Sosúa Beach Renovations

[windeguy]

There has to be some balance. A large part of the population can’t just find formal employment because of lack of education. They need to make a living somehow. And they need to live somewhere and what they live in easily blows away in a big storm. They can’t just move in the bulldozers every time they need something for the tourism industry without having solutions for the affected people.

The current administration has moved many illegal developments with bull dozers. Many are not in tourist areas. They just don't get a lot of coverage in DR1 since they are not located on Sosua beach. My point is: Sosua Beach vendors are just one of many and not unique in being moved.

Any word on work will actually start on the plazas, parking lot, etc?

 

[cavok]

Supposedly, all the vendors will get a place in the new plazas. Just how many of them will be able to afford the rents there is unclear, but it's a little premature for all the hand wringing and worrying about what's going to happen to all the poor vendors.

 

[windeguy]

Supposedly, all the vendors will get a place in the new plazas. Just how many of them will be able to afford the rents there is unclear, but it's a little premature for all the hand wringing and worrying about what's going to happen to all the poor vendors.

That is the story. They ALL have places (like 150 of them give or take) in 375 square meters which is the sum total of all three plazas. And financing as well. A tight fit, it will be, if you do the math. I think the government expects significant attrition.

Also, I was told that businesses on the walk way down to the beach from the Check Point bar area do have valid title. Once you hit the beach
itself, that is where they have no title and will be taken down. Those places with title will remain as is and are not part of the plans.

 

[jd426]

Given that most of the Beach Vendors are BARS and Some Restaurants .. no one has asked WHY would you even need that many BARS in ONE central Location or even 2 Locations ? , all clumped together. not even Food Courts have that many Restaurants in one small area .
The reason it worked on the beach is because it was LINEAR .. spread out from one end of the beach to the other .
So people would Walk, and then plop themselves down , or just stay on the sand and get served .
It makes no sense to clump such similar businesses all together .
and the Beach goers is going to walk like a hundred yards ? or vendors are going to Shuttle the Food and drinks ?


or am I misunderstanding something here ..
and yes, my conclusion, they are LYING about all the vendors getting a shot at this .
cuz I think they DID think on it

 

[bachata]

September 2021 we were walking along the beach by the shacks, my wife was recording a video and a guy who owns a small business came to talk to us thinking we was news reporters and started questioning if we was trying to do report about what currently we debating in this forum.
We didn't have an idea at that time of what was going on in Sosua Beach.
So, this is not new.

JJ

 

[windeguy]

Given that most of the Beach Vendors are BARS and Some Restaurants .. no one has asked WHY would you even need that many BARS in ONE central Location or even 2 Locations ? , all clumped together. not even Food Courts have that many Restaurants in one small area .
The reason it worked on the beach is because it was LINEAR .. spread out from one end of the beach to the other .
So people would Walk, and then plop themselves down , or just stay on the sand and get served .
It makes no sense to clump such similar businesses all together .
and the Beach goers is going to walk like a hundred yards ? or vendors are going to Shuttle the Food and drinks ?


or am I misunderstanding something here ..
and yes, my conclusion, they are LYING about all the vendors getting a shot at this .
cuz I think they DID think on it

September 2021 we were walking along the beach by the shacks, my wife was recording a video and a guy who owns a small business came to talk to us thinking we was news reporters and started questioning if we was trying to do report about what currently we debating in this forum.
We didn't have an idea at that time of what was going on in Sosua Beach.
So, this is not new.

JJ

100 bars and 50 restaurants all serving the same stuff in three plazas as promised? I suspect that promise is whatever it took to "get 'er done".

Redevelopment of Sosua Beach has been in the planning stage for decades.

 

[ramesses]

Golf courses? Anyway, back to Sosua Beach!

Did anyone start a poll yet on the Sosua Beach Renovations? Choices like this could be used:

1) I like the redevelopment and moving of squatters off private and public land
2) I like the ghetto vibe of the beach just fine like it is and don't care if nobody behind the beach ever had legal title
3) I don't care at all
4) None of the above

I personally am torn between choice 3 and 4.

I have no problem with a redevelopment. I just think the government will mess it up. It will become a concrete monstrosity. It will become a government crony village. Just look at the pictures that were posted...the place is a disgrace...it's damn ugly. Anything governments get ahold of, is a disaster.

There.

 

[CristoRey]

I have no problem with a redevelopment. I just think the government will mess it up. It will become a concrete monstrosity. It will become a government crony village. Just look at the pictures that were posted...the place is a disgrace...it's damn ugly. Anything governments get ahold of, is a disaster.

There.

How much are these booths going to cost the vendors?
Most of them barely have enough to keep their food and
bar stocked.

 

[windeguy]

How much are these booths going to cost the vendors?
Most of them barely have enough to keep their food and
bar stocked.

Nobody has yet been told as I understand it. I expect we will hear some loud noises once the rent is announced.

 

[lifeisgreat]

How much are these booths going to cost the vendors?
Most of them barely have enough to keep their food and
bar stocked.

Roflmfao most are not owned by those poor people they just work there..expats own most on a clumsy whim of I own a beach bar then do nothing till they get board and next expat buys it to tell buddies I got a beach bar and another fresh coat of paint lipstick on a pig..

 

[jd426]

Roflmfao most are not owned by those poor people they just work there..expats own most on a clumsy whim of I own a beach bar then do nothing till they get board and next expat buys it to tell buddies I got a beach bar and another fresh coat of paint lipstick on a pig..

