Finally after 9 1/2 months of waiting we finally received our Building Permit Approvals from INAH on August 1st 2018.. We submitted our application in the latter part of October 2017 and waited, waited and waited with our architect going twice weekly to the INAH offices to check on approvals. It got to be a running joke. We really can’t understand why this process takes so terribly long, especially when they’re so anxious to develop their downtown, Colonial core to those of us NOTB (North of the Border). Our contractor started some prepatory work two weeks ago, removing all the 40-Years of overgrown trees and vegetation and termite mounds, laying the main foundation on the north/south walls, but now that we’re legal – we’re good to go and they’ll start to build the main walls of the two master suites at the rear of the buildings and then will work forward.
The North Wall
The plan is to tear down the two residences at the front of the property. Based on accessibility from the street level they will be able to bring in some machinery to assist with the tear down, but the crew will still have to smash the decades old concrete into tiny little pieces, load it all into canvas sacks, put it up on their shoulders and carry them out to awaiting trucks on the road. We’ll update things again next Friday when we get our new batch of photographs from the Contractor.
farfrumwurken 
Hello! I recently found this blog of yours concerning the demo and building of your place in Merida. We have fallen in love with Merida and plan to move there sometime in the near future. I see that it took forever to get permits and your timeline runs out until May of next year. Have you heard whether this is normal timing nowadays or not? Also, you did a complete demo and a new build. Is that why the permit approval was so long? If we simply did a remodel without having to a full rebuild, do you think the timeline will be that long?
I am going to like your page so that I get updates as I would love to follow along with your progress. Very Excited to see the final product of your patience and perseverance.
LikeLike
Sorry this took so long to respond. In answer to your questions – yes we did a Full Reno, the two units had not been lived in for 30 years or so, so there was no option in our mind. From the time we purchased the property until we turned the first shovel of dirt was 17 months until we received our permits. A big part of that was trying to get the fideicomiso amalgamated into the one property. Because we did not file for the permit until the fideicomiso was completed it took 10 months. I believe that this is the normal timing particularly because of the recent Presidential election, there will be all new people on these roles as of December.
LikeLike
So for the delay in responding. I’m sure that the delays on our Building Permit was really due to the fact that it was in the Central (Centro) district. There are many new projects going up in Centro that our 8-months is a normal timing for a remodel or ground up build. There’s always the option to sweeten the $ pot with planning officials, but we didn’t take that route. Thanks for following my blog.
LikeLike