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There will be 15 blocks, a lake with water from the Río de la Plata, two-way streets and one pedestrian street, 50 buildings up to 145 meters high and 45,000 inhabitants.
The towers are planned to be built on the site of the former Boca Juniors sports city in Costanera Sur. This was announced by the IRSA Group, which confirmed that it will begin the infrastructure works in the neighborhood now renamed Ramblas del Plata.
The towers will be built on the site of the former Boca Juniors sports city in Costanera Sur. The IRSA Group confirmed that it will begin the infrastructure works of the neighborhood now renamed Ramblas del Plata, which will include more than ten buildings with 6,400 units on the 72-hectare plot located on the banks of the Río de la Plata and in front of the Ecological Reserve. The project, which has had the approval of the Buenos Aires Legislature since the end of 2021, still has to go through a public hearing to obtain its environmental suitability certificate, Página 12 reports.
Two and a half years have passed since the Buenos Aires government gave final approval in the Legislature to the urban development agreement that enabled the rezoning of the former sports city, in the hands of IRSA since 1997, when it acquired the land for around 50 million dollars. For the business group headed by Eduardo Elzstain, the approval meant the end of a journey of more than a decade of unsuccessful projects. This time, by offering a smaller space than the buildings will occupy to build a park, it managed to unblock its most ambitious development in the City and obtained the authorization to build towers of up to 145 meters high a few blocks from Puerto Madero.
The initiative was halted throughout 2022 by the Court of First Instance, which declared the urban development agreement null and void, stating that it had violated three regulations in addition to the Buenos Aires Constitution: the Urban Environmental Plan, Law 123 on environmental impact studies and the Escazú Agreement. The halt was revoked by the Chamber in March of last year and since then news about the start of the works has been expected.
Now, Elzstain himself was in charge of announcing that IRSA will move forward with the construction of the new luxury neighborhood. He did so at the Hilton Hotel, within the framework of the Real Estate Expo that brings together the big names in the real estate business. There, in addition to offering several nods to his friend Javier Milei, Elzstain announced that he will invest 2 billion dollars in four residential projects within the City of Buenos Aires.
According to IRSA, the project was renamed from Costa Urbana to Ramblas del Plata, thus creating a new neighborhood in the city. The space where the towers will be built, if added to the park, will occupy a territory similar to that of some of the smaller neighborhoods such as Villa Ortúzar, Parque Chas or Villa Santa Rita. IRSA clarifies that the targeted population segment will be restricted: upper middle class and above, with prices starting at 4 thousand dollars per square meter.
Initially, there will be 6,400 units for apartments, shops and offices. There will be space for shopping centres - IRSA owns the most important shopping centres in the city - and even a hotel - IRSA owns hotels such as the Intercontinental and the Libertador, not counting the Llao Llao in Bariloche. They hope that the first homes will be available by 2028, although in total they estimate that the entire development will take at least ten years. The first infrastructure works, meanwhile, will begin in the coming months.
First, the project must go through one more stage. The Citys Environmental Protection Agency has called for the next September 4th the regulatory public hearing within the framework of the process of obtaining the environmental suitability certificate. This is because, among other things, Costa Urbana -as it is still called in official documents- implies the development of an urbanization with the opening of streets and new public service networks. All on the banks of the Río de la Plata and in front of the Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve, an internationally protected wetland.
Registration for the hearing is open until August 29 by sending an email to: audienciaspublicas@buenosaires.gob.ar. Residents who sign up to participate will be able to express their opinions there, which they already gave at the public hearing held in 2021 in the Legislature within the framework of the double reading procedure of the urban development agreement. On that occasion, more than 800 residents spoke out against the project and 98 percent of participants rejected it, with positions focused on issues such as the housing deficit in Buenos Aires, the environmental impact of the project in a wetland area, real estate speculation, and exclusive access to the river.
In addition, IRSA announced three other large-scale residential developments in the City at Expo Real Estate. The first is the expansion of the existing DOT complex, where, in addition to the shopping center, Mercado Libre currently has its offices. New residential and office buildings called Nexo will now be built on this Saavedra site. It also confirmed the conversion of the Edificio del Plata into apartments, which IRSA manages together with Coto, and a new development of buildings in Caballito called Manzana 35.
In that neighborhood, IRSA has two initiatives on the horizon. The first, initially called Ciudad Palmera, to be developed together with Grupo Portland on land located next to the neighborhoods former railroad yard, is currently blocked by the courts. The second is aimed at a half-hectare plot located in the block between Rojas, Colpayo, Felipe Vallese and Méndez de Andes streets. There, the company is seeking to build three buildings and received a first block of suspension from the courts in 2016. Now it will try to revive the project. |
