Richard Bexon
Good afternoon, guys, and welcome to episode 290 of Costa Rica Real Estate and Investments with me, your host, Richard Bexon. Today is going to be a Developer’s Diaries podcast. Some of you have seen those before, and sorry it’s another podcast with me, guys, but I think this is a pretty interesting one for anyone that’s looking to build and develop here in Costa Rica.
I know quite a few of you have reached out and said that you enjoy these, but I promise that the next ones will be other people beyond me, guys. We’ve actually got one kind of being recorded further this week which is on the South Pacific, and then the other one which is on the Grecia, San Ramón area of Costa Rica, which is kind of the Central Valley area around San José—or within an hour of San José—that’s been developing very heavily.
So remember, guys, if you’re looking to invest in Costa Rica or do anything here and you just want a conversation—the conversations a lot of the time are with me as well—you can email us at info@investingcostarica.com, info@investingcostarica.com, or just go online and type in “Costa Rica Investments.” You’ll find our website or my name, Richard Bexon Costa Rica, and that will come up. All of our contact details are in the description down below with a link that you can use to organize a meeting with us as well.
Remember, if any of you listened to our last podcast, we talked about fractional investment. If you are interested in investing in ownership in a fractional property here, and also usage rights as well, you can reach out to us again at info@investingcostarica.com. But let’s get straight into the podcast.
Good morning everyone, I’m Jake Alexander and welcome back to Costa Rica Developer Diaries, where we break down real projects, real numbers, and real lessons from building here in Costa Rica. Today we’re talking about Villa 4 in Manuel Antonio, and this is where things really start to shift. Villas 1 through 3 were about figuring it out, and Villa 4 was about applying everything that you learned and seeing what happens when you actually build systems, not just experience.
The project started as a simple idea: just repeat what worked. But it quickly changed into something else—a design evolution, a compressed timeline, and a challenge to deliver a four-bedroom villa in just four months when you’re only 15% into the build. So, Richard, let’s start here: Villas 1 through 3 are done; you have the data, the experience, and the feedback. Why didn’t you just repeat the same formula?
Learning from Villas 1–3 and Starting Villa 4
Richard Bexon
You know, I mean, I think it was just learning from my mistakes, Jake, to be honest with you. I think if I just repeated it, and if it was as painful as 1 to 3, you know, I don’t think I could do it again. But I think for 4… well, let’s take a step back. A couple of months before finishing 1, 2, and 3, we decided we would start Villa 4 as well—just the foundations at the same time.
Again, you know, I think if anyone’s listened to this, Villas 1 to 3 were a little bit stressful. We were falling behind, if that makes sense, and then I just made the crunch point in July where I was like, “Guys, stop everything on Villa 4 and put all of the resources on Villas 1, 2, and 3,” because we’ve got guests arriving in six weeks and there is no way that that cannot happen.
I was actually with one of the luxury travel sales people the other day and they were like, “Rich, when I stepped into this place, I thought there was no way that you’re going to get it done by August 15th.” They’ve just seen Villa 5 and 6, which we’ll have ready in 60 days, and they’re like, “How did you get this ready in 60 days?” I’m like, “Guys, the majority of the heavy lifting is done; it’s windows and doors and then polishing.
So, I think going back to the point, Jake, when we finished Villas 1, 2, and 3, it was August. We needed to deliver this by December because we had clients arriving in December. My head of engineering and construction, Eric, was like, “Rich, there’s no way we’re going to get this done.” The construction company who did Villas 1, 2, and 3 were like, “We can get it done by mid-February,” and I was like, “Guys, I’ve got clients arriving in December—what do you mean mid-February?” They were like, “We’re not going to take on the stress, and it can’t be done.” Everyone was telling me it can’t be done, it can’t be done, it can’t be done.
And that’s where I called up one of my best buds—and he’s also an investor—Casey, who was the owner of Namu Travel Group, and was like, “Case…” He was like, “Rich, you’ve worked tougher stuff than this out before, man. Just break it down as in every project.” He’s like, “I have every faith that you’ll get this done.”
