Despite Torrevieja already having an abundance of vacant properties, largely due to population decline, and a new controversial tower block complex being built in a park area, work will begin on Monday on an urbanisation that has the capacity to house another 7,500 properties, on a 1.8 million square metre plot, known as La Hoya.
Situated alongside the CV-road, between the Jardin Del Mar and La Siesta urbanisations, this new estate which would have the potential for 18,000 new residents, or 18,000 vacancies, will also include a new commercial area of 100,000 square metres. For the purpose of comparison, nearby Habaneras shopping centre has a commercial space of less than a quarter of that, at 24,100 square metres, and has already struggled to compete with the monster sized Zenia Boulevard which occupies just over 160,000 square metres, of which just under 70,000 is rentable retail space, and so the proposals for the commercial area at La Hoya would boast competition for both.
The Temporary Union of Companies that has been awarded the status of urban developer is formed by Grupo TM Torrevieja, Grupo Corpic de Elche, Eurovillas del Mar and Urbanizadora S-14.
The companies Grupo TM and Grupo Corpic, specialised in tourism-residential promotion, are the ones that have the greatest relevance in the urbanisation process as they have a larger percentage of ownership of the land.
The budget for the execution of the main infrastructures such as roads, equipment, lighting, sanitation networks, drinking water, green areas and stormwater collection is 57 million euro, the latter which would have to be significant as the properties will be built on an area prone to flooding, especially during heavy rain, and the appearance of buildings would add to the burden of the already inadequate network, with many existing property owners unable to sell their dampened homes as a result of the persistent floods.
The land has previously been listed as undevelopable but that historic classification, and the reasons thereof, are of no consequence in this day and age, as the land was reclassified in 2009, allowing both the International Auditorium, and the San Jaime Hospital, now Quironsalud, to be built.
The mayor of Torrevieja, Eduardo Dolón, will attend the potential groundbreaking event on Monday, as he is the person said to be responsible for all of this urban development, although it is impossible to know if he will attend the ceremony which will mark the completion of the work, as this is scheduled to take 25 years.