This is very True ... Most of these Bars do seem to be HANGOUT Spots , more than anything, and Owners not really even concerned about R O I ..
But some guys do use them as their HOME BASE to run OTHER Businesses, which do make a profit ... If you owned several companies, or had investments , its not a bad VIEW for an " Office " ..Working Remotely has made this very realistic ..
So I would be more Critical of the " Disco/ Club " Owners , them guys are complete Dreamers , cuz those days are definitely over for Sosua .
Beach Bar, with a Legit lease , if you got a Niche group following , not a bad way to spend your Semi Retirement .
There's just too many of them ,thats the real problem .

 

[windeguy]

Roflmfao most are not owned by those poor people they just work there..expats own most on a clumsy whim of I own a beach bar then do nothing till they get board and next expat buys it to tell buddies I got a beach bar and another fresh coat of paint lipstick on a pig..

I think you missed the question. It was about how much rent will be charged in the new plazas. For that nobody knows or they haven't been talking if they do know. No one is going to "own" a rental in the plazas. If one of those renting businesses "sells" something, they are selling a name and perhaps, but not necessarily any fixtures.

And it remains to be seen how that can legally be done within the rental, is subletting allowed, you installed it but you don't own it, etc clauses of the contracts that are still undefined.

 

[j_d66]

That is the story. They ALL have places (like 150 of them give or take) in 375 square meters which is the sum total of all three plazas. And financing as well. A tight fit, it will be, if you do the math. I think the government expects significant attrition.

Also, I was told that businesses on the walk way down to the beach from the Check Point bar area do have valid title. Once you hit the beach
itself, that is where they have no title and will be taken down. Those places with title will remain as is and are not part of the plans.

I think your math might be off

The proposal appears to be for 2 plazas 150 meters long each and 1 100 meter plaza long each not square meters.
Not exactly sure how big they will be in square meters but one of the documents appears to make reference to the north plaza being 2700 square meters which is not very big.

I haven't counted how many individual businesses there are long the playa but I doubt there are 150 active businesses there currently and no way even a fraction of them will end up in the plazas anyway.

If you happen to notice, many of them that serve food don't cook it themselves. There are a few cooking places that are doing much of the cooking on the playa for other beach shacks.

Lot's of individual bars and they won't need as many when they get consolidated into the plaza's. I would surmise there will be a way less bar and food options than there are now but probably to many there now anyway.

Your right in that there doesn't seem to be much talk about what the rent might cost in them and I suspect that it won't matter as most that are currently there will never be given a realistic opportunity to rent there anyway.

It also has been reported that with the latest agreement that the beach shacks would be allowed to remain while the plazas are constructed. This doesn't make sense either as if the new plazas are to be 375 meters then it would seem many of them have to come down in order to make room for the new ones unless the plazas are being built behind the current shacks which is a possibility.

I would be willing to bet that they are not being totally honest about how it all is really going to go down.

The fact that they showed up with a significant police presence and the apparent plan to take the beach by force until they likely realized just how bad those optics were tells you they might not have totally thought it all out and don't have the best interest of those on the playa in mind.

 

[windeguy]

j-d66, My math would indeed have to be off by an order of magnitude to have all 150 vendors each doing about the same thing, each with their own places to rent.

Normally when Dominicans say meters they mean square meters, in this case it if is indeed the extent of the buildings length along the beach, it would be nice to know other details like the depth, number of floors available for rent so the floor space available for rent can be clearly stated. Totally honest will bring out the tear gas. Oh well, it is what it is.

I thought it was 375 meters but I didn't go back to double check that after the negotiations were finalized. Certainly anything close to that length means quite a few businesses cannot remain open during construction.

 

[cavok]

In post #84 by habi, an official government project plan shows the north plaza lot to be 2700 sq meters and the south lot to be 14,280 sq. meters. Those are the lot sizes including parking lots and recreation areas, not the sizes of the plazas themselves.

It does seem some of the casitas will have to come down to construct the plazas. 147 "locales comerciales" all crammed into two plazas makes no sense to me(?).

 

[bachata]

Parking deck on both sides, free fresh water showers I would love to see that become a reality.

JJ

 

[windeguy]

In post #84 by habi, an official government project plan shows the north plaza lot to be 2700 sq meters and the south lot to be 14,280 sq. meters. Those are the lot sizes including parking lots and recreation areas, not the sizes of the plazas themselves.

It does seem some of the casitas will have to come down to construct the plazas. 147 "locales comerciales" all crammed into two plazas makes no sense to me(?).

It was "negotiated" recently when the vendor association made an emergency visit and a plea to the government Santo Domingo after the police were on the beach up to 3 plazas with a smaller plaza in the middle. The above thread discusses how that middle plaza was not part of the land donated to the DR government, etc, etc, etc.... But that is what is part of the negotiated agreement.

 

[ramesses]

Parking deck on both sides, free fresh water showers I would love to see that become a reality.

JJ

Free? lol Come on, they will charge. Parking will probably also cost.

 

[windeguy]

If you happen to notice, many of them that serve food don't cook it themselves. There are a few cooking places that are doing much of the cooking on the playa for other beach shacks.

Nope, I didn't notice because in the 20 years I have been in Cabarete, I probably was on Sosua Beach to eat less than 10 times. That shows you how much I liked it the way it is/was.

 

[bachata]

Free? lol Come on, they will charge. Parking will probably also cost.

I don't mind paying if the facilities are worth it. Right now there are a couple of guys with a hose washing your feet only, for $25RD. Once they are done, your feet are still full of sand⛱️