So, I just sat down and I said, “Eric, forget about the four months. If we took the February 15th deadline that they gave us, took it ourselves, and broke it down, how would we get it done?” And I’m saying “ourselves” because they’re not going to do it, so we need to do it ourselves. Let’s control everything. And that’s really where the construction company, kobe Construction, was built, Jake. It was out of, “Guys, if we’re going to do this, we’re going to have to do it ourselves.”
I think throughout everything—from land development now to construction to property management and also the investing side—in order to deliver that quality and speed that we want, we have to end up doing it ourselves, Jake. There are good companies out there, but I mean, you know man, we move really fast. We like to break shit, but then we figure out a way to fix it, if that makes sense.
We broke enough stuff in Villas 1, 2, and 3 that we learned, and we actually created a huge document while going through that whole thing of lessons learned. We changed the designs a little bit in Villa 4. Some of the windows were a little bit larger, and also the window setup and door setup was a little bit clunky. We also made the pool a little bit deeper as well; instead of being 1.4 meters, it’s 1.6, because as you’re flying down the slide, sometimes you don’t always hit the bottom, but if you’re a big guy, you could probably hit the bottom.
Just Listen to Clients; They’ll Tell You What They Want
And then I was like, “We’re going to do a four-bedroom,” and they were like, “What do you mean?” I was like, “Well, I can see the data; the three-bedrooms are doing well, but I think we’ve got a lot of inquiries coming through for four bedrooms.” And that’s really it, Jake—just listen to clients; they’ll tell you what they want. We had inquiries for four bedrooms and I was like, “Guys, the whole structure doesn’t change. We just replicate the second floor on top of the third floor, put king bedrooms in, and we’re good.” And they were like, “Yeah, I think we can do that.” And I’m like, “No, no, no, I know we can do it. It’s not a question; it’s a statement.”
So we had to go back quickly, get the construction docs done with the architects and then, again, hire an engineer, a maestro—like a foreman, Jake—and the good news was we knew a lot of those guys and we knew that we needed good guys. Then we just sat down—I’m probably getting into way too many of your questions here—but I sat down with the steel guys, the internal wall guys, the electrical and mechanical guys, and just said, “Guys, if we had to do it in this period of time, how would you do it?”
We basically sat down for a day and figured it out. They were like, “Well, I need all materials on site, and I need to be able to work seven days a week as long as I want to be able to.” And basically, there needs to be coordination between these subcontractors so that when one’s finishing… like as we laid the first floor, the guys putting in the walls and the electrics were going in on the first floor. As they moved up, everyone kind of started to move up, if that makes sense. And yeah, I mean, I think the big thing, Jake, was we built a construction company. That’s the same company that’s doing Villa 5 and 6 now—it’s the same one that did 4, because we learned like, “Wow, we can get these built in seven months.”
And so you changed from a three to a four-bedroom and, like you said, you thought, “Well, we’re just going to put the second floor on the third floor.” That sounds simple…
Economics of Adding the Fourth Bedroom
Richard Bexon
There were some numbers in it, Jake, which was like, “Look, it’s like forty thousand dollars more to put that in.” Excluding the exchange rate at that period of time—the exchange rates had an impact—but to put the fourth bedroom was like thirty thousand dollars more instead of one bedroom. But the income on that thirty thousand dollars was a return in like seven months.
So I was like, “Guys, that’s a no-brainer,” if that makes sense. I could see in Villa 3 that the top room—I mean, it’s stunning, don’t get me wrong, it’s beautiful, I slept in it last week—it’s great, but it’s big. There’s a lot of wasted space, especially the wraparound deck. I was like, “Guys, I’m not getting ADR for that wraparound deck.” The deck out the front is good enough, and the balcony… sorry, we could basically just repeat it and just put king rooms and clients would be happy. And they are. I mean, those king rooms are still large. We’re about to go into our next project and we’re taking that whole design again and just re-facading it, pulling it in, and basically putting bathtubs out on the deck.
Jake Alexander
Basically, what was the main driver of the cost increase from going from the three to the four?
