Following diffusion of a press release announcing the construction of a deluxe lakeside hotel to be operated under the flag of the Radisson Blu chain, some homeowners in the El Dorado complex have starting raising questions about the legality of the project.
The crux of the issue is a civil suit filed in 2011 against El Dorado developer Omar O’Rourke, his real estate outfit and several other parties by a group of foreign residents owning independent villas in the complex. Through a series of rulings and appeals, the case has been working its way through the court system from the local level to the federal Supreme Court where a final decision will be determined, possibly within the next few months.
O’Rourke is a partner in the Sun-Star Group that plans to continue construction of El Dorado’s unfinished second tower building to house the new hotel and operate it under a Radisson Blu franchise contract. He says that the outcome of the lawsuit is not pertinent to the project.
He tells the Reporter that the case was lodged in an attempt to annul an assembly of the condominium compound administrators. Win or lose, he claims it would not alter the fact that the original constitution of El Dorado as a condominium compound allows for operation of temporary lodging facilities in the apartment towers, zoned for mixed use.
Villa homeowners involved in the legal dispute ardently disagree. Wishing to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, one of the parties avows that the annulment of the assembly in question would effectively overturn devious changes in the condominium by-laws that were intended to rule out terms specifying El Dorado as a strictly residential complex.
It will be up to Mexico’s legal authorities to judge which side is in the right.
According to sources at Chapala’s urban development office, a building permit for the second El Dorado tower is still on record in a suspended status that may be reactivated in accordance with standing regulations. Representatives of the Sun-Star Group have not yet appeared to solicit renewal of the permit.
This newspaper will attempt to follow the story as it evolves.