commercial center not being built

interesting postings on the corvera forum regarding the commercial center deposits being returned to prospective tennants and the construction being put on hold , more bad news for roda owners .

does anyone know why the construction of phase 4 stops at block 8 ? when the whole of phase 4 is due to be completed no later than may 2010 ? .

I was told this in May by a gentleman on Roda.   Nothing suprises me anymore with Calidona!  Why don't they just send us an e-mail with their intentions.  It would stop all this hearsay!

A commercial centre (or lack of it) at Roda is not that important in my opinion as it is not needed for a start and will get filled by pretty irrelevant small businesses overcharging until they realise they can't make any dough.

Outside July and August, Roda is virtually a ghost town at the moment so no business relying on Roda only would survive anyway. The rents would be huge and only profitable for about 20/25% of the year.

If they were filled then what would they be that would make it so amazing?

There would probably be one of the many management companies offices (but they would need a lot of clients on site), a bar (There is one on site and three dozen within a quarter mile), a restaurant (again there is one on site and plenty of others close by), a grocery shop (got one already with 2 supermarkets nearby), customer services (already got it), sales & rentals office (already got that), clothes shop (once you've had a look......), coffee shop (got one), golf shop (got one)

Roda resort doesn't need it - it is surrounded by small bars, large bars, casinos, big restaurants, small restaurants, cafes, pizza, fish & chips, egg and chips, paella, guinness, curries, sailing, swimming, miles of beaches, boating, hiking, go karting, car hire, airport, super markets, San Javier shops, golf, golf and more golf etc so I reckon we have everything on our doorstep without the need for a commercial centre.

Now I know some people are reading this and thinking 'but we were promised a commercial centre' and you are correct, however, don't be losing sleep over it as the Roda location is in the middle of one big commercial centre

Now Corvera on the other hand...............................

not really the point is it , the point is it was sold with that facality and simply doesent have it and for most of the things you mention you either require a car or a taxi .

Maybe I just look at my short life a bit different as I find everything I need on my doorstep (by that I mean very close by)

Plus let's be honest, you could walk from Roda and easily find any service that a commercial centre would offer.

then why did people with local knowledge want to develop one ?  having stayed on roda on a number of occasions the fact is you need transport to take advantage of most of the local facalaties .

I agree 100% with big C, you do not need a car or taxi to get to all the local amenities. We cycle or walk everywhere and would probably not use the commercial centre very often as we enjoy the buzz of down town Los Alcazares.  I'm sick of people moaning about what we don't have at Roda and what we were promised etc, etc, Take a look at Serena Golf and other local developments and be thankful that we bought in such a beautiful development. I don't think anyone including Roda could have forseen the worldwide recession when we were promised a hotel, commercial centre etc and they are very wise not to build until the economy improves.

Imagine if all the moaning minnies invested in say bank shares instead of  Roda, then they really would have something to moan about.

A

I feel that the main problem with Roda is that it just doesn’t cut it as a family resort. I have two young children and to be honest, apart from the pool areas there is nothing for them to do on site. If the resort was to truly cater for year round rentals / a broader market then the commercial centre could prove very useful eg a supermarket selling a wider range of essential (but often forgotten products for young people), perhaps crèche facilities, a restaurant / café that is more child friendly, takeaway facilities, kids club areas, indoor games rooms etc. I know that these are coming from a personal perspective but I think that they would be very welcome to most families holidaying there. The resort is most certainly not family friendly.

Hi All

It’s a bit of a catch 22, in as much as that we don’t really need a commercial centre; we don’t need a great chunk of land that keeps Roda looking like a building site!! My main thought is that as soon as Roda is self sufficient and there is stuff to do for all ages and looks like the real deal, long term rents and property prices will go up. Also holiday rentals will increase as the description of Roda will look a lot more appealing to holiday makers, especially those that don’t hire cars and just want a week away somewhere, where they can relax and where everything is at hand.

I can see both sides, but until Roda is finished 100% it won’t be a 5 star resort and people like myself, who bought on Roda to rent out their properties will not make a penny; even with excellent bookings this year (over 30 weeks) we still manage to break even.