Richard Bexon
More walls, Jake. There were more walls, two bathrooms, more plumbing, more electrical, and more furniture, really. I mean, that was really it. And more windows—the windows are pretty expensive—so it was just more windows.
Jake Alexander
And you mentioned the “Lessons Learned” document from the first villas. Which three items that you changed had the biggest impact for Villa 4?
Lessons Learned and Quality Control Improvements
Richard Bexon
Well, a lot of it was just quality control, Jake. For instance, in Villas 1, 2, and 3, I got so annoyed where I’d get a bucket of water and throw it on the floor in the pool just to check—and that was the foreman’s job. So in this one, it was, “Guys, here’s the quality test stuff that we do throughout the project.” Whether that’s system pressure tests—which is where once all the plumbing’s done, we system pressure test it—or whether it’s electrical testing.
But also, one of the things that they had was that the electrical guys would come in and run the conduit, then the concrete guys would come in and lay over it, and then they’d just fill some of the pipes with concrete for just no reason, dude. So I would say on this one there was just a different level of worker; it was a lot higher level of worker. But that was one of them: just quality tests throughout the project as we moved through it. We kind of did that before, and I’m responsible for that because I was pushing hard on Villas 1, 2, and 3, dude.
I always say that you’ll always find inefficiencies in businesses when you start to push. It’s like pressure; you’ll start to see where the water leaks are in any business, any process, or any individual. Hence the gray hair, Jake—these are my pressure leaks.
We also put a bigger window in the kitchen. We found that the window was just too small inside the kitchen. And just the door functionality—the sliding doors in 1, 2, and 3 were kind of clunky and they would hit each other, and I was like, “Handles are going to break.” So we just redesigned that a little bit, Jake. And now, even doing 5 and 6, I’m still learning stuff, like I should have put a window at the top so when the hot air rises it can escape, but we don’t have that.
Jake Alexander
And so you wrap up 1, 2, and 3; you’re four months away from having guests arrive and 15% done with the build. Forget the contractor’s reaction—when you went to Eric, what was his reaction to your deadline date?
From “Impossible” to Milestones and New Build Sequence
Richard Bexon
“Impossible” was the word he used. And I said, “Look, Eric, we do the impossible. We get shit done, dude. That’s what we’re here for.” I know that it’s a shock, but forget the end. And I remember every time I think about this. I remember skiing with my daughter when she was like three years old, and we got to the top of the, you know, the piste and she looked down and she started crying, you know? And I was like, “Look, I’m going to give you a life lesson here, which is: never look at the end. Have a rough idea of where you’re going, but never look. Just look in front of you and go,” if that makes sense. Have milestones as you kind of go the way down, but don’t try and look at the end because you can… it’s just too much and it’s consuming, you know?
So I said, “Don’t look at the end. Let’s break it down into milestones of what needs to happen and then talk to the individuals of how can you get this done in this time.” You know, and I mean, one of the things we did, Jake, on Villa 4 was—in Villas 1, 2, and 3, we went level. You know, we went steel structure, poured concrete, steel structure, poured concrete, roof. On this one, what we did was literally do the whole steel structure to the roof, put the roof on, lay Level 1 and 2, and then pour Level 1 and 2 at the same time. So it was a lot more efficient, if that makes sense.
Jake Alexander
How much time do you think you saved with that system instead of going up, up, up?
Richard Bexon
Three weeks, probably, Jake. But I think I saved three weeks there, but also what it allowed me to do was bring in the next crew, if that makes sense, you know? And then the next crew as they started to move up. So it was kind of… it was like ants, if that made sense. Because look, projects die in wait time, man. You know, any project that’s just waiting and people are twiddling their thumbs just dies.
So, you know, I always say to the guys in my office, I’m like, “Guys, any time that a project is waiting, it’s dying. So our job is to remove those wait times or reduce them as much as we can.” And that’s what we did, Jake. We just met with the team every single week—actually twice a week, on Mondays and also Fridays. Mondays was like, “Okay guys, what’s the goal here? What are we getting done?” And then Fridays was, “Guys, what do you need for the following week so that we can get it done over the weekend?” Actually, I think it was Thursdays in the end, because we moved it because then it allowed us Friday to get the stuff in order to be ready for Monday to work, basically.
