and paid for" by the Chinese long before this current multi-billion dollar "loan" to Ecuador this month.

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/ … =baef-8435

Russia, Haiti, Cuba, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, are also some of the countries that have low debt per gdp levels. Not sure I'd want to jump up, move, and invest a bunch of money in any one of those countries. It's a pretty simple question, but if Ecuador has all these wonderful/profitable sectors, and there is a plethora of countries wanting to invest in Ecuador, then why does the President run to China for a loan every time there is a little bump in the road? Seems logical that if things are economically as wonderful as portrayed, then Ecuador would start weening itself from Chinese loans.

For me, the main difference is the currency.  Out of all the countries you named, only Ecuador is using USD.  Why would I invest my USD in Russia when I know the Ruble will continue to loose ground against the USD? 

Now why are we complaining about the fact that the Chinese are doing business with Ecuadorians?  I don't think they want to loose their money...  They might be the only one willing to invest, but they might also be the ones that offer the best deal.  Who knows?

yulrun wrote:

j600rr wrote:

Russia, Haiti, Cuba, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, are also some of the countries that have low debt per gdp levels. Not sure I'd want to jump up, move, and invest a bunch of money in any one of those countries.

For me, the main difference is the currency.  Out of all the countries you named, only Ecuador is using USD.  Why would I invest my USD in Russia when I know the Ruble will continue to loose ground against the USD? 

Now why are we complaining about the fact that the Chinese are doing business with Ecuadorians?  I don't think they want to loose their money...  They might be the only one willing to invest, but they might also be the ones that offer the best deal.  Who knows?

Only pointing out that the link of low debt per gdp isn't really much of an indicator as to how well off a country is, or isn't, and how well of it will be, or won't be. Ecuador's low debt per gdp is an argument that has been thrown around on many different threads throughout this forum. It's a fairly irrelevant statistic. Some countries have low debt per gdp, and are doing very well, and others aren't. The opposite is also true. Some have high debt per gdp, and are doing fine, and others aren't.

In the end things will play out how they are going to play out. The China/Ecuador partnership could be a great relationship lasting well into the future, or China could decide to stop loaning any more money, and call in the loans they already have.

New post on Las Olas website yesterday about the fact that Ecuador bought ad space during the Super Bowl (http://www.andes.info.ec/en/news/ecuado … rbowl.html).

Not sure if it's the best way to spend $3M, but it's a very quick way to get exposure, especially if the ad is appealing to the eyes (we can expect amazing images).  If there's a real wow factor, Ecuador could be a buzz on social networks in the coming weeks and that's a good news for Las Olas and the whole Ecuador as an emerging tourism destination.

Otherwise, the latest post on Las Olas Facebook page was on Nov 9th which is a little bit odd especially since a lot of people are expecting updates.  We are currently having an independent lawyer reviewing Las Olas proposed sales agreement and I will ask them for updates.  I will post it here as soon as I have something new.

yulrun wrote:

New post on Las Olas website yesterday about the fact that Ecuador bought ad space during the Super Bowl(http://www.andes.info.ec/en/news/ecuado … rbowl.html).

Thank you for bringing this to our attention, yulrun.

I think it's significant, so am making it available to a wider audience, at the new Expat.com Ecuador thread titled "All You Need is Ecuador."

Readers can get there by typing the new thread's name into the Search Expat.com box at the top of this page, and then clicking on the search icon at the right of the box.

Thanks to Priscilla in the Home Office for correcting a technical glitch so as to make this information more widely available to Expat.com users.

cccmedia in Quito

So here's an update about our Las Olas quest.  After doing our own due diligence and consulting a independent local attorney, we decided to give a go to to our investment at Las Olas.  We took the choice of doing it for several reasons, but in general, we felt it was the perfect timing to buy at a low price while still having the opportunity to select a premium location within the project.

