Playa Hermosa, Guanacaste– The Board of Directors of the Asociación de Vecinos y Empresarios de Playa Hermosa in Playa Hermosa, Guanacaste, recently had the opportunity to meet with representatives from the new Meliá Paradisus Papagayo Bay Hotel & Villas project that is under construction in the Polo Turistico between Playa Hermosa and Playa Panamá.

Representatives from Sunvesta Group, OPB Arquitectos, Montejo Law, Van der Laat y Jimenez S.A. and Edilex Comunicación, presented the project master plan, schedule, sustainable aspects of the project – such as green roofs, underground parking and rain and grey water recycling – and an animated virtual walk-through of the project. They then answered questions from Board members.

It was an excellent presentation. The project is no less than breathtaking.  And its schedule for completion it is aggressive, to say the least (November, 2014). Lic. Andrés Montejo of Montejo Law, the project’s General Director here in Costa Rica, lead the presentation, thoroughly describing the project and all of its aspects.

Here’s a summation of the presentation:

• The Owner and Develper, Sunvesta Holding AG, is a Swiss-based Private Equity, Consulting and Development group, represented by their subsidiary, Richland Investments Ltd., and their Costa Rican partner DIA S.A.
• The Meliá Paradisus Papagayo Bay Hotel & Villas Project is a new 5-star, all-inclusive resort that consists of two ICT (Instituto Costarricense de Turismo) concessions named Alto del Risgo and Richland.
• Maquinaria Construcciones y Materiales MACOMA S.A. and RAZA are the General Contractors for earth movement on the two concessions that make up the project (Alto del Risgo and Richland).
• Volio y Trejos and Van der Laat y Jimenez S.A. are the General Contractors for vertical construction on the two concessions that make up the project (Alto del Risgo and Richland).
• Sunvesta Holding AG has two additional projects under construction in the US and Mexico (Atlanta and Cabo San Lucas).
• The project is a “sustainable” design with only 30% of the concession land being constructed upon. All parking will be underground to reduce hard surface area and rain water runoff. The hotel component will have “green roofs” (roofs planted wholly or partially with vegetation) and will be of a limited height (3 stories) once constructed.
  

  Breathtaking view over Bahia Hermosa from the top of the project site

• The project construction is low density with 20 rooms/hectare.
• The project will consist of 382 rooms total that will be included in a hotel and 20 luxury villas. The villas will be sold as “fractionals” and may be leased back to the hotel.
• All rooms will have an ocean view – all of them. The project will also include a Convention Center (750 person capacity), 7 restaurants, the largest infinity pool in Latin America and a Spa.
• One of the more unique features of the project will be a funicular to move people up and down the hotel’s steep site.
• The hotel will be branded under Meliá Hotels International‘s “Paradisus” brand. Meliá Hotels International is based on the island of Mallorca in Spain and manages +350 hotels in 35 countries.
• The project will reclaim rainwater for the green roof irrigation systems for reuse and will recycle grey water from the sewerage treatment plant for use on landscaping elements.
• The hotel component will be children/family friendly (Family Concierge). The villa component will be “Adults Only” (Royal Service).
• The Altos del Risgo concession will be under construction from April, 2013 – November, 2014. The Richland concession will be under construction from July, 2013 – November, 2014. Final project delivery is scheduled for November, 2014.
• Project benefits for the surrounding community include 800 jobs/month during construction; 400 jobs/month during operations phase; 1000 jobs/month during full hotel operations.
  

  Another breathtaking view of Peninsula Papagayo from the top of the project site

• Social & Economic Development associated with the project include international promotion via the Meliá Hotels International brand, 200,000 tourists/year and environmental awareness. Sunvesta Holding AG considers itself a socially responsible company and has contributed to the Hermosa Water Trust and contributes to the Universidad Latina. It is working with community groups such as the Asociación de Vecinos y Empresarios de Playa Hermosa to address long term community needs starting at the local level with Playa Hermosa and Playa Panamá and working upward through the District of Sardinal, the Canton of Carrillo and Costa Rica as a whole.

Do you believe in change? You might want to start now.

More computer generated animated walk-throughs of the project are available at Sunvesta Group’s YouTube channel.

(Photos courtesy Mike Poynton)

Mike Poynton is Owner/Principal of Paradise Social, a digital marketing, SEO and website design company in Playa Hermosa, Guanacaste. He is also active in his community and serves on the Board of Directors of the Asociación de Vecinos y Empresarios de Playa Hermosa. He periodically contributes articles to the Costa Rica Star.