CoolTop Community

CoolTop Properties, S.A. purchased the property in December 2007 and finally got legal title in late February 2008. Construction work began immediately. The various projects are discussed in sub-pages along with photos of the progress.

As might be expected, many of the plans for what to build pre-date the purchase of the land. For example, plans for a main building consisting of a large restaurant, conference center and five hotel rooms was completed in mid-2007. There are, however, some projects that are specific to the new land—partly because of its location and party because it is much larger than the area we were initially considering.

In addition, being in the Tisey reserve sets some standards for what we are allowed to do. We don't see any of these standards as negative—more like a guide to keep us on track. Because we are isolated from town and the constraints on development in the reserve limit local employment opportunities, we added some new goals. They include:

• Hire and train local workers (meaning people living in the reserve or in the town of San Nicolas) whenever possible.
• Adding projects (such as production of mushrooms and fruit leather) that can increase available work with little to no environmental impact).