metro

Miramar starts work without official approval

Two government ministries say that the hotel operator is working without permission.

The hotel plans to build an undergound garage that would provide 300 parking spaces for its guests.

Noriel Gutiérrez/La Prensa

without permission: Two government agencies said that the Miramar does not have permission to build a garage near its hotel.1079999

Work being done by the Miramar Development Corporation near the Miramar Intercontinental Hotel that it operates does not have government approval.

The Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas (MEF) has not yet approved a request made by Miramar in January for a hectare of land in the middle of the Coastal Belt project to build an underground parking lot for hotel guests.

“The request is under consideration and is being processed, but it still has not been formally approved,” said Mariano Quintero, the MEF's director of Catastro y Bienes Patrimoniales. Nonetheless, the lack of permission has not deterred the Miramar from breaking ground on the project last week.

Ministerio de Obras Públicas (MOP) officials were unable to answer questions about the start of the project even though that agency, and not the MEF, negotiated the private agreement with the Miramar that granted it the land for the parking lot.

In fact, MOP officials said that the MEF is in charge of granting permission for any work there.“If there is a parking lot being built, the permission was granted by the MEF, and not the MOP,” said MOP spokesman Gonzalo Delgado. But Miramar apparently has set its sights slightly higher than a simple underground parking lot.

The company has also informed the MEF of its intention to construct a six-story building on the site, which is located on an expired concession that was granted by the Autoridad Marítima.

Miramar officials declined to comment about the situation.

Meanwhile, the scope of the Coastal Belt project has been changed yet again.

Ministro de Obras Públicas Benjamín Colamarco confirmed yesterday that the number of parking spaces that will be created by the project has been reduced for a second time, from 1,500 to 1,200.

That is 800 spaces less than the 2,000 spaces that were part of the original plan.