After securing government permits for the construction of a 40-story hotel, 400-room announced by Hard Rock International in January 2016, the Mexican investors may be abandoning the building of the Hard Rock Santo Domingo Hotel and Casino at their chosen Piantini location. The announcement was made by Mayor David Collado.
Piantini neighbor groups had criticized that the construction of the hotel, according to the architectural plans originally announced in press releases by the company, had violated multiple zoning laws and codes. The community representatives said the problems the construction of the 400-room hotel and casino in the middle of a residential and commercial area would create were not addressed. Headlines were first made when community groups impeded the company from receiving the Ministry of Environment go-ahead for the construction, which was one of the last permits needed for a full go-ahead for the project.
Other high rise hotels built recently in the area have met the zoning regulations, including the JW Marriott, the Embassy Suites and the InterContinental that have respected the density limits that neighborhood groups said should also apply to the Hard Rock Santo Domingo Hotel. The neighbors highlighted zoning only allowed 23 floors and not the 40 floors initially announced by the company in a Hard Rock International press release.
Neighbor groups also opposed the lack of adequate parking at the Av. Abraham Lincoln and Andres Julio Aybar Street location and the undesirable effects of operating a 2,136.77m2 (23,000 square foot) mega casino in the area.
Mayor David Collado said that the lawyers for the developing company had said they would not continue with the plans to build the hotel.
The construction of the hotel had received the backing of the Ministry of Tourism and the National Hotel & Tourism Association (Asonahores). If all had gone well, the hotel would have been opened by the end of this year.
Roberto Henríquez, president of the Association of Hotels of Santo Domingo said that the dropping of the project sends a bad signal to national and international investors. However, others have argued that the halted project sends a positive sign to investors that zoning laws need to be respected in the city.
Hard Rock International is successfully operating a hotel in the Punta Cana area. The hotel company has called its operation in Punta Cana an “overwhelming success” and has wanted to repeat the success in Santo Domingo.
Read more in Spanish:
7 Dias
El Nacional
El Caribe
13 March 2017