Jake Alexander
And you used the word “milestone.” What changed with the team when you reframed it from a timeline or a deadline to milestones?
Milestones, Focus, and Incentives
Richard Bexon
Well, I mean, they saw the project broken down, and also they just looked at their own milestone, if that made sense. Like, you know, the metal guys looked at their milestone, the electromechanical guys looked—like, everyone was just focused on their own little bit, if that made sense. Eric was involved with all of it, of course, but these guys were involved with just each little bit. It just allowed them to focus, Jake.
And I mean, I think anytime in a business when you align people and allow them the ability to focus—because usually there’s a lot of noise, you know—and you just go, “Forget everything. Focus on this one thing and this one thing only.” You know, “Oh, and I’m going to pay you early. I’m going to pay you bonuses if you finish early,” which was one thing that I also did as well, Jake.
Um, yeah, I’m sorry… but okay, you’re back now.
Jake Alexander
Sorry about that. Um, when you posed the question, you know, “If we had to deliver by December, how would we do it?” Regardless of what the answers were, what did that unlock from your team’s thinking and train of thought of, “Well, if we had to deliver it by December…”?
Richard Bexon
This is what we would need. Yeah, I mean, I think it’s again, when you break something down, Jake, it’s a lot easier. If you know… I mean, again, like eating an elephant, one bite at a time. When you break it down, it makes it a lot easier and gives people focus.
But I think, you know, what this did for the team was really… of, “Wow, running a construction company ain’t that difficult,” if that made sense. You know, I mean, we’re doing it now—I’m not going to say it’s easy by any means, Jake, don’t get me wrong—but it’s not as difficult, you know, once you start getting under the hood of it. And we were doing the work anyway, so the transition was very, very easy.
But a lot of it’s just a mindset change, Jake. And I just said to the guys, I’m like, “Guys, look, there are companies that get stuff done and there are companies that don’t, and that’s what defines the good from the great. You know, and are we a good company or a great company? Like, I want to be a great company, so let’s figure out a way to get this done one way or the other.”
Um, you know, and I think we have a great brand here in Costa Rica, you know, of all parts of our business, so it was just a continuation of that brand, Jake, really. You know, and I think when people want to get shit done in Costa Rica, they usually call us.
Jake Alexander
But where shit goes wrong, you know? Yeah, yeah, either ahead of time or when it starts to go sideways, you get a phone call.
Picking Up Troubled Projects and Value Engineering
Richard Bexon
I mean, you know, man, I mean we have so many projects that we pick up where they were like, “I wish that you guys… I would have used you at the beginning.” You know, I mean, I had one the other day where it’s a project, a remodel for a buddy of mine, where I was like, “Dude, I’m not going to get involved in it. Sounds like you’ve got the players together here, whatever.”
They call me back and like, “Rich, like, we’ve worked with you on one of the projects. This project is not as organized and like, stuff’s not happening like you guys do. There are no meeting notes, there are no milestones, tasks, etc. You know, there’s no, like, composer. Will you please join us on this because we can’t have it, you know, be late?”
I saw that they had a quote for engineers at 24 grand. I was like, “Guys, I think that’s a little too expensive.” I ended up getting him for 10. I’m like, “I saw… I saved you $14,000, guys, in one day,” if that made sense, which covers our fees for months.
So it’s all those little things, Jake, that we can do. And even in value engineering, we were on site, we were looking at stuff, and they were like, “Well, I think we’re going to be able to leave this here.” I’m like, “Guys, can we not just throw an I-beam across here, put some supports at the side, and get rid of all these columns?” You know, they’re like, “Yeah, I think we could probably do that.” And I’m like, “Well, let’s do it.”
Jake Alexander
Yeah, and then the key component, I think, of what you do so well is the communication. And you know, you say over-communication doesn’t exist. So, you know, what does that actually look like day-to-day? You mentioned in the project you’d have a meeting on Monday and Thursday, but take me through the day-to-day expectation of communication amongst the team.
