U.S. Company to Build $800 Million Resort in Guanacaste

The U.S. company Revolution Places LLC has plans to invest $800 million to build a luxury resort in the northwestern Guanacaste province, according to a statement released Friday by Casa Presidencial.

Steve Case, co-founder of the Internet company America Online and owner of Revolution Places, announced this ambitious project alongside President Oscar Arias during a press conference Friday.

Case said the project aims to be both luxurious and environmentally sustainable and is likely to open in 2010.

"We're bringing together the best of the best to create an experience for owners and guests like none other in the world," he said. "It's important that we preserve the environment and local culture when we develop projects, such as this one, to be built on 263 hectares at Punto Cacique, between Playa Hermosa and Playas del Coco in northern Guanacaste, the statement said.

The resort, to be called Revolution Place, is expected to provide jobs to 2,500 Costa Ricans, from construction workers to managers.

It is also expected to generate $20 million in taxes yearly, which will be used by the government and even nearby municipalities to improve living conditions for locals, the statement said.

Arias applauded the project as the type of foreign direct investment he says is key to Costa Rica's development and also touched on the importance of taking the environment into consideration.

We ask that companies who come to sit on our soil, particularly tourism companies, respect the environment and comply with all legal requirements. This... works two ways: it benefits the Costa Rican population and it benefits foreign tourists, Arias said.

Some environmentalists are looking skeptically upon Case's and Arias' promises.

Case's words are often spoken by developers of tourism mega-projects that end up harming Guanacaste's environment, Juan Figuerola -- of the Costa Rican Federation for Environmental Conservation (FECON), an umbrella group for more than 30 environmental groups around the country told the daily La Nación.