Rio, Politics And Other Complicated Details

Brad Klein has some fresh details on the Rio land dispute and the politics of Rio 2016, suggesting the latest land dispute is almost a minor tale compared to funding issues faced by mayor Eduardo Pacs and the Frank McCourtesque deal that developer Pasquale Mauro cut with Rio.

Federal sources turned down Pacs’ subsidy requests, so city officials have been forced to rely upon land owner Mauro to undertake development of the property into a golf course in conjunction with the entrepreneurial firm RJZ Cyrela at their private expense. In a deal worked out earlier this year, Mauro has agreed to spend up to 60 million reals ($32 million) for the golf course, teaching facility, clubhouse and infrastructure. In a quid pro quo for this deal, Mauro/RJZ Cyrela was granted zoning variance on several high-rise apartment buildings on the northeast side of the golf site and assured of development rights to an adjoining parcel.

The public-private arrangement raises new issues for a golf course project that was intended at the outset as a post-Olympics public legacy for Brazil's daily-fee golfers. Day-to-day management of the golf course also would be in the hands of the developer, not Rio 2016. Based on the agreement between the city and the developer, the course must remain public for 25 years. But it’s not at all clear what oversight mechanisms would be in place, nor what would prevent a private developer or golf course manager from selling off some tee times or even some private memberships as a way of recouping development costs and of enhancing the value of surrounding real estate.

The deal has been subject to a lawsuit in conjunction with a land-ownership challenge that is now in court and threatening to delay the start of golf course construction. A spokesman for Rio 2016 downplayed recent reports of the dispute having any serious consequences for development of the golf course. “We know who owns the land,” he told Golfweek.