Food for thought!!

didnt realise expecting what you paid for and making a stand to achieve that was classed as moaning !!

not really interested in other resorts as i didnt buy on them !! however calidona are a cash rich company and are simply using the current situation as a conveniant crutch .

not quite sure what bank shares have got to do with a holiday home ??

Hi All

Good Afternoon ,

I agree 100% with searay  , Ann Mc and Big C , I cant actually see why you both bought on Roda, if you both like the " buzz " and " Every thing on my doorstep "  Outlook ,Why didn"t  you both buy in Los Alcazares and save yourself  100k and then do things in reverse a lot cheaper , bike there, golf there,lunch and dinner there ? you could visit Roda everyday ?   I could go on but   you get my drift

Big C you actually do make some very good points, but i feel you miss the point , how can we call Roda a  5 star Resort ?

Thats what Calidona sold us but not delivered, Why should we all settle for 2nd best, Why dont the Good peple of Calidona refund us 50 k or whatever the formula for refunds are and come clean and say what you have is what you get no more !!!

From a moany person to Ann Mc,  Calidona 1st muted Roda in 2003 , they took OUR money in 2005 things should have been  soughted long before the economy got into difficulty that arguemt dont wash its a convienant copout

I also bought Barclays at 97 pence they were last time I looked 3 pounds 64 pence , so maybe next time you are over  i can

afford to buy a bike and we can cycle to Los Alcazares together just for the " buzz "

After my light hearted Post I have to say Russ W and Mike B  are spot on in there veiws

Keep Posting

 Cheers

Jored

In answer to your question, I bought on Roda to 'live the dream' just like the other 1500 people who had similiar desires to me and probably the 750 odd people who bought on Corvera.

The dream may be to move to Spain and live surrounded by sand, sea, sun and sangria,

or to own their own holiday home,

or to invest in property and to make a short term fortune.

I chose Roda because I wanted a secure golf course community for peace of mind (Doh!) and ofcourse the location - near airport, motorway, on top golf course, near beach, near town with facilities, near marinas. There are very few resorts that can boast all that.

As I am sure you are aware, property is all down to location, everything else comes second best to location.  

Whichever category we each fall into our judgement has been sadly very wrong.

What with the price of purchasing deposits, IVA, excessive Spanish mortgage fees, poor interest rates (better recently), crap exchange rates, rip off car hire, key holding/management company fees, rip off management companies (who lie and rent behind your back), high utility bills (if renting), ongoing maintenance, high community fees for poor administration, local taxes, legal fees, furnishing costs, community charge non payers, crap unfinished water features, leaking car park basements, world financial collapse, limited lending available, high agents costs to sell, less visitors to Spain, poor rentals, even poorer rental returns, late phases and ofcourse the lack of promised facilities...........................

one could rightly say that we have not been given a 'Five Star' resort and they would be correct.

However, It was my bad choice to purchase so there is no-one else to blame there, I also read, checked and signed the contract (big error) which said that the developer will build my apartment to the attached floor plan/ specification etc etc with a disclaimer which basically said that he can change whatever he wants, whenever he wants without notifying me. And I signed it.

So apart from my missing utility room, the developer has given me everything in my contract, I paid him, he gave me the keys.

However, I, among with almost everybody else feel well and truly fecked over by the lack of facilities and the crap finishes in the community areas of the resort but from a contract point of view I don't think I can do much about it as they appear to have given me everything in my contract i.e. a two bed apartment (minus utility room) and handed all the crap finishes over to the community for them to expensively sort out. I appreciate that the Corvera group are being advised by their lawyers that this is not the case and the developer has a legal obligation to provide advertised facilities as part of a housing contract. I am not so sure about this but hope they are right, hope they win and hope that the knock on effect of the developer losing such a case sorts out Roda as well as Corvera.

