This is a website for buyers, owners, and sellers of property in Spain, offering reliable information and resources to help you get things done with confidence. It is run by Mark Stücklin, author of the Spanish Property Doctor Column in The Sunday Times (2005-2008), and the book ‘Need to Know: Buying Property in Spain’ published by Collins.
Mark Stücklin
Life Marina Ibiza, the promoter of the Las Boas and Patio Blanco developments in the Ibiza Marina area, has been put into voluntary administration.
Life Marina Ibiza, the developer of Las Boas (pictured above) and Patio Blanco (pictured bottom) – two eye-catching new developments in Ibiza by renowned architect Jean Nouvel – has been put into administration by a commercial court in Ibiza after the company voluntarily requested protection from its creditors on January 9th. An administrator has already been appointed and is in place.
Voluntary administration in Spain is a type of Chapter 11 that gives companies breathing room from their creditors whilst they try to restructure their debts and present a recovery plan. For Spanish developers in recent years it has often ended with the banks taking over their developments.
Begotten in boom times, Life Marina Ibiza was dogged from the outset by construction problems that pushed back the delivery schedule by several years, and drove up costs. Strategic blunders with product pricing and definition also left the product hard to sell once the property bubble had burst.
Designed by the international renowned architect Jean Nouvel, who got the job in September 2005, the arresting design of the Las Boas building in particular has been turning heads on the Marina Botafoch promenade ever since. The design of Las Baos is intended to facilitate views of the Marina, Dalt Vila (castle) and Formentera, from all the apartments.
With 286 homes of between 80m2 and 250m2 located in one of the best areas of Ibiza, the developer reportedly signed up 1,300 potential clients in just 3 months before construction began. The developments were largely sold off-plan, according to Spanish press reports.
But the construction problems pushed back the delivery date, then the financial crisis struck, and boom turned to bust. Many of the original buyers are said to have pulled out because of the delay, demanding their money back.
Of course this does not mean the end of the road for Las Boas and Patio Blanco. With such superb locations and remarkable designs these buildings have a future. Sign up for my news bulletin if you want to know how this story ends.
Mark Stucklin says:
Today the news is that the Valencian developer Grupo Onofre Miguel has gone into administration for the first time in its 40 year history. Onofre Miguel are one of the the Valencia region’s leading developers, and for a while had a showroom just of London’s Oxford Street. They went into voluntary administration after failing to reach agreement with their creditors over refinancing debts of €130 million.