Expecting a bit of uncertainty in 2009, the real estate and construction sectors in Costa Rica are welcoming a large, Ramadarun hotel and condominium venture on the central Pacific coast.
The project, called JacóBay, will consist of two hotel towers and five condominium buildings, the last of which is being built and is about 60 percent finished. After completion, the project will have about 190 condo units and 200 rooms within the hotel complex.
The project broke ground in 2006 and will be managed by the Ramada Plaza Herradura Hotel.
Issa Ladha, president of the Ramada Plaza Herradura, said he is confident this project will survive the economic uncertainty affecting many developments around the country.
“We bring very good news to a market where everybody is folding,” Ladha said. The project has generated about 800 jobs in the area during its peak construction period and about 800 more indirect jobs through contracting posts, said César Zingone, president of Grupo Zeta, the developer of JacóBay.
An additional 200 to 250 jobs will be created in the hotel and condominium management sectors once the hotel and the condos are up and running by next November, Ladha said.
With 45,000 square meters of construction area and an estimated $70 million price tag, JacóBay has so far taken about 20 months to build.
The project will have a “soft opening,” in which 50 of the units already furnished and equipped with 24-hour security service are scheduled to be unveiled on Christmas Eve.
The condominiums will be rented for $30 to $60 per person per night. The hotel rooms at the JacóBay luxury resort would cost $150 per night, said Gustavo Segura, general manager for the Ramada Plaza Herradura Hotel.
–Vanessa I. Garnica