But my point is that I am fed up of being fed up with the whole situation and can't understand why people are so hung up by the building of a commercial centre which will be crap. It is not the answer to anybodys prayers. As I have said before it will offer nothing that that we don't already have either on site or very close. There is hardly anyone at Roda most of the time and no business would survive there anyway. It would be a commercial centre which means it is there to make money, both for the businesses who take out leases and for the landlord via rents. You can guarantee that the first year that the beach club loses money it will be shut down so I couldn't understand why people were so bothered about it been open to the public - the public keep it open!

I just don't think that people should be so obsessed about it as everything that it will offer is on offer anyway a very short way away. Move on, try and enjoy the area and your home/investment for what it is and where it is and stop being obsessed with a centrte that will offer very little.

Thats where I'm coming from Jored as you asked the question and finally in answer to your other question - Roda will only be a five star resort when it has a working hotel which is classified as 5 star standard. Nothing else will make Roda a five star resort. Definetley not a commercial centre.

Thats my opinion anyway. Not suggesting I am right but I think that I have just moved on a bit more than others.

Luv always

Hi Big C

Good mornig to you and all ,

A very good post and agree with your reckoning, perhaps like a lot of people I am frustrated , angry at the total lack of customer care from Calidona / Roda , A simple blanket e-mail to its Clients or update there web more often would perhaps go some way to alaying people"s fears and questions

Correct the Location is fantastic, the Golf course fantastic, the club house etc fantastic

BUT,,,,,,,,, and you are right , they have abused the Clients " consumer rights "

As unfinished Resorts go , its probally the best around , its just I dont want to settle for 2nd best , I have moved on, BUT  that will never stop me ( no Ann not moaning) Trying to get for my family and kids what I   originally signed up for , what was in the brochure and in the brochure under consumer Law that constitutes part of the legal Contract although  i am no Lawyer

Sooooo until we speak again Big C in your own words Luv always  ha-ha

Warmest regards

there is one thing for sure they will never get tennents to commit with no units built , it would appear as usual that calidona want money up front for unbuilt units .

if they were to build the center ( relativly cheap in the scheme of things ) they would be more liable to get expressions of interest afterall a lot of local spanish eat in the clubhouse / campbells is busy ( possibly the worst location you could think of ) why woudent locals use the facalaties ( they use the pools .. lol)    at some stage someone has to make the first move and afterall they have refunded deposits from interested parties already , what does this tell you about there commitment to the resort ??  

Whilst it may be feasible to walk to nearby facilities from phases 1+2 what about us poor phase 3 people??  It takes at least 20 mins to get to the main gate (and with small child, not small enough for a pram, more like 60!) far less go any further.  I do agree with Big C's comment on all the legal stuff and he is absolutely correct, but I feel we really need the commercial centre so that we can enjoy a variety of restaurants/cafes and provide somewhere that we can just walk to whilst enjoying our apartment, that doesn't mean going to the clubhouse every day!

We bought our apartment purely for our own use and would not go without a car but we would like to be able to enjoy a bottle of wine at least a few nights with our meal and be able to walk home.  Unfortunately the credit crunch has meant we've had to rent and our feedback for this year has been that everyone has loved the apartment and thought it truely 5* but have felt that the location is too remote (not exactly a word I would use!) and that there are not enough family facilities i.e no kids pools or kids menu at the clubhouse.  These comments did come from people with cars who just simply don't want to always have to leave the complex....in fact one actually said he was fed up driving over all the speed bumps and roundabouts just to get out the complex.  In addition to this we had a few enquiries who did not book because they would prefer not to have a car and I am honest as to the options if you don't.  The general opinion from our guests is sadly that they may return but will not rush back, so essentially all we have on Roda to attract rentals is a golf course.  We need the other facilities promised to attract more visitors and increase numbers - Roda should be an all year round resort and with everything promised perhaps would not be a ghost town at his time of year and hence be able to support a commercial centre.  Fingers crossed someone will be willing to take the gamble to build this in this catch 22 situation.

This message was last edited by Big C on 02/10/2009.

Hi Big C - I assume your apartment rentals to Spanish clientele is booming.

Big C isn't Wangy in disguise is he?????????????