Source: http://www.thebeachtimes.com/
By Ralph Nicholson and Zoraida Diaz - Friday, August 10, 2007
Rosewood, Miraval, One and Only to Open Mid-2010Developers have announced plans for three luxury hotels to be built on two properties within ten kilometers of each other on the northern Guanacaste coast. Steve Case, the founder of the internet giant America Online, announced plans Friday to open an $800 million beach resort just south of Playa Hermosa, featuring two boutique hotels, a tennis center designed by husband-and-wife tennis stars Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf and an 18-hole golf course by Tom Doak. Meanwhile, Rosewood Hotels and Resorts, confirmed it has signed a management contract with developers HPC Costa Carmel Limitada to manage a new luxury resort to be built upon a 60-hectare (150-acre) property on Playa Guachipelín. Both developments are scheduled to open in 2010. Mr Case, who announced his project alongside President Oscar Arias, told a press conference the resort would be built on 263 hectares (650 acres) known as Punta Cacique. The resort will leave 80 per cent of that land undeveloped as a private natural reserve. “I first visited Costa Rica four years ago and instantly fell in love with it,” Mr Case told reporters. “It struck my heart. Cacique is one of the most beautiful peninsulas anywhere in the world.” The announcement also marks the launch of Revolution Places, the new destination resort unit of Revolution, a holding-and-operating company founded by Mr Case in 2005 with $500 million of his own money. The resort will have 270 guest rooms and 300 private homes. One and Only Resorts, a hotel firm with locations worldwide, will operate the beachfront hotel. Exclusive Resorts, a luxury time-share business owned by Revolution, will build 30 of the resort’s homes. Miraval, a destination spa owned by Revolution, will operate a facility with 120 rooms and 60 villas. Mr Case, who was born in Hawaii, said he wanted to avoid what developers have done to Waikiki, pledging to make the new resort an environmentally friendly destination. “We are making a number of commitments,” he said. “We will plant one million trees in nearby rivers. We want to give $1 million to universities and local businesses to nurture and incubate ideas. We are trying to live in peace with nature.” Mr Case also pledged to improve infrastructure in the area, particularly regarding water.
© Zoraida Diaz
PUNTA CACIQUE: The 260-hectare project will include a tennis center by husband and wife team, Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf and an 18-hole golf course by Tom Doak, and a 75-slip marina for local boats. “I am very aware of the problems in the area. We understand there are short periods during the day when people do not have water,” he said in response to questions. “A part of what we acquired was access to water and we’ve told our people it’s a priority for us to allocate some back into the community. We’re hoping to release some of the water. I have not talked directly to them (the mayor, the community), but I know members of my group have.” President Arias described the Revolution Places project as the greatest investment yet to be made in Costa Rica. “Without doubt, Cacique will be extremely important for Guanacaste and Costa Rica,” he said. “I am grateful that of 263 hectares that were acquired only 20 per cent will be built upon.” Last week a group representing Revolution Places presented the project to the Municipality of Carrillo. Mr Case was not present, but the group’s President, Darren Linnartz, outlined the project, saying they would begin construction on roads by the end of the year. Work on 120 hotel rooms would begin between April and June next year. They will also apply for permission to build a marina and dock for up to 75 boats. “We aim to build a residential marina which is for the local community,” Mr Linnartz told the council. “In the first instance it is very important because it will generate jobs,” the Mayor, Carlos Gerardo Cantillo, said after the meeting. “They are not talking about just luxury homes, but a hotel that is a larger source for employment.” And there are the direct benefits to the municipality, which can expect one per cent of the total construction in building permit fees. That alone is $8 million. “We want to invest in this area,” Mr Linnartz told the council meeting last week. “…the idea is that as you are getting ready to approve next year’s budget we would like to help in this budgetary period so that your income will increase and with this, you can help the communities.”
© Zoraida Diaz
NEW FRIENDS: Steve Case (left) makes his way to a press conference with President Oscar Arias. The Minister of Tourism, Carlos Ricardo Benavides and Minister of the Presidency, Rodrigo Arias (right) bring up the rear. The Punta Cacique project will create 2500 jobs. The deal to put a Rosewood Hotel on Playa Zapotal, about ten kilometers south of the Revolution project, has been on the table for more than seven years, but it is now signed. The resort and residential properties will be built in two construction phases. Two-level, four-bedroom model residential units will begin construction in November this year, as will the complex’s beach club. The 80-room hotel, which will include 12 deluxe suites and one presidential suite, all to be built among the residential units, will start in August of 2008. “This is a very green construction,” said Ronald Arias, Project Manager for Rosewood Costa Carmel. “The hotel units will be next to the residential units, and no more than two levels,” he added. “When you open the windows you must see greenery. Nothing will be built higher than the tree line.” The complex will be designed by Three Architecture, a Dallas, Texas-based group that specializes in four and five-star hotels, resorts, country clubs and spas. It was founded 24 years ago, and has designed a Rosewood Hotel before --- the Rosewood Mayakoba Resort, in Riviera Maya, in Mexico. “As our brand continues to grow internationally, Costa Rica was a natural choice for a new Rosewood resort,” said John M. Scott III, President and CEO of Rosewood Hotels and Resorts, in a prepared release. Rosewood Hotels and Resorts, which is a privately-held luxury hotel management company, has no equity in the project and lends its brand in return for a management contract. The backers of the development are Roger Hall, a developer from California and owner of the land, and Grupo Inmobiliaria Génesis, which represents a group of investors. The resort, which is scheduled to open in April of 2008, has no golf course; instead the developers will negotiate a sharing arrangement with their neighbors. Farther south, the Baltimore, Maryland-based Union Box Company, has negotiated for a Ritz Carlton Hotel, probably with around 150 rooms, to be built on 405 hectares (1000 acres) in the Zapotal Valley. The project, which has direct access to Playa Guacamaya, will include a golf course.
Posted by Roger Vlasos
Broker/Owner
Century21 At the Beach
Playas del Coco, Guanacaste
Website: http://www.century21incostarica.com/
Website: http://www.northpacificproperties.com/
Email: roger@century21incostarica.com
