The Mauling of Monarcas

No,  I am not going to rake on the poor Divison 1 professional soccer team we have here in Morelia.    Rather I will stay with the theme of the MALLS that plan to be springing up over Monarch Mountain.

The hummingbirds up here are buzzing about the potential land purchase of a plot of land near the Jefferson High School and La Bandera memorial park by Grupo Acosta Verde .   I guess I will have a Soriana's supermarket nearby at some point.

Now,  on to the visuals.   Here are three floor plans for the first phase of the large mall here in Monarch Mountain,  known as Paseo Morelia.

Starting from left to right,  bottom to top,  here are the floor plans:

The Liverpool anchor store will be two floors,  this plan shows the first floor (Planta baja).   Liverpool will be closest to the access road connecting the Juan Pablo II traffic circle (see previous posts) to the access road to Morelia,  yet to be determined as to tunnel or bridge.

 

Below is the main floor (Planta primer nivel) with the Liverpool store's second floor.  On the far end is the other anchor store Sears.  You would enter Sears first floor from this level.

 

Below is the second floor (planta 2do nivel) which shows the Cinemex movie theaters,  which will overlay the Zara store above,  and the second floor of sears,  with Playtime over the Coppel store.

 

These three floor plans represent the first stage of the project,  below is a partial list of the stores that have commited to the mall's first phase:

LIVERPOOL, SEARS, CINEMEX, SANBORNS, ITALIANNIS, APPLEBEES, CARLS JR, LA MANSION, MC DONALDS, TACO INN, SUBWAY, STARBUCKS, COLD STONE CREAMERY, HOOTERS (negotiating)
HARD ROCK CAFE (almost a done deal), ZARA, BERSHKA,
LACOSTE, TOMMY, MARINGO, MANGO, BENETTON, JULIO, MASKOTA, MIX UP, DISCOVERY THE STORE, GAME PLANET, BLOCKBUSTER, CRABTREE & EVELYN, BIZARRO, HERTZ , ALAMO RENT A CAR, MEXICANA, PLAY CITY, NECK & NECK, PUMA STORE, MARTI, MARTI SOCCER, DEPORTENIS, ATHLETE'S FOOT, DIONE.

First phase of the peripheral area of Paseo Morelia,  corporations commited include:

WAL MART,  SAMS CLUB (negotiating), MIDAS, AUTO ZONE

 

Below is the view that you will have of Morelia from the Mansion Restaurant and the Fiesta Inn hotel.

Paseo Morelia update

Technorati Tags: Paseo Morelia,La Nueva Morelia,Jesus del Monte,Morelia Mall,Altozano,Ciudad tres Marias

The above drawing will give you an idea of some of the companies that have signed on with Grupo GICSA that will form this large mall.

Most of the names you will recognize, Wal-Mart, Sears, Liverpool, Carl Jrs., Sanborn;s etc. Play City, Johnny Rockets, Italiannis Restaurant are some of the lesser known establishments. Any idea why it is Cinemex and not Cinepolis movie theaters here ? I have been told close to 70% of the major locales have been reserved.

Below is an outline of the stores layered over a recent photo of the construction site. As you can see, there is still a ways to go, but they are working on it 24/7. My teenage kids are more anxious than I regarding its completion, small town life is just too dull for them!

Place your bets !!

If I were a betting man, this is the access road I would bet the ranchito on. The white line in the photo is the second proposal of access to the Paseo Morelia mall and the rest of Altozano. This will require a "Megapuente", a bridge of some sort, which is shown in the two white arches which will span the Rio Chiquito .

This makes much more sense to me, as the access will be from the McDonald's on Camelinas near the Plaza Morelia. The Megatunnel which I have described in previous posts, although it may be more unique and possibly more asthetic to the eye, is too controversial in this town. Plus its access to Camelinas is at the Sanson Flores intersection, which is only one stoplight away from the present access road at "La Paloma" intersection.

