By José Pablo Ramírez Vindas
of the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Another major project has been announced for northwest Costa Rica, and this one, at Punto Cacique, has some big names at the helm.

The first is Steve Case, the chairman, who was here Friday presenting the project before President Óscar Arias Sánchez. Vice chairman of the parent firm is Philippe Bourguignon, former president of Club Med and president and chief executive officer of Euro Disney.

The president of the parent firm, Revolution Places, is Donn Davis, who with Case helped build America Online, the Internet firm. The company has Philippe Cousteau, grandson of the famous undersea explorer, as an environmental adviser.

The project is being presented as an integrated luxury resort. The first phase, due to open in 2010, is on 263 hectares, about 650 acres. The estimated investment is $800 million, said the company. The project seeks to bring in One&Only Resorts, which will build 120 detached casitas. Also planned is an 18-hole golf course and a tennis center. Exclusive Reports was listed to build 30 residences. Miraval Cacique is contracted to build 60 villas and 120 luxury rooms.

The location is just north of Playas del Coco.

Although Case and his associates do not have extensive experience in real estate development here, the president of Revolution Places Costa Rica is Darren Linnartz, who worked for 15 years with Marriott/Ritz Carlton.

As expected Casa Presidencial praised the plan and said that the project would provide jobs for 2,500 direct and indirect employees.

The project also would generate $20 million in taxes.
The company promised to donate a million trees for a  conservation group to plan nearby and $1 million for organizations that develop initiatives to protect the Costa Rican environment.

The Pacific coast of Guanacaste is facing serious infrastructure problems, not the least of which is the availability of good water. Another major project, involving an estimated $600 million investment, was announced for Esparza earlier this year.

The Instituto Costarricense de Turismo said that more than $2 billion in projects have been announced for Costa Rica this year. Those in the real estate industry estimate that only about 30 percent may actually be built.