The price we would have to pay here in Mauritius to get roughly the same amenities is at least 5x.  Being on an island, cost of living is also much higher in Mauritius.  Of course, there's a lot of things to discount, but bottom line, the idea is to stay in Ecuador an enjoy life.  It's a bet we are willing to take.  I would like to thank all the people who contacted us privately to give us their pros and cons.  I wish all the best to other expats or future expats and will hang around to follow the discussion with all of you.

yulrun wrote:

we decided to give a go to to our investment at Las Olas...The price we would have to pay here in Mauritius to get roughly the same amenities is at least 5x.  Being on an island, cost of living is also much higher in Mauritius.

Plus, some day, if all goes as planned, your family will no longer need to worry about tropical cyclone season in the Mascarene Islands.

Ecuador is sheltered from the hurricanes that can plague the Caribbean and the U.S. East Coast.

cccmedia in Quito

cccmedia wrote:

yulrun wrote:

we decided to give a go to to our investment at Las Olas...The price we would have to pay here in Mauritius to get roughly the same amenities is at least 5x.  Being on an island, cost of living is also much higher in Mauritius.

Plus, some day, if all goes as planned, your family will no longer need to worry about tropical cyclone season in the Mascarene Islands.

Ecuador is sheltered from the hurricanes that can plague the Caribbean and the U.S. East Coast.

cccmedia in Quito

Let's say we trade the cyclone threat for the earthquake threat!

Tsunami-wise, we will be closer to the ocean, so that's another "downside" to add.  At the same time, I think a Tsunami on an island is worse to experience, so I'm giving the point to Ecuador!  Las Olas is far enough from the volcanos, so we should be ok. 

Up to now, we spent a total of 7 years in the Indian ocean (Mauritius and Reunion Island) and luckily haven't experienced a "real" cyclone.  The "Piton de la Fournaise" volcano crater in Reunion Island (currently in eruption) collapsed in 2007 displacing 0.8 x 1.1 km floor downward by 330 m.  We felt it from about 80km away like if it was an earthquake.

We also experienced a rainfall of about 30cm of rain in 6 hours...!

As long as it doesn't snow on the Ecuadorian coast, I think we'll happy!

Gotta wonder how the new tariffs will affect the pricing and timing of this project.

mugtech wrote:

Gotta wonder how the new tariffs will affect the pricing and timing of this project.

What has been happening lately at Las Olas?
Any updates on infrastructure, or anything else yulrun? Know that you seem to be about the most reliable source of information for this project. Isn't construction supposed to be starting on the houses pretty soon?

Which new tariffs? These? http://www.wsj.com/articles/ecuador-to- … 1425696966

Won't be affecting the cost of lots that's for sure!  The lot cost is about 1/3 of purchase, so so the impact could only be on the house itself. 

Then, what's the % of imports vs local?  The Hormi2 system Las Olas intend to use for the structure seems to be 100% local.  Then, I assume windows are locals.  I don't know about cabinets, flooring and sanitary...

I will have to double-check with Las Olas, but honestly, I don't think it's a huge impact, maybe 5-10% total?

They are currently running a pre-construction discount, so they might just end it.  And what will be taxed at 45% and what won't be taxed?  That's what we need to know!

If you increase taxes and people stop buying, you are making less money, even if you raise taxes by 1000%. The idea is to buy local instead of importing goods.  I totally agree with that way of thinking.

I was exploring and stumbled upon the las olas project a couple weeks ago. I didn't see anything being built. Security came out and sent us on our way. Apparently they think the own the public beach. They were moving a lot of dirt around. If I had to take a wild guess I'd say they're mining and selling fill dirt for construction projects elsewhere based on the amount of dump truck traffic and the amount of dirt they have dug out of the hillsides.

j600rr wrote:

mugtech wrote:

Gotta wonder how the new tariffs will affect the pricing and timing of this project.

What has been happening lately at Las Olas?
Any updates on infrastructure, or anything else yulrun? Know that you seem to be about the most reliable source of information for this project. Isn't construction supposed to be starting on the houses pretty soon?

