Southern Exposure

Las Catalinas“ vice president Jim Berry and his wife, Julia

The view of the Pacific Ocean from Las Catalinas at sunset.

Jake and Amy Jacobs, owners of Pura Vida Ride

Luis Diego Calzada, director of construction.

Atlanta interior designer Beth Webb

Dinner, including coco del mar, was prepared by Jean-Luc Taulere from Mar y Sol Restaurant in nearby Playa Flamingo.

Mixed greens were served in a cucumber base with avocado and alfafa, topped with a red pepper vinaigrette.

A highlight of the weekend“s festivities to celebrate Las Catalinas was a Saturday night dinner party held at Charles and Ginny Brewer“s home. Cocktails were served in their courtyard, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean. A number of guests from Atlanta attended, including Kent Alexander and Diane Alexander, David York, Neal K. Aronson and Wendy Conrad Aronson, and Steve Beshara and Paulina Brand.

Ginny Brewer and Beth Webb.

Guest (and former Atlantan) Mary Jo Riddle.

Guest Paulina Brand.

Dinner was prepared by Jean-Luc Taulere from Mar y Sol Restaurant in nearby Playa Flamingo.

Elizabeth Cole de Temple of Mar y Sol Restaurant.

Dinner and dessert were served in the grotto.

Charles and Ginny Brewer on the loggia of their Las Catalinas home, which overlooks the community“s paseo del mar (sea walk).

Las Catalinas is a new town, and it’s also a new type of town. It’s one in which about 1,000 acres of its 1,200-acre footprint will be left untouched and unspoiled. If this sounds like an innovative approach, it is. And the credit goes to Atlantan Charles Brewer, the founder of this groundbreaking Costa Rica beach community. Developed in the concept of New Urbanism (think Seaside, Florida), Brewer is no stranger to creating communities. After his stint as founder and CEO of MindSpring, he was instrumental in the building of Glenwood Park, a neighborhood located along I-20, just east of downtown Atlanta.

Las Catalinas is located on the Pacific Ocean along the Bahía Potrero, and can be reached in about the same time it takes to drive to Sea Island. A daily non-stop flight from Atlanta to Liberia is less than four hours, with Las Catalinas being a 45-minute drive away from the airport. Homesites offer breathtaking views and there’s no shortage of activities. Visitors and homeowners in the town can while away afternoons with ceviche and margaritas at Lola’s del Norte, go kayaking or paddle boarding in the mornings, or spend a day hiking and mountain biking.

Last winter, Charles and Ginny Brewer hosted a small gathering of friends from Atlanta to toast the completion of Phase 1 of Las Catalinas. If the development’s success thus far is any indication of the town’s future, there’s no doubt of more celebrations ahead.