The Secretariat of the Environment has granted approval for the construction of a 10-billion-peso (US $526-million), 3,000-room hotel in Cancún, Quintana Roo.

The Gran Island Hotel will be built in two stages by the developer BVG World on two parcels of land in the second section of the hotel zone in the Caribbean coast resort city.

The first stage includes the construction of 2,000 hotel rooms as well as guest amenities, swimming pools and a parking lot. A further 1,000 rooms and more amenities will be built in the second stage.

The entire project is expected to be completed in a period of three years and three months and will provide employment for as many as 4,650 workers.

The two lots on which the hotel will be built cover more than 223,000 square meters of land on Kukulcán boulevard.

According to the environmental impact statement (EIS), the project complies with all municipal environmental regulations.

The site is located in the Cancún urban area, meaning that it is subject to the local ecological management policy that sets out regulations regarding the sustainable use of natural resources.

The EIS says that the developers “adjusted their environmental policies” to make the project “viable from an environmental point of view.”

The project is near the Nichupté Lagoon Natural Protected Area but the developers say that neither flora nor fauna will be adversely affected by construction of the hotel.

There are no sensitive or fragile ecosystems within the site that could be affected by the removal of vegetation, the EIS said.

The document also indicated that the area where the hotel will be built is already connected to essential services including water supply, the sewage system, electricity and telecommunications.

Source: El Economista (sp), Sipse (sp)