Developers Seek Semarnat Approval for 16.45-Hectare Residential Subdivision at Punta Maroma

Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo — A group of real estate companies has filed an application with Mexico’s Environment and Natural Resources Department (Semarnat) to urbanize and subdivide a 16.45-hectare tract at Punta Maroma, one of the stretches of coastline with wide sandy beaches north of Playa del Carmen.

The firms Bertioga, S.A. de C.V.; Comercializadora y Promotora Performance, S.A. de C.V.; and Comercializadora de Tecnologías Universales, S.A. de C.V. submitted a Unified Technical Document, Regional Modality B (DTU-BR), seeking environmental authorization for a project titled “Urbanization and Subdivision of the Punta Maroma Tourist-Residential Development.”

According to the filing, the project requests a change of land use on 1.54 hectares of forested land within the larger 16.45-hectare property. The proposal calls for dividing the land into lots, building internal roads and setting aside green areas as part of a development intended mainly for housing.

First phase targets 28 lots

The developers argue that the property sits in an area with a high degree of urbanization and tourism development and is surrounded by other real estate projects, conditions they say would make it easier to bring in basic infrastructure and services. They also contend that the land is currently unused and could be brought into the real estate market through home construction and job creation.

The technical document puts the initial investment needed to prepare the site and offer the first 28 lots for sale at 15 million pesos, with an estimated timeline of about three years to complete that stage.

As part of the proposal, the companies say they will attach a construction guide to the lot sales contracts in order to set restrictions on future building. Under the plan, buyers would be responsible for complying with those provisions, which include respecting the natural surroundings.

The developers say the project is meant to meet existing real estate demand at Punta Maroma by offering land for homes of varying characteristics. The development remains subject to Semarnat’s environmental review, however, and the filing of the application does not mean the work has been authorized.

The proposal adds to the real estate pressure on the coastal strip north of Playa del Carmen, where several tourism and residential developments have been proposed in recent years in an area known for its beaches and coastal ecosystems. Environmental officials must determine whether the project complies with applicable rules on land-use change, environmental impact and protection of natural resources before ruling on the requested permits.