Well, I'm now having access to more information/updates since we are now officially owners, but I don't want to interfere with Las Olas strategy and communication.  If someone is interested in buying a property at Las Olas, they should contact them directly and see for themselves.  Then, the prospective owner should do his own due diligence.  Getting information on public forums is part of the due diligence, but contacting the promoter, visiting the property and doing proper legal investigation should also be done.

They haven't been able to work on the property for a total of 6 days because of the rain season, which is not that bad, but still, it's a full week of work lost.  As Jesselimmerling stated, they are still moving dirt!  This is required because of the multiple terraces design of the project to allow sea view to hundreds of owners instead of 30 lucky who bought oceanfront.  It takes longer then expected, but every owner I spoke with really don't care about the delay and focus more on the final result.  It will truly be amazing I think.  They can't start building before grading is completed in both near the sea communities.  Otherwise, the vibrations could damage/impact the first houses built.  The only things that matter for us is the fact they continue working on grading/preparing infrastructure and building the golf course and that's what they are doing.

@livinginbahia

1) I think I said it before, but, yes, they do own the land!  And they even own more land than what they show on the Master Plan.  That's why if you go and visit, you will see signs of "Property of Las Olas" elsewhere in the region.  I hired an independent lawyer and realized that most of other owners did the same, and yes, they own the land.  The lawyer was even more surprised when he realized that there's no lien on the land, so it's not given in guarantee to any lender.  That means they have no debt (or the lender is stupid).  On top of that, I also have the official approval of the "urbanization Las Olas" (the master plan you see on their website) dated May 2014 by the council of Sucre Canton, so the whole project is officially accepted.

2) As I mentioned previously in this thread, the water supply in Bahia is problematic because the distribution network (under the city's streets) is leaking big time.  That's why people living in Bahia are affected and that's why they need to turn off water distribution in order to avoid loosing it in the ground.  The water plant produces enough water to supply the population and is currently planned to double in capacity.  Since Las Olas is located upstream from Bahia (where the leaking issues are), that's why the canton can offer to supply Las Olas in fresh water.  You should see a pipeline being build along the highway in the coming months.

3) This is just plain wrong.  They have all authorizations to proceed.  This was verified by my lawyer and by other lawyers or other buyers.  Regarding the fact that they sold houses before getting all permits and approvals, that's none of your business.  If I invest in a biotech company that thinks they will find a drug to cure bipolar disorder, the FDA won't bring anyone to jail!  If they start selling it to people without proper authorization, then it's a problem.  As long as Las Olas haven't built something without proper authorization, they are in their rights and people who bought knew what they were buying and knew that it was risky.  That's why prices are increasing when the risks are getting lower.  That's just the basic and stupid offer and demand law.

4) ?? Are you kidding or what?  You think hiring an independent accounting firm will give you access to Las Olas books?  Are you living in your own world or what?  You can perceive our investment very speculative, but don't worry, I sleep really well every night.  There's no such project without any risk involve.  If you don't want to take any risk, wait and have a look at realtors' website in 5 years...

@Jesselimmerling: remember that on top of being a private property, it's a construction site.  As you mentioned, they are lots of trucks coming in and out, so they need to be careful about security and safety.  And yes, there's a part of the beach that is private because it's one of the rare place on the shore where the beach is very wide, so the private property line crosses the beach.  Why don't you pay a visit to the sales office in Bahia and have a guided tour of the property, then giving us your impression be reporting here?  That would be cool.

Cool. Thanks for the update Yulrun.
True enough, interested investors should do their due dilligence, and also talk the the developers, and go see things in person. Short of that, you have always been very objective in your investigation, and reports of Las Olas. Even before you became an owner. Think that many value your input, or at least I do.

j600rr wrote:

Cool. Thanks for the update Yulrun.
True enough, interested investors should do their due dilligence, and also talk the the developers, and go see things in person. Short of that, you have always been very objective in your investigation, and reports of Las Olas. Even before you became an owner. Think that many value your input, or at least I do.

