In the 1960’s the port of Buenos Aires like that of counterpart cities all over the world was a busteling terminus for cargo carrying merchant ships. In the southern part of town it was called Dock Sud.
From its inception, the city port had a problem accommodating cargo ships because the shallow river did not allow for their draught.
In 1882 the national government contracted the local businessman Eduardo Madero to build a new port that was completed in 1897. With advent of containerisation and the construction of a new port the area fell into disrepair rather like the London Dockland as was like them brought by to life by a yuppie style of gentrification.
It is a short taxi ride way from The Four Seasons Buenos Aires where we were looked after so very well.
In the 1990s, local and foreign investment led to a massive regeneration effort, recycling and refurbishing the west side warehouses into elegant homes and offices.
The Hilton Buenos Aires opened in 1999 and other luxurious hotels, state-of-the-art multiplex cinemas, theatres, cultural centres, and office and corporate buildings quickly followed.
There is even a marina and a yacht club named the Puerto Madero Yacht Club.
Having tried to visit them, in a bid to research our superyacht destination feature that you can read in a future edition of Invictus, we found the people there to be one of the most unfriendly yacht clubs we have ever encountered anywhere in the world.
With its new image came a new name and Dock Sud was dropped in favour of Puerto Madero
The area has been redeveloped with flair to become one of the trendiest boroughs in Buenos Aires.
The road network has been entirely rebuilt with every street named after a woman.
The Puente de la Mujer (Women’s Bridge), by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, is the newest link between the east and the west docks