Communication Rhythm, Meetings, and Tools
Richard Bexon
Well, look, I’m just like, “Look guys, okay…” We have usually it’s a minimum of once a week meeting with the client. You know, that client’s me, Jake, so I was in the Monday meetings. I was not always in the Thursday meetings. The reason being, it was more technical, if that made sense, and I was like, “Guys, if you need me, let me know, or I turn up for it and be like, ‘Guys, do you need me?'” They’d be like, “No.” You know, like there was a meeting today for Manuel Antonio 5 and 6, and I was like, “Guys, do you need me?” They’re like, “Nope.” I was like, “Cool, I’m out.
You know, when they need stuff, they come to me. If I don’t… I don’t let me waste your time or complete stuff. But really, it’s having those check-ins, you know? And every project’s at different stages, but everything should always have a weekly meeting, you know, with the client. Even if there’s nothing to talk about and you end up canceling the meeting, that’s fine, but have the discipline.
And a lot of it just comes to discipline, Jake, where most people don’t. You know, just have the discipline to set that weekly meeting up. Running weekly meeting notes as well, and you start the meeting with the tasks from the last meeting—if that makes sense—what got done, what didn’t.
And then just again, also, I was constantly looking at milestones, Jake. We had the project manager—I think at that time Eric was overseeing construction, Natalia was the project manager from my side—because every project in the business has a project manager, if that makes sense. And they’re kind of what I like to call the “throat to choke.” I’m sure there’s a nicer way to put that, but like, if something goes wrong, you know, it’s their responsibility.
And usually, it’s like I’m like, “Here are the keys. You own this project. I’m your client,” if that makes sense. Eric is one of your subcontractors and so is everyone else, but I’m your client. So I mean, we had that: tasks, milestones, you know, and basically talking about, “What’s the next milestone? What do we need to get done?”
But really, Jake, where I’ve seen is also just tasks where one is dependent on the other. When one task is dependent on the other, if one is slow, it slows down the other one, if that makes sense. So always looking at those dependent tasks in a project and going, “Okay guys…” For instance, tile guys: you know the windows and doors can’t go in until the tiles are in. So like, okay, the tile guys need to be on time. And if we scheduled the windows and doors guys in… “Yeah, we’ve scheduled it.” “Okay, what day?” “Okay, we’ve done it by that date.”
Is the tile guy aware that he has to be finished by that date come hell or high water? And we need to basically, you know, ride him until he is. So it’s just micromanaging every single step of that, Jake.
And again, just having—we had a WhatsApp group with all the subcontractors as well where they could ask questions, which was great. But like, WhatsApp is just communication; it’s not to do tasks, nothing like that. They need to make them into… like, that needs to actually go into kind of the project. You know, we don’t use Microsoft Project, we use monday.com, but it needs to go into monday.com as a task, if that makes sense. But like, WhatsApp was communication. We had running meeting notes with tasks with action items, and those action items then would make it into monday.com, and the project manager.
Jake Alexander
Was responsible for all of that, basically. And you know, when it comes into the systems you have for construction—you know, Villas 1, 2, and 3—you didn’t order everything upfront. What was… why was that so critical for Villa 4, and were you a little apprehensive for such a big outlay at such an early stage on a new thing?
Ordering Materials Upfront and Managing Risk
Richard Bexon
I would say if it wasn’t my project, Jake, I probably wouldn’t do it with a client, if that makes sense. But because it was my project and I was the one paying and I knew the players, you know, I’d completely de-risked it anyway. So it wasn’t that I was giving stuff to a contractor that could walk away to another project, if that makes sense. It was like I was ordering stuff on-site to my guys to go into containers and having it all there.
Jake Alexander
And having it all there… I mean, that really… I mean, it sets up… you know, again, how much time do you save by not waiting even a day here and there? Over a seven-month timeline, that turns into a month very quickly.
Richard Bexon
Well, correct, because that is a dependent task and it has a knock-on effect down the road, if that makes sense. You know, and it’s like… there’s this book that I love and I can’t remember the name of it, but it’s like when you have multiple people walking on a trail at the same time—if you know what I mean—when someone gets ahead, those gaps… or if someone slows down in the middle, the gap between the front and the back starts to get bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger, because someone’s dependent on something else, if that makes sense. And that’s usually probably the easiest way to see it.
