Who is going to rent all these apartments in Las Terrenas?

[MariaRubia]

I just got back from a few days in LT and I was surprised by a) how many building projects there are, all building tourist-friendly apartments b) how many realtors there are who have swanky offices and c) how empty all the existing tourist apartments and hotels seem to be. It's December, nearly Christmas, surely there are some takers from Europe or Canada who want to rent an apartment beside the beach?

The guy I rented from said that he was just wondering who is going to rent these apartments when they have all been built. The usual model is that someone buys, and then thinks they can rent out the unit to tourists when they aren't using it themselves. But it seems that there is already too little demand for the supply of apartments, and it's just going to get worse and worse.

I know there are a lot of apartments being built in the capital, but I think it's different because there are already 4 million people living in SD, and there will always be a strong demand for housing. But LT is pretty much only a tourist destination, 6 hours drive from Punta Cana where most of the tourist flights land.

 

[chico bill]

People from North America, Canada and Europe as their societies implode from mass unchecked and openly hostile immigration will be looking for escape plans.
I wish I wasn't joking.

 

[Independent Man]

People from North America, Canada and Europe as their societies implode from mass unchecked and openly hostile immigration will be looking for escape plans.
I wish I wasn't joking.

Don't know about Canada & Europe, but if the US opts out of democracy in the next election, those LT condos will be full.

 

[windeguy]

People from North America, Canada and Europe as their societies implode from mass unchecked and openly hostile immigration will be looking for escape plans.
I wish I wasn't joking.

Or retirees who want a less expensive place than Florida. I am going with that.

The building of such condos is not just in La Terrenas.

 

[RonS]

I've asked this question for years and was convinced that all the building is unsustainable. But the building as continued apace. The other question is whether the infastructure is in place to sustain all the building and increase in population?

 

[windeguy]

I've asked this question for years and was convinced that all the building is unsustainable. But the building as continued apace. The other question is whether the infastructure is in place to sustain all the building and increase in population?

There are three limiting factors:

Fresh water supply. Probably this is the number 1 factor
Electricity - need more power plants
Incompetency coupled with greed: Causing the failure to realize the above until it will be too late.

 

[chico bill]

I've asked this question for years and was convinced that all the building is unsustainable. But the building as continued apace. The other question is whether the infastructure is in place to sustain all the building and increase in population?

Not enough water or electricity for many more bodies

 

[johne]

The guy I rented from said that he was just wondering who is going to rent these apartments when they have all been built. The usual model is that someone buys, and then thinks they can rent out the unit to tourists when they aren't using it themselves. But it seems that there is already too little demand for the supply of apartments, and it's just going to get worse and worse.

 

[josh2203]

Not enough water or electricity for many more bodies

I disagree (other than an actual drought or plantas out of order). The problem is that too much of both resources go to waste. I recall many times while we lived in a nicer area in POP city when people from other parts and on this forum complained that they have no water. Meanwhile, our street was flooded and all the cisterns full as Coraaplata left the valves open for more than 24 hours and some pipelines on the street have leaks... Had that water been properly directed, there would have not been any shortage...

Same thing where my wife's sister lives, they had shortages at times while we lived with a full cistern 24/7...

 

[NALs]

A few weeks ago I saw a report about Airb&b in the Capital. To put it in a nutshell, at any given time most Airb&b's in the city remain empty due to all the supply. I wouldn't be surprised if something similar is happening in Las Terrenas.

 

[CG]

As of this morning Airbnb listed 336 apt's/villa's in LT available for check in today through Jan 2,
That's a lot of empty beds for a small beach town destination. It's so unfortunate that Airbnb has crushed the small hotel industry on the Samana peninsula & around the globe for that matter and let's not get started on the gentrification of entire neighborhoods in all the capital cities.
Astounding that Airbnb is worth $90,000,000,000.00 and they own not 1 sq ft of real estate.

 

[windeguy]

A few weeks ago I saw a report about Airb&b in the Capital. To put it in a nutshell, at any given time most Airb&b's in the city remain empty due to all the supply. I wouldn't be surprised if something similar is happening in Las Terrenas.

And I would not be surprised if the same is true in Cabarete/Sosua regarding the very large number of Airbnb's available.

 

[windeguy]

I disagree (other than an actual drought or plantas out of order). The problem is that too much of both resources go to waste. I recall many times while we lived in a nicer area in POP city when people from other parts and on this forum complained that they have no water. Meanwhile, our street was flooded and all the cisterns full as Coraaplata left the valves open for more than 24 hours and some pipelines on the street have leaks... Had that water been properly directed, there would have not been any shortage...

Same thing where my wife's sister lives, they had shortages at times while we lived with a full cistern 24/7...

In general, the lack of water (and electricity) is not about drought, it is about incompetent government entities.
That is what is meant by lack of water.

 

[Notengo]

I disagree (other than an actual drought or plantas out of order). The problem is that too much of both resources go to waste. I recall many times while we lived in a nicer area in POP city when people from other parts and on this forum complained that they have no water. Meanwhile, our street was flooded and all the cisterns full as Coraaplata left the valves open for more than 24 hours and some pipelines on the street have leaks... Had that water been properly directed, there would have not been any shortage...

Same thing where my wife's sister lives, they had shortages at times while we lived with a full cistern 24/7...

I read 60% of the water is wasted and lack of sewage infrastructure is contaminating water reserves.

 

[drstock]

I was in Las Terrenas yesterday. I admit I wasn't looking for the new projects, but I did not notice nearly as many as are going up in the Cabarete/Sosua area. I have no idea who will occupy them all, or how the infrastructure will be able to cope.

 

[windeguy]

I was in Las Terrenas yesterday. I admit I wasn't looking for the new projects, but I did not notice nearly as many as are going up in the Cabarete/Sosua area. I have no idea who will occupy them all, or how the infrastructure will be able to cope.

From the OP it sounded like LT had more projects Cabarete/Sosua.

 

[josh2203]

In general, the lack of water (and electricity) is not about drought, it is about incompetent government entities.
That is what is meant by lack of water.

Point taken, yes, with this I fully agree with you. I was just saying that sometimes there are indeed natural conditions as well that affect the supply of these two, but that's not the main source of problem...

 

[josh2203]

I read 60% of the water is wasted

I recall a few years back, for weeks there was a like a 5-10 inch pipe near my in-law's house in POP spitting out water with full pressure almost 24 hours at a time... They called Coraaplata quite a few times, hence it only took weeks... I can only imagine the amount of water that went to waste just there... At the same time, the govt kindly asks all citizens to save water...

 

[KyleMackey]

People from North America, Canada and Europe as their societies implode from mass unchecked and openly hostile immigration will be looking for escape plans.
I wish I wasn't joking.

That's exactly how I would draw up the marketing plan.

 

[malko]

People from North America, Canada and Europe as their societies implode from mass unchecked and openly hostile immigration will be looking for escape plans.
I wish I wasn't joking.

Lol...... As if...... Even if that pipe dream of yours was true, there is no way the DR would be their destination, for those that had the means to get out of dodge.

Yes the DR has come along way, but it still remains a cheap and nasty destination. Us that live here have adapted, but most will not, or cannot.
We took my parents, a while back, to HOMS in Santiago, to visit somebody. They were appalled🫣🫣🫣. Imagine taking them to abreu, bourgignal (?) , or a public hospital 😆😆😆.