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Development Firm Acquires New
Resort Foothold in Costa Rica
ECI Ltd., a Pittsburgh-led
resort development company
working to establish a
destination in Nicaragua, has
acquired a new resort beachhead
in Central America.
As it continues to pursue a
major retirement resort
community on the west coast of
Nicaragua called Gran Pacifica,
the company has acquired 1,100
acres of Caribbean beachfront
property in neighboring Costa
Rica.
Called Playa Del Sol, the
property is near the city of
Limon and is bounded by a
waterway and a river along with
the Caribbean Sea.
Among an investor group of more
than 60 partners, ECI - better
known as Gran Pacifica - is led
by CEO Michael Cobb, local
lawyer Joel Nagel and former
Bayer CEO Dick White. Nagel
confirmed that Gran Pacifica
bought the property from Warren
Stetson, an aging heir of the
Stetson hat company fortune.
Because Gran Pacifica was able
to buy the property with an
upfront lump sum rather than
through financing, Nagel said
the firm paid as much for the
Costa Rica property as it did
for its 2,400 acres of
Nicaraguan beachfront five years
ago.
"You would just assume that
Costa Rica would be 10 times
more expensive than Nicaragua,"
Nagel said, considering that
Costa Rica is far more developed
than Nicaragua. "In most
instances, it is."
Nagel emphasized that Gran
Pacifica doesn't expect to
develop the Costa Rican
property, which it expects to
call Gran Caribbean, for another
18 months to two years.
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