@j600rr, happy if I can help some to buy and others to avoid buying!  This project is really around building a community, so I have no problem to tell people it's not for them!

We made that move because we think Las Olas is a place we will enjoy living on the long run and we did it when we felt the risk/reward ratio was good enough for us.  To be honest, we told it only to a few friends who we know can afford loosing money and who are intelligent enough to make their own decisions.

I agree with yulrun and homebaseecuador, while opinion are always interesting and Las Olas may not be for everyone. However, if Las Olas is a community that interests you I suggest you go down and see it for yourself. Not listen to blog posts that are clearly malicious and full of misinformation. By the way, I saw it, loved it, had a lawyer go to the municipal office and verify ownership and everything else. No problems.

This is all becoming deranged. People attesting to the wonderfulness of something they 'own' when there is actually nothing there. People attesting to the prolific water supply - which is actually broken and not supplying water. Then people warbling about slander laws in Ecuador, when this website is not hosted in Ecuador.

*rubs eyes*

This thread is the Twilight Zone. Where is Mr. Natural7 when you need him?

yulrun wrote:

If you increase taxes and people stop buying, you are making less money, even if you raise taxes by 1000%.

I absolutely agree.  The more you tax something, the less you get of it.  Government continues to ignore this lesson but gets the same result each time.  Example:  New Jersey raises income tax rates on its citizens hoping to begin to close the huge budget deficits and ends up with lower tax revenues collected.  Taxpayers adapt. 

yulrun wrote:

The idea is to buy local instead of importing goods.  I totally agree with that way of thinking.

Imposing tariffs offers temporary satisfaction, but the overall economy suffers in the long-term. There is a reason there's a demand for the imported product.  It either does not exist locally or is not the same quality or is excessively priced.  Let's say that the local developer cannot economically import Andersen brand thermal insulated windows for his project (just an example, no claim being made if this applies or not) and now must find a local, far inferior window unit product, assuming it exists and is produced in sufficient quantities.  Who suffers?  The buyers who will receive lower quality product.  Going forward, builders will have to price in the tariff costs into their sales prices for the products they need to import.  Demand will fall which means less workers employed, etc. In the end, the economy suffers as expansion and economic activity dwindles, in my opinion.  So, very short-sighted and desperate attempt to solve a tax revenue problem (or is it a spending problem?).

The whole raising tariffs question reminds me of Herbert Hoover's reaction to the crash of 29, raise tariffs and make the problem worse.

SawMan wrote:

yulrun wrote:

If you increase taxes and people stop buying, you are making less money, even if you raise taxes by 1000%.

I absolutely agree.  The more you tax something, the less you get of it.  Government continues to ignore this lesson but gets the same result each time.  Example:  New Jersey raises income tax rates on its citizens hoping to begin to close the huge budget deficits and ends up with lower tax revenues collected.  Taxpayers adapt. 

yulrun wrote:

The idea is to buy local instead of importing goods.  I totally agree with that way of thinking.

Imposing tariffs offers temporary satisfaction, but the overall economy suffers in the long-term. There is a reason there's a demand for the imported product.  It either does not exist locally or is not the same quality or is excessively priced.  Let's say that the local developer cannot economically import Andersen brand thermal insulated windows for his project (just an example, no claim being made if this applies or not) and now must find a local, far inferior window unit product, assuming it exists and is produced in sufficient quantities.  Who suffers?  The buyers who will receive lower quality product.  Going forward, builders will have to price in the tariff costs into their sales prices for the products they need to import.  Demand will fall which means less workers employed, etc. In the end, the economy suffers as expansion and economic activity dwindles, in my opinion.  So, very short-sighted and desperate attempt to solve a tax revenue problem (or is it a spending problem?).

Hi SawMan, I did more research about this new tax increase (yeah, I'm trying to avoid saying stupid things as you can witness!)

