November Construction Update at Bala Beach Resort

This post is courtesy of Mark, a Bala Beach condo owner:

On November 13th, 2009, I visited the construction site of the Bala Beach Resort. Building one has 4 1/2 floors completed, building two has 3 levels completed and building three has only foundation work done. As I was told at the Bala Office in Panama City - construction of building 3 is frozen now until at least 80% of the units are sold - currently there are only about 60% units sold. Phase one is scheduled to be completed in the 3rd quarter of 2010 (from words of one of the co-owners responsible for the construction), and will include Buildings 1 and 2, one pool, a beach with white sand and beach service, and a temporary open parking lot. There will be no direct car access to the buildings for now, which is rather a short walk from this parking lot. the second phase will include buildings 3 and 4 and one additional pool (the timeline is not confirmed yet and is based on the selling progress). The tall building by the beach, a restaurant, and the fitness center will be built no earlier than 2 years from now. A 4-5 star hotel (the chain will be picked later when the construction progress is more visible and potential value increases) will be built later along with the second restaurant, a spa, a grocery store and a permanent multistory garage with valet parking. the last phase will include 3-4 other buildings and multiple townhouses. The rental pool initially will be handled by a rent management company picked by Bala at and later by the hotel (when it is built). they admitted that construction of buildings 3 and 4 will create some inconveniences for residents of buildings 1 and 2, but promised to minimize them.

My overall impression after visiting the Bala office in Panama City was positive due to their willingness to answer questions that I had. They truly believe in the final success of this project despite a current overall real estate market slump in the country and in Panama City especially. I saw several half- built high-rise buildings whose construction has frozen in Panama City. I asked them to publish and email Bala Beach newsletters more frequently.

the weather was rainy on the day of my visit to the construction site, so I made all pictures from the car. Despite the rain, I counted 30-35 construction workers on the site. security allowed me to enter the construction site as they received an advanced call from the Bala office in Panama City about me coming there. I was accompanied in my car by a local construction manager on the site.

Building 1

Building 1

Building 1

Building 2

Building 2


Buildings 1 and 2 back to back
Some beach work has already begun

The beach is promised to be picturesque

A sign in Spanish - "Keep the beach clean"

September Construction Update

Construction at Bala Beach Resort

On 18 September, 2009, I visited the constructin site at Maria Chiquita, Panama for the Bala Beach Resort. As you will see in the pictures, all of the first 3 buildings are under construction. The contractor has excellent security and thanks to the good people at the Bala office, I was able to enter the site to get some good pictures of the construction action.

The employee housing is completed and provides for a good number of workers to live right on site. The substantial excavation rises up just behind the staging area. This is where buildings one, two, and three are taking form.

Building one has the foundation completed, the basement poured and was already going up from level one to level 2. Concrete trucks were frequent visitors, bring loads of concrete for the columns to suppor the next floor. Here are pictures of building one:

Building 2 has the foundation finished. and the basement in and the ground floor in final stages, preparing to move up to the next floor. Men were working on all three buildings at the same time. While concrete was being used only on building one while I was there, forms were being prepared in buildings 2 and three for concrete. The number of people working onsite looked to be around 60.

Here are pictures of building 2, some show buildings 3 and 1 as well:

In the picture to the right, you can see building 2, with the rebar columns ready to go up to the next floor. In the background is building 3.

The foundation is a very slow and laborious process. Building the structure above ground proceeds quickly and it is exciting to see this stage of construction.

Building 3 has the foundation in. The basement is underconstruction and once, the concrete has hardened, preparations will be made to go up from ground level.

This shows building 2, with building 3 in the background. Building 3 is near the property boundary and should afford some excellent views of ships waiting to enter the canal at Colon from upper floors.

More pictures of building 3 below:

I took video as well. If I can figure out how to edit it and post it, I will. The video shows the views from the 1st floor (the floor above ground level) in building 1 as well as considerable footage of the other two buildings. Check back in October to see this video and thanks for looking.

July Construction Update !

Check out the lastest July 2009 construction update from Bala Beach Resort. We can finally see the first building rise above ground level. My experience watching the construction of a highrise tower in Panama City was that the foundation seemed to take forever. Once the building started to climb skyward, construction proceeded rapidly. It seemed to slow again when interior finishing was underway. Of course, weather, crew size, equipment and access to building supplies as well as strikes, holidays etc, all play their part.

This video is encouraging. You can also begin to get an idea of the distance to the beach and views from ground level in a couple of the images:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW9NXxPIU8Q

Panama - Colon Highway

Getting to Bala Beach Resort is much easier now.

Here is a recently posted video on YouTube (in spanish) showing more views of the new link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzdomz9n8Kc

2 NEW CONSTRUCTION VIDEOS - MAY 2009

Two new construction videos show buildings one and two progress. Check out these videos, posted on YouTube. They show the recently completed Panama City to Colon highway as well as construction of the first buildings. Even if you do not speak or understand Hebrew, there is a second video which shows the construction site as well, also taken in May. If this project is like others, the foundation takes time, but once the bulding starts to rise from the ground, construction is more rapid. Then it seems to slow again as interior finishing etc. is accomplished. It will be exciting to see the buildings begin to rise from the ground.

I plan to visit the site later this year and will post images and video here.

Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K78V6H-I94

(hebrew version below)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiK6SYOiWvE