A Holiday Inn hotel is rising in Loma Plata, a town in Paraguay’s Chaco region. The 114-room hotel is due to open in July 2027, with an investment of about US$10 million. It is the first stage of the Chaco Central Complex, a mixed-use development on a 4.5-hectare site. Its promoters hope it will become the seed of a planned city beside the new Bioceanic Corridor.
The Chortitzer Cooperative, a Mennonite cooperative, and the González Acosta Group are behind the project. They formed a joint company, Emprendimientos El Parque, to build it. The hotel will operate under the brand of IHG, the international hotel group. The promoters put the first two stages, the hotel and a shopping centre, at about US$20 million.
What is being built
The hotel will have five floors, a double-height lobby, a 131 m² bar and a 31 m² gym. A convention centre of about 240 m² on the terrace will hold up to 300 people at a cocktail-style event. A resort area of roughly 1,650 m² will include a swimming pool.
The design of the Chaco Central Complex responds to the region’s heat. The architects aim to keep interiors near 24°C when outdoor temperatures approach 50°C, using as little energy as possible. Rainwater collection and solar panels for shared areas are also planned.
A strip mall, an open-air shopping centre, is the second stage, with a similar estimated cost of US$10 million. It is meant to host banks, restaurants and shops. The master plan also allows for offices, homes and a school, and their timing will depend on demand.
Why Loma Plata, and why now
Loma Plata sits in Boquerón, a department in the western Chaco. Mennonite settlers founded Colonia Menno there in 1927, and 2027 marks 100 years since their arrival in Paraguay. The promoters link the project to that anniversary.
The Bioceanic Corridor is a road route between Santos, on Brazil’s Atlantic coast, and Antofagasta, a Pacific port in northern Chile. It crosses the Chaco. A 1,294-metre bridge between Carmelo Peralta, in Paraguay, and Porto Murtinho, in Brazil, joined its two banks this year. Access roads are due in February 2027.
The backers say the region lacks a hotel of international standard for the executives, families and officials who already visit. Other international chains are also looking for sites beyond Asunción. The local economy is also growing quickly. Central Bank figures show Boquerón expanded by 7.5% in 2024, against 4.7% for the country as a whole.
A new city in the centre of the Chaco
Víctor González Acosta, the architect leading the design, sees the hotel as a starting point. He estimates the settlement could reach about 70,000 inhabitants by 2050. He points to farming towns in eastern Paraguay, such as Santa Rita, Katueté and San Alberto, as examples of how fast productive areas can grow.
His aim is for growth to follow a plan rather than chance. The design reserves areas for logistics, agribusiness and housing. “What we are building today could become, in five to 20 years, a new city in the centre of the Chaco,” he says.
Jobs and suppliers around the Chaco Central Complex
Construction is expected to employ about 300 people at its peak. Once the hotel is open, it should create around 50 direct and 150 indirect jobs. Orie Toews, president of Emprendimientos El Parque, says local suppliers are taking part in the works.
Ronald Reimer, president of the Chortitzer Cooperative, calls the investment a sign of openness and connection. The cooperative ran a hotel in Loma Plata more than 40 years ago, and now returns to the sector with an international partner.
González Acosta stresses that the project is private. He believes the state also has work to do. “The public sector has a pending task: to do its part to create the conditions and speed up this process,” he says.
Two dates frame what comes next. Access roads to the Bioceanic Corridor bridge are due in February 2027. The hotel is due to open five months later. The strip mall, offices, homes and school will then depend on demand along the route.