So, we already had everything we needed. We’d already calculated—you know, they’d gone over it—and I was like, “Guys, give me exactly everything that we need, and let’s get it ordered right now.”
And also, Jake, one of the things that was risky about it was we were finishing when nearly all projects in Costa Rica finish construction as well, you know, in December. So pre-ordering it really helped us as well, kind of de-risk it. One of the things that did risk it a little bit was like windows and doors stuff, and the woodworking guys—we had to make sure, because we couldn’t get that stuff on-site. It needed to be measured and then made, if that makes sense. That they were scheduled, and we had really clear contracts with those guys.
And there was an issue… there was an issue with the wood guy, where there was a miscommunication that someone thought it was four weeks when it was actually six. But hey, you know, the wood guy’s great, I love him. I just called him and said, “Hey man, I understand this. What do I need to do in order for you to get it delivered in four weeks?”
He was like, “Rich, you give me a lot of work, you always pay on time”—which is something I always believe in, Jake, just paying on time, like instantly. He’s like, “I’ll get it done in four weeks for you, man.”
And that’s kind of like where I think most things in life… like, you need to put enough cookies in the jar that when you go and do take them out at some point, there’s cookies there, if that made sense. And I think that’s just with people. Like, I’m a sucker for helping people. Whether that’s… you know, it doesn’t mean anything, it can be anything. But sometimes I’ll need some help, but I’ve put enough… you know, I’ve done enough good deeds, if that made sense, for that individual that I can call those favors in.
Jake Alexander
Yeah, and then he got it done in four weeks.
Richard Bexon
Yeah, as always. You know, he always gets it done for me. So yeah. You know, and the interior designer was like, “Look, I think for 5 and 6 we need to use another wood guy, and I might like that. I think we can get it done a little bit cheaper, we can save a couple thousand bucks.” And I’m like, “No. Like, if anything goes wrong, I’d rather spend the extra with the comfort knowing, if that makes sense, that 5 and 6 is going to be ready.” Because again, we’ve got guests arriving June 18th.
Jake Alexander
Yeah. What did this villa construction prove to you about how you should continue to build going forward for your projects and client projects?
What Villa 4 Proved and Internal vs Client Builds
Richard Bexon
Well, for my projects, Jake, use my own crew, if that made sense. I’ve had a couple of clients ask, “Hey, can you help me build like my own?” but I’m like, sometimes there’s a bit of a conflict of interest there if we’re the project manager and also the builder. Like, you know, there’s a conflict there. And I will do it if we think the project’s right and the client’s right, if that makes sense. Because again, ultimately, I mean, I can not screw that one up, if that meant… you know.
But I think… I think that, you know, it was just beautiful to see the team come together, Jake, and get it done on time. And then for us to just kind of celebrate at the end of it. Like, that was the… of something that went from impossible to like, “Here, it’s done.” And it was done a couple of days early, Jake, if you can believe it.
Yeah, that was… you know what? It’s done. And then I think it just really… like, we’ve been involved in projects before as project managers, but we weren’t in the nuts and bolts of construction. And now we’re in the nuts and bolts of construction, we can really understand where things can go wrong, and we’re able to kind of see it a little bit more, if that makes sense. It’s like being a race car driver but also now being the mechanic, if that makes sense. It puts it… you know, put it together, so you just get a visibility on how certain things work and are able to kind of drive the car a little bit better.
Speaker 3
What did Villa 4 unlock for 5 and 6?
How Villa 4 Unlocked Villas 5 and 6
Richard Bexon
I mean, a floor plan. Like, a great floor plan, Jake. You know, instead of it taking 10 months, taking seven months. You know, we even made modifications on 5 and 6—of making the infinity-edge pool a little bit further. I couldn’t make that change by the time… you know, because that 15 percent, by the time that we got started, we’d already done the infinity edge. Well, it was 30 centimeters; the new one I extended to 60 because when people go down the slide, the water goes over the edge, if that makes sense. Whereas this one now, because it’s wider, it won’t go down the edge. And also, raise the sides a little bit so that the water, again, doesn’t flow off down the sides as well.
