A group of Spanish investors have announced plans to help finance a $600 million development project called La Roca just south of the central Pacific port town of Puntarenas.
Representatives of the Spanish company Grupo Naturaleza y Espacio S.A. (NYESA) met with President Oscar Arias last week and announced that the project will create some 5,000 direct jobs in a region whose port-based economy the government has long been trying to diversify (TT, Jan. 12).
Tourism Minister Carlos Benavides, who was also at the May 8 meeting, said the project in Espíritu Santo de Esparza will include four hotels – two of which will be “ultra luxury” resorts – as well as a residential development and a commercial center.
He said developers are in the process of applying for construction permits and hope to have the project first phase completed in four years.
Benavides said in a statement that the developers “want to incorporate the community in the project’s development, with job opportunities for professionals in the region.”
Developers had been seeking financing for La Roca for the past 12 years. The project encompasses more than 200 hectares along the coast between Doña Ana beach and Caldera.
This will be the first project in Latin America for NYESA, which has developments throughout the Caribbean, Europe and the United States.
