BREAKING: DR 🇩🇴 Real Estate Projects HALTED!

Welcome to the Grubernation newsletter.

This is a SPECIAL EDITION newsletter after major projects that have been marketed and sold were recently HALTED by local government.

Here’s the announcement:

“The Municipal Council of Higüey issued Resolution No. 09-2025, ordering the immediate suspension of the Larimar City and Resort, Alta Vista Village I and II, Cruise on Land, and Residencial Paradise City real estate projects due to the lack of authorization for land-use changes”

Let’s dig in to get a better understanding.

Every construction project in the country is required to get a series of permits from various different issuing bodies

Here’s a quick run down of 4 of them:

• Permiso del Ayuntamiento (City hall)

• Permiso de Turismo (tourism)

• Permiso de Medio Ambiente (environment)

• Permiso de MIVED ( housing department)

In addition there is a construction license that needs to be issued and the government, I’m told, is potentially adding 1-2 more permits.

These permits are acquired in order as listed above.

In other words, it’s my understanding taht to get Turismo, you need to have Ayuntamiento and so on.

So the question becomes - are these projects which have MASSIVE marketing budgets behind them and hundreds if not thousands of investors scams?? 

Is the government uncovering a NEW operation on the heals of the Novasco fiasco?

Let’s slow our role on that narrative. Here’s some evidence

The document above is the Ambiente for a massive project called Larimar.

As you can see this would mean there are likely multiple permits issued but not yet all.

The document above is the Ayuntamiento for Cruise on Land.

With the knowledge I have, this appears to be the first in a series of licenses/permits that they are required to procure.

Since these are two of the biggest projects noted, I wanted to share some of the actual documentation available.

All of this is public record.

So why then are these projects halted?

Well .. it’s political.

In short, these projects are caught in a jurisdictional dispute between what appears to be Otra Banda, Higuey and perhaps Veron-Punta Cana for land rights of these projects.

Some say advertising them as 'Punta Cana’ when they’re much more inland is to blame for this issue.

Some say the resolution halting construction is in direct conflict with a different resolution issued by La Otra Banda.

But the point is, there’s a political tug of war happening and these projects are currently caught in the middle.

The result, however, is fear and uncertainty in a time where a massive scandal with Novasco has rocked investor confidence.

Here’s my take…

Every developer in the world has to deal with shit!

• BS code enforcement because of an overly aggressive inspector

• Grudges between city council members and a local developer

• Some politician looking to make their name by pushing someone around

This feels more like that to me.

There is ZERO evidence, in fact maybe less than zero that these projects are scams, below board, improperly run, etc.

There is NO requirement for developers to have every permit before they can start construction.

Quite the contrary - these permits are issued as they go.

From everything I’ve seen, there is no smoke or fire here.

There is, however, beurocratic crap these developers are going to have to deal with.

On a personal note I can say that I’ve met the developers for Larimar. It’s a Spanish company and they are managing construction for other projects in the area as well as Larimar.

My personal take is that they are experienced, driven and have a strong historic reputation.

The headwinds they face locally for Larimar are more about their ambition due to the size of the project.

For Cruise on Land I know of very good realtors that are actively referring that project and they have cited a bank backing for investors to further solidify confidence.

But listen - it’s muddy and confusing.

In a way, it’s very .. well .. Dominican!! haha

When I talked to one realtor they said ‘Larimar .. I knew they didn’t have permits” (but they do as you can see above).

Another said ‘Larimar has what they need but I’m not sure about Cruise on Land” (and you can see above their permit as well)

I hope this newsletter and really my brand can be a place you can go to cut through the noise and get the facts and sure, some level of my thought and feeling.

But let’s be clear - you need to do your due diligence.

• Call your realtor if you’ve invested or thought of investing in any of these projects

• Talk directly to the developer to get a sense of what’s happening

• Consult with your attorney to get REAL advice (don’t trust my bald white head .. I’m giving you droplets of the entire story!)

Protect yourself if you’re inveseting or thinking of investing.

But here’s my personal take and of course I reserve the right to change it as more info comes out…

CALM DOWN!!!

This instagram post created a lot of concern and I get why.

But hopefully you get a clearer picture of what’s happening above.

My audience lives in the US and wants to invest here and the Novasco scandal is an open would for many.

Trust is eroded and now the feeling is ‘here we go again’.

Since I’m American, I can only compare this to my experience in the US.

• Permits get held up

• Politicians make it harder

• Bureaucrats get in the way

• Projects have to adjust timeslines as a result

The key is how do they respond.

This YouTube video gave 7 tips for vetting a developer. Now’s as good a time as any to test them out and see what you feel.

But let’s not panic folks.

I’ll stay on top of it an update you with what I know!

Thanks for tuning in to this special newsletter!

!!CLARIFICATION!!

When I said it’s ‘Dominican’, a quick story.

My wife shared family gossip about another family member’s financial decision and this narrative was built up by uncles and aunts that the family member is making a HUGE mistake.

My question for my wife - ‘who’s life would you rather have?’

All of the critical voices are scraping by, blaming government or their boss for their problems and they just hope to make it to the retirement finish line with a little something.

The one they’re criticizing has built a big business, is successful, has taken care of his family for generations and knows how to add value to others in a way that creates revenue and income for his business and family.

She agreed .. the gossip was getting the best of her!

Same thing here. Your family members may point to this to say ‘see, you want to invest there? They’re all scammers!!”

You just tell them the gringo disagrees 😉 

Based on how many reacted to the mere mention of the name ‘Trump’ in my last newsletter, I needed to disclaim my ‘typical Dominican’ statement before I faced more peoples wrath and had to tell them to leave me alone and unsubscribe haha.

OFF TO CARNAVAL! Have a great weekend all.