It seems it's focusing on luxury products and imported products that you can/should buy locally.  This is making a lot of sense I think.  You want to buy an expensive car, a swiss watch, French wines, whiskey, Italian furnitures, etc.?  You will just pay more.  I would be surprise that specific high taxes will focus on home hardware because house building is a huge contributor to any economy and an important indicator of a country's health.  On top of that, I'm not sure it makes sense to import house building components.  You can import a few specific things, but I assume 80% of material is local... and 100% of the man power!

I assume the guy who said "buy now before it's too late as prices will jump by 40% in the next three month" is currently selling real estate in Ecuador... I just hate people who are lying!  Too easy to say stupid things on the Internet!

yulrun wrote:

It seems it's focusing on luxury products and imported products that you can/should buy locally.  This is making a lot of sense I think.  You want to buy an expensive car, a swiss watch, French wines, whiskey, Italian furnitures, etc.?  You will just pay more.  I would be surprise that specific high taxes will focus on home hardware because house building is a huge contributor to any economy and an important indicator of a country's health.  On top of that, I'm not sure it makes sense to import house building components.  You can import a few specific things, but I assume 80% of material is local... and 100% of the man power!

Interesting if it applies only or primarily to luxury items.  Certainly, the wealthy might be less price sensitive in their buying habits and would agree that construction is not an industry the government should mess with.  Construction is inherently local and can never be outsourced! (except importing pre-fab homes?)  Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems that Ecuador already has a very underdeveloped banking system in the sense that developers seem to me to have very little access to capital.  Some would say that this is a good think - prevents asset bubbles and oversupply.  Maybe.  Personally, I think more development would benefit the economy and that ample demand from locals and expats exists.

I just priced plumbing fixtures and found little to no change, however, my wife's business is seeing modest cost increases do to price increases from suppliers even though the product she makes is sourced 100% from Ecuadorian materials. It appears there's been a bit of exploitative pricing going on taking advantage of people's confusion about the new taxes. We confronted a supplier who claimed the reason was the price of glue had doubled due to new taxes. We pointed out that the glue is not imported, but he stuck to his story. I think there will be a period of price gouging before folks figure out that many local suppliers are ripping them off and the market corrects itself.

I just made my second trip to Ecuador and Las Olas. I was there in October of last year. I was amazed at how much more work was completed since my last visit. The whole back community which you do not see from the ocean has been graded and the golf course holes have all been shaped in that area and look absolutely amazing. The ocean front area of the property continues to be shaped in preparation for home construction. I amazes me how Las Olas came up with a unique and revolutionary design to allow so many homes to have ocean views.

I was also fortunate enough to meet both partners Randy Russ and David Maksymuik while I was there. Both are very impressive. What was equally if not more impressive was my opportunity to talk with Jerry Pierman. Mr. Pierman was invited down to Las Olas to take a look at their golf course Ciebo Valley. Jerry is one of the foremost experts in golf course construction in the world. He worked for over ten years with Jack Nicklaus, half as a Vice President of Golden Bear. He has been a manager of both Tom Fazio's and of Pete Dye's Golf design companies. He has constructed over 23 courses for designers like Jack Nicklaus, Jim Fazio, Art Hills and others and remodel several more. He has traveled all over the world looking at resort properties and golf course locations. Jerry was formerly the President of the Golf Course Builders Association and sat on the Advisory Board for the World Golf Hall of Fame. In addition to building Muirfield Village Golf Course for Jack Nicklaus he was its first General Manager and served on the Executive Committee for Jack Nicklaus's PGA tour Memorial Golf Tournament.

So apparently no one could argue that he is more than qualified to assess Las Olas and Ciebo Valley Golf Course. What he said to me was that it was the most incredible site and layout for a golf course and development that he has ever seen. He thought the routing for the golf course, the beauty of the ocean and surrounding mountains was simple spectacular. He said their use of the property and innovated design was remarkable. Randy and David are true visionaries. I was very captivated by Jerry's insights and he obviously is very qualified to make that determination.

