For the Record

No controversy here.

I hope the Home Office will re-think their decision to chill speech when they recently closed down the original Las Olas thread.

Although I have no skin in the game, I consider Las Olas to be a valid topic for Expat.com monitoring and discussion, as it's potentially a dream project for prospective investors...and of great interest, of course, to anyone who has already invested in the project.

Plaudits to jrr for having the "chutspah" to re-introduce the topic so soon.

cccmedia, Quito

Well thank you ccc, but you overestimate my chutzpah.

Between the 2 Las Olas threads there were almost 30,000 views. Not in the Nards territory, but not bad. I just wanted to document a time frame thread for the house construction. That way 6 months from now no one can come back and say that a time frame was never given. Not really sure why the other thread was closed, and not sure if current one will eventually be closed, but at least if it gets closed there will be a documented time frame. I will refrain from any speculation, and give the developers the full 6 months, if after that time is up, and there is no progress, then think it's only fair that the supporters, and developers man up and accept the criticism that will come.

As this thread is For the Record...let the record show that the Las Olas Ecuador Development thread dating back to March of last year has been re-opened for posting, and posting activity is taking place there as of today for the first time in two weeks (since the posting was cut off).

This means that, at least for the moment, the number of active Las Olas threads has gone from 0 to 2.

cccmedia in Quito

Hello all 

Having an eye on the thread, in case there is controversy, the latter might be closed down again.

Regards
Kenjee
Expat.com Team

What?? why closed down....I am so confused. We all want to see the progress of community, period!
Not sure why they shut down information for expats that are trying to make a decision?? <<beating head>>

There is a lot of controversy about lack of progress.

whams1133 wrote:

What?? why closed down....I am so confused. We all want to see the progress of community, period!
Not sure why they shut down information for expats that are trying to make a decision?? <<beating head>>

The other Las Olas thread is still up and running as far as I know. Perhaps it was a bit unfair to close the other one, but that was the decision. Might as well just move on. Given the popularity of the (at one time 2 threads) now 1 thread, it is probably fair to say there are many people who may be members on this site, but haven't posted and, or many who are not members but interested in the Las Olas thread to see what happens. Would appear there are many people waiting on the sidelines who want to invest, but are waiting to see some real progress. The avid supporters can throw around meaningless terms of negativity, and anything else they want as a means to divert attention away from answering any questions based on hard facts, and progress.

Guys, all you have to do is start making progress, and as you can clearly see from the Las Olas threads there is no shortage of people ready, and willing to jump in.

Yes, facts.The closing of the threads is significant. How far back they go and the promises made by the developers WERE "on the record" there.Perhaps it would have been helpful if they were not taken down so that potential investors could form their own conclusions about the progress on the project and the sincerity of the developers in fulfilling them.

suefrankdahl wrote:

Yes, facts.The closing of the threads is significant. How far back they go and the promises made by the developers WERE "on the record" there.Perhaps it would have been helpful if they were not taken down so that potential investors could form their own conclusions about the progress on the project and the sincerity of the developers in fulfilling them.

Sue: Threads that have been shut down can still be read. It's just not possible to add additional comments.

How do you find them?

The topic that was closed is:
https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=220093

Topics that aren't being posted on move down the page, so of course a closed topic will eventually move to page two, then three, etc. This one is getting toward the bottom of page one.

I think they can still be found by searching, though, so I suppose if somebody comes here in a few months and looks for info on 'Las Olas', that thread will turn up.

BobH wrote:

I think they can still be found by searching, though, so I suppose if somebody comes here in a few months and looks for info on 'Las Olas', that thread will turn up.

It would have made sense to check first, wouldn't it?

But yes, all three threads turned up when I searched for 'Las Olas'.

But this new thread would NOT turn up

It did for me -- I guess the search is based on the content, not just on the title of the thread.

That must be why all these new faces pop up out of nowhere

suefrankdahl wrote:

That must be why all these new faces pop up out of nowhere

I was just drinking Bud Light Platinums tonight and pining about how much I miss Ecuador. But I'll be the new guy if you want.

Hi all,

I purchased property at Las Olas in April of 2012. I have since made three trips to the area, the most recent one ended yesterday. We signed contracts knowing the developer could take up to five years to complete our house. With that being said, there has been substantial development since we originally signed our contract. I will try and be as helpful and clear as I can be on what I observed last week.
1) The amount of grading required to build out this property is massive. Each row of houses, starting from the beach is approximately 10 feet higher then the row of houses in front of it. Also, in order to maximize views for residents, two giant hills had to be removed. This has taken a lot of time but was necessary to build this community properly.
2) The area for the beach house, equestrian center, and tennis club have all been cleared and are basically at grade. I would expect these to be under construction no later than Q2 2015.
3) Most holes on the golf course have been cleared and shaped. I played six holes (no grass yet) last week. The layout and design is spectacular.
4) I believe the comment from the first post on this thread about six months for construction to begin is accurate.

Feel free to ask me any questions. I will do my best to answer them.

drosenbe1 wrote:

Hi all,

I purchased property at Las Olas in April of 2012. I have since made three trips to the area, the most recent one ended yesterday. We signed contracts knowing the developer could take up to five years to complete our house. With that being said, there has been substantial development since we originally signed our contract. I will try and be as helpful and clear as I can be on what I observed last week.
1) The amount of grading required to build out this property is massive. Each row of houses, starting from the beach is approximately 10 feet higher then the row of houses in front of it. Also, in order to maximize views for residents, two giant hills had to be removed. This has taken a lot of time but was necessary to build this community properly.
2) The area for the beach house, equestrian center, and tennis club have all been cleared and are basically at grade. I would expect these to be under construction no later than Q2 2015.
3) Most holes on the golf course have been cleared and shaped. I played six holes (no grass yet) last week. The layout and design is spectacular.
4) I believe the comment from the first post on this thread about six months for construction to begin is accurate.

Feel free to ask me any questions. I will do my best to answer them.

Thank You for the input. That pretty much jives with what yulrun has posted in the other thread. Obviously a large project, and still much to do, but at least now there has been some on the ground reports of the going-ons, and the overall objective, and long term plans of the developers. I will still at this point remain on the sidelines, but is good to hopefully see there will be more progress to show in the coming months.

Totally agree with j600rr.  Many thanks to drosenbe1 for the report.  Someone who's able to judge the work done over a two years span (and who invested) is much valuable.

Personally, I care less about the 6 month delay from beginning of construction than I care about the development of the golf course.  I prefer to see them focusing on finishing the golf course instead of rushing to built houses just because they feel pressure from potential buyers.  The golf course is a lot less dependant from public utilities or any engineering decisions that might delay the beginning of construction.  The investment I'm about to make will worth a lot more with a completed golf course than if they rush house/road/utility construction.