The Great Escape

by Wendy Bowman-Littler | The Atlantan magazine | November 25, 2011

Although he created one of the country’s largest Internet service providers and a walkable community based on neighborhood interaction, Atlanta entrepreneur Charles Brewer says he’s “introverted by nature.” But inhibitions seem to slip away when he’s in Las Catalinas—the seaside resort town he’s busy developing on 1,200 acres along Costa Rica’s Northern Pacific Coast. There, he chats freely with people he wants to get to know better—like-minded individuals enjoy relaxing in a beautiful locale surrounded by spectacular ocean views and diverse wildlife, walking to the corner café and hiking or paddleboarding.

“We have something in common. It feels natural to reach out and connect to them,” Brewer says, who still enjoys some “me time” in a swinging bed overlooking the sea at the vacation home he finished there in August. Brewer lives in Ansley Park full time with his wife, Ginny, and their three children: McHenry, 7, Lucy, 11, and Charlotte, 12.

The quest for the ideal family vacation spot—a mix between Seaside, Fla., and an Italian hill town—prompted Las Catalinas. “It was a matter of consumer frustration,” says Brewer. “It just didn’t seem to exist.” With MindSpring Enterprises and Glenwood Park in East Atlanta under his belt, he decided his next creation would be a beautiful, safe, walkable beach town in the New World Tropics.

He settled on Costa Rica for its people, culture, warm climate and nature. The fact that there is at least one, three-and-a-half-hour direct flight daily from Atlanta to Liberia Costa Rica Airport (25 miles from Las Catalinas) was also important.

In August 2006, Brewer and three general partners—including Emory Village developer Stuart Meddin of Atlanta—joined with 30 investors and paid $26 million for the property where he hoped to see his dream come to life. Working with the Atlanta planning and architecture firm Tunnell-Spangler-Walsh & Assoc. and Douglas Duany—an original participant in the New Urbanism Movement—they’ve since created a trail network for hiking, mountain biking and horseback riding, and a 1,000-acre nature preserve. The first neighborhood—Beach Town—includes the completed homes of the town’s seven founders, along with beachside villas ranging from $500,000 to $1 million, Lola’s del Norte restaurant and the Pura Vida Ride general store/outfitter shop with recreation rentals. Future plans include Punta Penca—a neighborhood with 20 private hillside lots priced from $250,000 to $675,000—an equestrian center, and more restaurants, shops and hotels.

It’s unfolding exactly as Brewer envisioned. “Just walking from your door out into a beautiful, engaging, safe, but still lively beachside environment is hard to beat,” he says. “Nobody wants to leave.”

866.357.3872, lascatalinascr.com