Good to hear a first-hand report PeterWMass.  Thank you.  I've got to ask though:  What stages of construction were the houses and condo buildings?

PeterWMass, Thanks for that very descriptive report!  That's very valuable.

By the way, if there's someone out here who doesn't believe I hired Dr Moreno, I will post scans of both wire transfer confirmation and email communication later today (yeah, it's 6am here).

No one would ever be able to call me a liar.  Moreover, I know that Dr Moreno helped other Las Olas owners in the past.

Las Olas recently bought a drone to film the property. They posted a first public video (owners had the chance to see more footage ) that you can find on YouTube (https://youtu.be/ZlgQm4sJgZw).

They started to build the 15th green complex (the closest to the ocean) and the 14th green too on March 25th so these images are quite recent.  I just can't wait to see how looks the first nine golf holes where shaping was completed as PeterWMass stated a few weeks ago.  I assume another video will be posted soon.

This video showcases the multiple terraces design that Las Olas will have in order to give amazing view to each of the owners.  Remember that 18 months ago, this was a huge sand dune...

yulrun wrote:

Las Olas recently bought a drone to film the property. They posted a first public video (owners had the chance to see more footage ) (https://youtu.be/ZlgQm4sJgZw).

...these images are quite recent....This video showcases the multiple terraces design that Las Olas will have in order to give amazing view to each of the owners.

Las Olas video from drones! 

Why, that's much better than mere speculation.   

And how convenient that investors can sit at home with their PC's in Riviere Noire or the Pamplemousses District on an island in the Indian Ocean and see visual updates of their golf-course-project investment in coastal Ecuador

Seriously, Yulrun, good job sharing this 90-second clip with us.   And set to music, no less!

cccmedia in Quito

cccmedia, I would love being at home, but we need to pay Las Olas first!

Still, I have the chance to be in my office on the 8th floor with a nice view of the Indian ocean... But I think I will rather prefer the view of the Pacific Ocean next year, especially from the 15th green!

Sounds like a plan!

C'mon down*.



*As soon as 'developments' allow
   

                                                          .

yulrun wrote:

But I think I will rather prefer the view of the Pacific Ocean next year, especially from the 15th green!

Yulrun: With all due respect, I am not at all impressed by this supposedly recent drone shot of the development if it has taken 18 months of excavation to create these terraces and elevations (in a climate where construction proceeds all year without interruption).  I'll bet you an Arnold Palmer* you won't be looking at the 15th green until 2017 and playing on it until at least 2018.  Will the sanitary sewer, water and electrical utilities be in by the end of 2015?  Doesn't seem likely to me. Certainly the pace of work has to significantly pick up for us to see completed houses in 2015 or even in 2016.  I imagine the condo building will be 2020, depending on how lot sales go.

* http://www.chow.com/recipes/10717-arnold-palmer

@sawman, have you seen what it was looking like 18 months ago?

They needed to put all that sand somewhere, so it's been moved to another property they owned 2km down the coast and the trucks could only go there at low tide.  Now, it looks like they can remove and replace directly on the main property which should help.

I was there less than 6 months ago and I have to admit that I'm happy with what I saw, but there's still work to be done, that's for sure.

yulrun wrote:

@sawman, have you seen what it was looking like 18 months ago?

They needed to put all that sand somewhere, so it's been moved to another property they owned 2km down the coast and the trucks could only go there at low tide.  Now, it looks like they can remove and replace directly on the main property which should help.

I was there less than 6 months ago and I have to admit that I'm happy with what I saw, but there's still work to be done, that's for sure.

Okay, I guess the pace is the pace.  I do hope for all concerned that they find stable soil (not sand) on which to build. 

Definitely not the same David.

I found this website very interesting: http://investour.ecuador.travel/portfolio/las-olas/
The last line states that construction will take 15 years.