The Buenos Aires Justice unlocked the construction of a park and a neighborhood on the grounds of the
former Boca Juniors Sports City
, on the Costanera Sur.
The Court of Appeals did it, with a ruling from its Chamber IV, as confirmed to
Clarín
by sources from the Executive and the Buenos Aires Legislature.
It is an urban agreement that the IRSA company, owner of the land, agreed with the Buenos Aires Government, and which was later
converted into law
by the City Legislature.
According to that agreement, the company ceded to the State of Buenos Aires
47 of the 71 hectares
that the former Sports City occupies, for the installation of a public park with access to the Río de la Plata.
In exchange, the City authorizes the construction of the Costa Urbana project, an urban development that includes towers and lower buildings for apartments, offices, restaurants, shops and other services, such as hotels or educational establishments.
Costa Urbana, the urbanization project of the former Sports City of Boca Juniors
In practice, it would be a kind of continuation of Puerto Madero, but to the south of the Ecological Reserve and the Rodrigo Bueno neighborhood.
After the legislative approval of this urban agreement, at the end of December 2022, the Observatory of the Right to the City, the Institute of Thought and Public Policies (IPYPP), the Chair of Community Engineering (CLIC), Popular Unity (UP) and The Ombudsman for Laborantes (LA DEFE) filed an
appeal for amparo
before the City's Misdemeanor jurisdiction.
They asked that this agreement be stopped, arguing that, prior to the signing of the agreement, a public hearing had not been held to guarantee
neighborhood participation
in an initiative that would modify the landscape and the destiny of a part of the City.
That public hearing was held later, between the first and second approval of the agreement in the Legislature, as established by the procedure for this type of law that modifies the Urban Code.
The truth is that Judge Aurelio Ammirato agreed with the plaintiffs, and
declared the project null and void
.
The Buenos Aires government and the company appealed.
And now, almost a year after the first instance ruling, the Administrative Litigation Appeals Chamber IV
revoked the initial decision
.
With the votes of judges María de las Nieves Macchiavelli Agrelo and Laura Perugini, he agreed with the State and IRSA.
"It cannot be affirmed that in the case an obligatory participatory instance has been omitted," the chambermaids wrote.
The central argument, in a few words, is that the mere signing of the agreement does not constitute an obligation, and that the legally relevant step was the approval of the law, which did
comply with the obligation of the public hearing
.
What will the new urbanization be like?
According to the project, the future "Costa Urbana" neighborhood has two sectors.
In the 47 public hectares, a free access park will be set up, with a 4.2-kilometre promenade with bicycle paths and a coastal front through which residents will be able to
see the Río de la Plata
.
In addition, in this public space there will be a mirror of water, fed by the river itself.
This would be the landscape of Costa Urbana
These facilities will occupy more than half of the plot.
Arriving from Avenida España, the park will have a frontage of 550 meters and between 1,300 and 1,500 meters long depending on the side, ending at a coastline of about 480 meters.
The remaining segment of the land is the one that is furthest to the south, bordered by the extension of Avenida España, and towards the Demarchi island sector.
In that area is where IRSA construction will be allowed.
There will be two parts: first, a pedestrian corridor that will be flanked by two "strips" of building blocks, which will have a ground floor and between 6 and 10 floors, approximately.
The second strip, far to the south, will have buildings that are more removed and taller (the top is 98 meters).
In addition, in the mirror of water, there will be a kind of peninsula, circular in shape, which together with private constructions will also have a sector linked to the pedestrian promenade, and will end up functioning as a viewpoint towards the park and the water.
Most of the buildings will be used for housing.
But the idea is that there is a "mixture of uses", as defined by the cadastre.
For this reason, next to the houses there will be commercial premises, restaurants, offices and other enterprises, from a sanatorium or a hotel to educational establishments.
"We estimate that this new area
will house some 6,000 families
. Our intention is for Costa Urbana to have as diverse a population as possible. There will be units of all sizes because it is unthinkable to make 6,000 apartments for the highest socioeconomic segment," explained Eduardo Elsztain, president of the IRSA group, when he publicly presented the initiative in July 2021.
The former Sports City of Boca Juniors.
Photo: Rafael Mario Quinteros
The largest unused lot in the City
The former Ciudad Deportiva is a coastal landfill that construction began in 1965, and that
Boca Juniors inaugurated in 1975
, with swimming pools, tennis courts, a sweet shop, and an amusement park.
But the comprehensive project, which included a stadium for 150,000 people, could never be completed due to financial problems, so the land was left abandoned.
In 1991, it was sold by Boca
.
Since then, IRSA has developed several projects to urbanize the land.
But the Buenos Aires Legislature never approved them, until this initiative at the end of last year.
During all this time, the land was not used or accessible by the public, except in some specific events.
PN
look too
The Government of Buenos Aires will appeal the court ruling that annuls the agreement with IRSA to build towers in Costanera Sur
This will be the new neighborhood that they will build in the former Sports City of Boca Juniors