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 :)

Getting airborne, sin topes!!

Construction of the new highway to Morelia's International Airport is plugging along as you can see. Once finished, it will take roughly 20 minutes from MLM to Morelia center.

Right now the old way winds through 2-3 towns with several topes (speed bumps) in each, taking 45 minutes by cab, depending on how daring and reckless your driver is.

These photos were taken in December 2007, near the center of Charro. I believe the highway will start at the Charro exit off of Camelinas, it will cross the old airport road just east of the airport, continuing on and connecting you to the Mexico City-Guadalajara toll road.

Three industrial parks are planned in the area, one in Zinapecuaro, not too far east of the airport, the other is an expansion of the present Ciudad Industrial on the eastern side of Morelia, and the 3rd will be a high tech center in Tres Marias, offering both lower and upper middle class wages.

The Triplets

The third and final tower in the "Torres de Altozano" project is nearing its completion. I am impressed with the architects' imagination, or should I say ambition. Each tower is taller than the previous, lending to what I would assume to be more expensive Penthouse views, as well as more square footage to sell.

Also of note, is that each tower is built at a slight angle to the other, affording spectacular views of the surrounding landscape. I would not doubt that one can see the Cathedral downtown from the upper floors. I have only been in the first (shortest) tower. Each tower has its own gymnasium, and I believe an outdoor Olympic style pool is in the plans. For more info, visit http://www.altozano.com.mx/torresdealtozano/ano/ .

Fore, score.....maybe 7 years

To be fair, these photos were taken last Summer & Fall 2007, so the construction has come along. When finished, this will be a very nice 18 hole golf course, quite a bit different from the Tres Marias course. Tres Marias is similar to a Southwest USA canyon course. This will be more of a wooded , tight shots, very scenic golf course with two man-made ponds and a small stream running through it. I used to hike out here, and there were always signs of coyote, fox, deer, etc.

"Bosques Monarca Country Club" was due to have its inauguration last November, but seems to be on Mexican time :))

Now, before you go and make your tee times, the photos above are of the 4-5 holes that have grass, most of the course is in the state of the photos below. The drainage and water pipes have been put in place, but the fairways and greens have yet to be seeded. I do not forsee this course being open until 2009, hopefully they will prove me wrong.

What's in a name??

The powers to be in the Monarch Mountain Project are not satisfied with the results happening up here on the mesa overlooking Morelia, or so the birdies tell me. They contracted a Spanish consulting firm to find a way to boost sales of the gated communities that are taking over the cow pastures up here near Jesus Del Monte.


So what do you think a Spanish consulting firm would come up with? "Monarcas" is too common for the upper crust that we are looking for up here (sarcasm interjected). Heaven forbid, taxis, tacos stands, soccer teams, all have this commoner's name "Monarca". We must name it after something mucho mas cavalier....say, a Spanish wine, ..yeah, who'da thunk it! Never mind that Michoacan is the winter home to the fluttering insect with the regal name.


So, after thousands of pesos spent on name buildup on the radio, etc. , this project has morphed from the Monarch Mountain project, (aka "Montana Monarca"), equally regal and easily remembered in both languages, to become known as "Altozano". Just reposition the Os and the As in that name, and you can become as confused as I.


I am sure that a looming recession and huge housing downturn in North America had as much to do with any slowdown here, then the name, but who am I to opine. On to the changes that have taken place since my last posting, much more than name changes.


The Pope's blessing

The traffic circle, or to us New Englanders: "Rotary" has a new statue, of the travelling Pope, Juan Pablo II. Most new businesses in Mexico make sure they have a priest come in to bless the establishment at its opening, not here in "Altozano" we have boulevards and statues honoring the late Pope.

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! :)

Golf Course photos - Taken April 8th, 2007

Click on images to enlarge, the Punta Monarca community can be seen to the left. Morelia is in the distance.

Here in this photo, you can appreciate the beauty of the area. The Moorish Group is designing this course. It is aimed to being more "golfer friendly" so that the average duffer can enjoy his/her round time and time again.

I expect the developers are working their best to have the course laid out and seeded, before the seasonal rains come.

Ecological Reserve del Rio Chiquito

One of the biggest obstacles to the construction of the Megatunnel and Mall projects has been that it is being built very near, if not within, an ecological reserve formed under the Government of Lazaro Cardenas en the early 1930s. This reserve is the main watershed region for the city of Morelia with the Rio Chiquito running through it. The reserve is known as the "Cuenca hidrogrfica del Rio Chiquito"


Boundaries are:




1. La Nopalera hill

2. Puerto del Venado

3. Cerro de Aparicio

4. Cerro Alto, Punta de Tierra, La

Rosa

5. Cerro Azul

6. Agua Zarca

7. Cruz de los Zimbos o Cruz Gorda

8. Cerro Verde

9. Pueblo de Jesus del Monte (red X is my house)

PHOTOS OF THE RIO CHIQUITO RESERVE

Overview of the New Morelia Expansion

This map shows the area of expansion for the New Morelia. The area in blue is where most of the projects will take place.

The dark blue line shows the present road that winds down from Jesus del Monte through Santa Maria, ending in either the Paloma intersection or at Morelos Sur on Camelinas (near the zoo and Star Medica)

The above map shows the long range planned growth of the southern sector of Morelia. Yellow line is Avenida Camelinas. The red line is the current project known as the "Megatunnel" that will connect the city to the upper plateau where the mall, golf course, and numerous planned gated communities will be.

The dark blue shows where a perimeter road is planned connecting the tunnel extension, which would by-pass Santa Maria, El Durazno, and Fracc. Mesoamericano, ending at Libramiento Independencia near Costco (Independencia and Camelinas are one and the same, their name just changes depending on which part of the city you are in.

The brown, aqua, and red roads are planned outlets connecting to the Patzcuaro Highway. When and if all of these roads will be built is anyone's guess, but for now, the Paseo de Morelia Mall, Bosque Monarca Golf course, and tunnel project are under way and due for completion sometime in 2008.

I lifted these aerial photos off of the Morelia government's website. For a detail description of the tunnel project, including re-forestation of trees etc. visit :

http://www.morelia.gob.mx/web/Html/Hechos/Tunel%20Vial/PRESENTACIONtunelPARAinternetOK%20Abril2007.pdf





This photo shows the Cointzio Dammed lake which you can see at the bottom of the previous map.

Mega tunnel - aerial view of Project

Here is an aerial shot of where the proposed tunnel will be built. You can see the construction of the mall Paseo Morelia in the lower right hand corner of the photo.