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 South Florida, New York City and Chicago, had
planned to break ground on their Belle Rive project this week in the
picturesque port city of Jacmel, in “an important step forward in
opening Jacmel as a town to international tourism,” said Miami attorney
Ahpaly Coradin, who is involved with the project. 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]

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