What is the story behind the building of Playa Viva?
We were introduced to the land at Playa Viva in the summer of 2005. We instantly were mystified by its subtle charm, the teaming life of the estuary, the hills overlooking the beach and small lagoon (which turned out to be an archeological site), the broad expanse of beach and the turtle sanctuary. We thought the tiny town of Juluchuca was charming and so we invested in the property. We looked at several options for development. One option would have been to take the land and carve it into lots and sell it. This was the easy route, but it showed lack of leadership and vision. Sandra headed out to Green Build in Atlanta in fall of 2005 and interviewed several experts in sustainable development. Of all the experts, Bill Reed spoke her language and inspired the leadership and vision that we wanted for this project. We held several design Charettes in 2006 and 2007 and developed the Master Plan behind Playa Viva.
