Resort in Costa Rica
Goes for the Big Green
By Kendra Marr,
Washingtonpost.com
Growing up in Hawaii,
AOL co-founder Steve
Case cringed as
manicured cookie-cutter
hotels took over the
islands, wiping out
precious natural spaces
and crowding out local
culture.
Now Case is proposing
his own development in
paradise: a us$800
million, 650-acre luxury
resort in Costa Rica.
But he says he is aiming
to avoid what developers
have done to Waikiki,
pledging to make the new
resort - which
will be called Cacique -
an environmentally
friendly and culturally
sensitive destination.
"This is like being able
to press rewind and
start fresh," said Case,
who is scheduled to
announce the venture
today at a news
conference with Costa
Rican President Oscar
Arias.
The announcement also
marks the launch of
Revolution Places, the
new destination resort
unit of Revolution, a
District
holding-and-operating
company founded by Case
in 2005 with $500
million of his own money
after leaving AOL. Other
Revolution subsidiaries
include Revolution
Health, a
consumer-oriented
health-care company, and
Revolution Living, a
lifestyle business whose
holdings include the
Flexcar car-sharing
service.
Case says Revolution
Places will seek to
redefine the luxury
resort category by
making environmental
preservation and
cultural authenticity
priorities at every
property it develops.
Cacique, scheduled to
open in 2010, is the
firm's first resort
under that model.
Revolution Places says
it plans to integrate
the Cacique project with
the terrain of the
peninsula where it will
be built. The resort's
270 guest rooms and 300
private homes will be
set among existing rain
forest and wildlife.
Rock walls will become
walls of homes and the
shade of the vegetation
will replace man-made
awnings.
"We want to keep the
vegetation as natural as
it's always been there,"
said Philippe
Bourguignon, vice
chairman of Revolution
Places.
In addition to
environmentally friendly
architecture, the resort
will buy power generated
by renewable resources.
There are also plans for
recycling and
solid-waste management
programs, as well as
on-site waste water
treatment facilities.
The company is in talks
with conservation groups
and plans to invest in
several local
initiatives.
However, any development
within a complex
ecosystem like a rain
forest will always make
a significant impact,
said Daniel Williams,
former co-chairman of
the American Institute
of Architects' Committee
on the Environment and
author of "Sustainable
Design: Ecology,
Architecture and
Planning."
"If you're going to tear
something down and
change the ecological
value of it, you have to
replace an equal amount
of rain forest, which is
virtually impossible,"
he said. "The rain
forest is a very
sophisticated,
long-lived system."
Once a remote
destination favored by
backpackers and surfers,
the northwest Pacific
corner of Costa Rica has
experienced a recent
surge of development as
the region has caught
the interest of
well-heeled U.S.
consumers. Several
luxury hotel and
condominium projects --
including one operated
by Four Seasons -- have
been built in recent
years, and more are
being planned.
Ecotourism continues to
gain popularity as
consumers become more
sensitive to the
environmental impact of
their spending
decisions, said James
Angel, associate
professor of finance at
the McDonough School of
Business at Georgetown
University.
"For someone who made
money in the high-tech
boom, they may have some
ecological guilt about a
high-consumption
lifestyle," Angel said.
"Spending time at a
resort where they feel
they are having minimal
impact on land will make
them feel better than
going to some resort
where the virgin
wilderness is hacked
away."
Like Revolution's other
ventures, Revolution
Places caters to a new
generation of consumer.
In the past, high-end
vacations were equated
with pristine hotels and
fine dining, said Donn
Davis, chief executive
of Revolution Places.
Today's affluent
tourists prefer swimming
with dolphins and
swinging down zip lines,
he said. They want to
eat authentic local
food. And they want to
take their kids, he
said.
"It's a whole new
definition of luxury,"
Davis said.
The project brings
together several
high-end travel brands.
One & 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 featured
on "Oprah" and owned by
Revolution, will operate
a facility with 120
rooms and 60 villas.
The resort will also
have some star power.
Andre Agassi and Steffi
Graf, who signed a
partnership agreement
last fall with Exclusive
Resorts, will design the
tennis and fitness
center. Tom Doak, a
renowned golf course
designer, will build an
18-hole course that
limits the impact on the
local terrain. Philippe
Cousteau, grandson of
the famous underwater
explorer, will serve as
Revolution Places'
special adviser on
environmental issues and
will develop activities.
To preserve the region's
culture, the company
says, Cacique will
feature local retailers,
not Gucci or Prada, in
the resort's shopping
center. Restaurants will
serve regional cuisine
prepared by local chefs.
The resort, 25 miles
from the international
airport in the town of
Liberia, will be
completed in phases. All
services will be
operating by 2010, but
some houses will still
be under construction.
Residences will range
from 4,000-square-foot
homes to lofts of less
than 2,000 square feet.
Though Revolution Places
says it's too early to
set rates for Cacique, a
look at One & Only
Resorts' other
properties offers some
clues. A deluxe villa in
its Maldives location
can run up to $2,180 a
night.
"These will be some of
the most expensive homes
and hotels," Davis said.
"It's for the affluent
families who want the
best of the best. We're
targeting the high-end,
most discerning buyers
and travelers."
Revolution Places says
it wants to get its
Costa Rican resort right
before exploring other
properties. Case says he
doesn't want it to be
too manufactured or
theme-park-ish.
"It'll be like the best
of Hawaii without the
parts us locals are not
as proud of," he said. |
