Haitian devastation thwarts development

The future of a mixed-use, $40 million development in Haiti is now uncertain as the impoverished nation reels from the damage caused by the Jan. 12 earthquake. New York-based Societe Immobiliere d’Agriculture, de Commerce et de Tourisme, an organization of Haitian-Americans from New York City,South Florida and Chicago, had planned to break ground on their Belle Rive project this week in the picturesque port city of Jacmel. The proposal calls for the 23-acre site calls for a 120-room boutique hotel, 120 condos, a 150-seat theater and a marina that would offer full services for up to 20 boats at a time. New York-based architect Rodney Leon said most of the consultants and contractors who were to work on the project in Haiti must now tend to their families and find ways to survive, instead. [GlobeSt]