Of course, all of this now is a giant political football. Without getting too political, the players here are very high profile at this moment in Mexico. Felipe Calderon, Morelia's native son, and present President of the Republic, is more than ready to fork over the pesos to make this project a success. Standing in the way, is the newly elected Governor of Michoacan, whom is from the opposition party. Will funds forked over from the Federal Government, be used to buoy the opposition's losing presidential candidate? I understand his real initials are MALO , but somehow Andres became his first name, not Manuel, after he had the epiphany of politics in his blood.

Alas,, politics aside, two access roads to this area will happen this year. Too many interests are at stake for it not to happen. One will be the MegaPuente or MegaTunnel, and the other will be an access out to the Patzcuaro Highway.

Altozano's Master Plan. where they stand.

Above is the master plan for the Altozano project. I took this off of their website, and I have amplified the numbers and put some of the communities in English. Their website is a little frustrating to navigate, regardless of the language. http://www.altozano.com.mx/. Anyway, you can click on the above map, enlarge it, so that the names and numbers are legible. I am going to clarify the specific areas in this and future posts with photos to show their present state of development.



1. Bosque Monarca...see previous posts for photos. I have been told that 9 holes will be open for play this spring. I hope to get there soon to take some updated photos of the golf course construction. In December, there were only a handfull of holes ready for play.












2 . Punta Altozano (anyone else have the tendency to say/type Altazona?) I have insider info on this, as one of my in-laws built a nice 3 BR home here. There are modern townhomes, aimed at both first time home buyers, young families, as well as retirees.











Punto Altozano is the most populated area of the development as of now. It is very close to the entrance to Bosque Monarca, the golf course.




3. Paraiso Altozano. This is just to the right as you head down the hill from the Tec de Monterry traffic circle. At present, there are 2-3 buildings in this gated community. The appear to be well built, large residences.

Paseo Morelia

Construction on the new "Paseo Morelia" mall keeps going, day and night. It still boggles my mind to think I will have one of the largest malls in Latin America (reported to be between 90-120,ooo square meters of construction), near my backyard. The success or failure of this depends on the access routes to be approved and built by the government. Below is a bird's eye view of where the "megatunnel" is slated to be built.

The white area in the photo to the right is where the mall is being constructed, the white curvy line cutting through the trees is where the megatunnel will be built underground. The golf course on the lower left is the Club Campestre, to give you an idea of locale.

This shot was taken from the Pope's traffic circle in January, it is hard to appreciate the immensity of this mall from afar. I guess they know their market, and I will not quarrel with Grupo GICSA's success, but with the new look "Plazas Las Americas" and the redone " Antigua Centro Caminero" (see below), I have my doubts that all this retail space can be successful.

The "old" bus station as it looks today, it is behind the " Mercado de Dulces" in Morelia center. It sits abandoned as we speak, but my memories of first arriving on an ETN bus to Morelia here live on.

The proposed new look mall at the same site (right). Supposedly, funding for its construction is due to kick in this year (2008)

The 1st stage of the "Plaza Las Americas" facelift is nearing its completion. The new half of the present plaza that includes Sears and Fabricas de F

rancia is due to open within the next month or two...or 3 or 4 :)

PASEO MORELIA MALL - APRIL 8TH, 2007

Click on photos to enlarge.
To the right, my truck is parked on the street that leads down from the traffic circle towards Morelia, the connection to the tunnel will be here. To the left of the photo, the mall construction can be seen.

This photo below shows the enormity of the mall, which will encompass close to 90,000 square meters (see gicsa.com.mx). The perimeter road to the right in the photo leads back to my pickup.

It wasn't that easy, but being Easter Sunday, there was very little vigilance in the construction site, so I took the liberty of climbing up inside to get this view of Morelia below. When enlarged, you can see the access road to the right leading up to Tres Marias Golf club. In the foreground, on the far left of the photo, you can see one of the many feral horses that roam these pastures and woods up here. They are as perplexed about what is happening as I am! :)