But like, design-wise, it’s exactly the same, Jake, as Villa 4. But I think it’s just velocity and having the team together, and the team just really knowing it. I mean, they just crank now, Jake. You know, and I think that that’s… you know, we’re going to be doing another project in Arenal where I’m like, “Guys, we might as well just re-facade what we’ve got.” Clients love it, we know how to do it—if that makes sense—we know the costs. Like, we might as well just stay within there rather than building something completely new and having to learn from zero, basically.
Jake Alexander
Yeah, so we have 5 and 6—they’re going to be done. You said June 18th, guests are arriving?
Richard Bexon
June 18th guests are arriving. I think the guys are telling me that like late May, early June, it’s going to be ready. They… they want to give me an exact date, but they said… like, it’ll be ready by… I think they said that they can deliver it to me like June 14th for us to go in 15th, 16th, 17th, get it ready, and then have guests June 18th.
But then I also… I’ve got the on-site engineer saying, “Rich, I think we might get it done the end of May.” And I’m like, “Guys, don’t tell me that. Don’t tell me that, because I’ll just open it up and start renting it.”
Jake Alexander
Yeah, yeah. I’ll assume there’s going to be a reservation for June 1st if you say end of May.
Richard Bexon
Correct! I’m happy to do that, guys.
Jake Alexander
Yeah. So you’ve got those two villas, they’re almost done. You already did Xanadu. What’s next?
Next Phase: Arenal Projects and Arenal Ridge
Richard Bexon
April 15th, we start a three-year project up in Arenal by the waterfall. You know, we’ve built yurts before up in… you know, in the northern or the southern part of Costa Rica at 9,000 feet. It’s kind of like safari meets luxury, if that makes sense. You know, kind of a little bit, I would say, Nayara Tents—but not like tents, if that makes sense. It feels like it, but it’s more luxury camping with our own private pools, views of the volcano, etc.
And also, you know, our Arenal Ridge project, which has got a lot larger. So, you know, we could be looking at anywhere from 20 to 30 villas on that one, Jake. You know, and I’m going to redo the pool, put slides in, and just kind of re-gut everything, basically, at the moment. And then, you know, I’m personally building a house on it as well. That’s how much I believe in that project.
Jake Alexander
Wow. Yeah, sounds… sounds like you’re going to be busy for quite some time here.
Richard Bexon
Yeah, the team is moving to Arenal, basically. Our… you know, mid-June, basically setup… setup like a camp up there for everybody.
Jake Alexander
Yeah, well, I mean, look…
Using an Existing Hotel as Project Base
Richard Bexon
What we… what we’ve bought is actually an existing hotel. It’s just like a $60-a-night hotel, and I don’t want to run a $60-a-night hotel. So the rooms—which are also houses—is where the staff are going to live while we basically construct. So it’s much easier than Manuel Antonio, where we have to kind of build their living quarters. But yeah, I’m looking forward to that one.
Jake Alexander
Yeah, it sounds exciting. Looking forward to keeping up with it, and thank you for joining me for another episode of Developer Diaries. And for everyone listening, there’ll be plenty more of these—we’ll have Villa 5 and 6 coming out here once they’re complete, probably another one for the entire project, and the rest of the projects that Richard and the rest of the team are up to.
Richard Bexon
I would say a great podcast there with myself! But anyway, I hope it was interesting enough to keep you entertained for 20 minutes there, guys. And again, you can see that building in Costa Rica is not for the faint-hearted. And I’m happy to share all of my experiences—good and bad—with people that are looking to do things here.
I actually had a conversation today with someone where they were… I mean, they were looking to invest in a property down here in Costa Rica, and they were looking for certain returns, and they wanted to use it. And I think my response to them was: you need to put a percentage amount on you using it as well. Meaning that, like, if you spend $7,000 a year, you need to divide that $7,000 by whatever you purchase and put that on every single year, because you won’t have that expense. Because again, all of your travel expenses can now be offset against your taxes.
