The Interamerican Development Bank will be funding the Instituto Nacional de Vivienda (INVI) so that it can relocate low income residents from historical buildings in the Colonial City of Santo Domingo. Most colonial city building residents have a monthly income of RD$2,000-RD$6,000, which does not enable them to contribute to the maintenance of the buildings, many of which are 500 years old. As a result, several of the historic buildings are rapidly deteriorating. Wilfredo Feliz, director of the Oficina de Patrimonio Cultural, the office in charge of the colonial monuments in the DR, said that the buildings will be placed on the real estate market. He said Dominican corporations, and Spanish, Italian and French investors have shown an interest in buying these buildings. He said they will be setting clear rules for investing in the area. Feliz announced the Plan for the Rehabilitation of the Colonial City has been coordinated with the Patronato de la Ciudad Colonial, the Technical Secretariat of the Presidency, and the Municipality of Santo Domingo, seeking an integral solution to the colonial city’s problems. He said all are in agreement that the old vision of preserving the city for the mere contemplation of the monuments is behind the times. "Now we have to think of everything coming alive, there must be people and lots of activities," he said. He said the Colonial City should offer all sorts of shopping and food and beverage activities to its visitors. He said he sees the area as a resort, where services revolve around cultural activities. He said that while they are focusing on foreign visitors, the greatest effort will be to attract Dominicans to come downtown and visit the area. Members of the committee are Victor Brito, Patrimonio Cultural; Pablo Bonelly, Ayuntamiento de Santo Domingo; Diana Martínez, Patronato de la Ciudad Colonial; Nelson Toca, Secretariado Tecnico de la Presidencia.
