Talk to us before you start
Architects, civil engineers, surveyors, legal advisors, builders and site supervisors — we have the professionals needed to build your project from scratch and coordinate every stage of construction. Whether you buy the land through us or already own your property, we offer a free, no-obligation first consultation to help you make the right decisions.
Many of the most expensive mistakes in Costa Rica construction projects start with poor planning, often before any work begins. Buying land without checking its zoning and the legal availability of drinking water and electricity. Designing a house without allowing for the required setbacks. Building a budget without properly pricing the materials, finishes and technical specifications. Hiring a builder without a written agreement that sets out costs, timelines and responsibilities.
These problems can be prevented with professional advice from the very first stages of the project. Fixing them once construction has started can add significant costs. Our team can guide you on whether the land is suitable, the architectural planning, the professionals you will need and an initial investment estimate.
Getting advice early lets you make well-founded decisions and protect your investment.
The first consultation is free and comes with no obligation.
- Builds your house or project from scratch with our own team
- Prepares a 3D render so you can see your home before it is built
- Puts the right professionals around your project and introduces you to them
- Checks the land before you commit: title, access, water, zoning, setbacks
- Helps you compare quotes so you are reading like for like
- Keeps eyes on the work while you are out of the country
- Chases the paperwork through the permits and the registry
- Arranges the financing when you need it
- We do not sign off plans. Only the responsible professional can do that.
- We do not tell you a price before anyone has seen the land.
We are on your side of the table, from the first call to the day you get the keys.
Before anything is built, we prepare a 3D render of your house or project, so you can see exactly how it will look: the shape, the materials, the views and how it sits on your land. Changes are easy and cheap at this stage, and expensive once the walls are up.
From render to reality. Here is one of our projects, a modern two-storey home. On the left is the 3D render the client approved; on the right, the same house built.
A home in El Castillo, Heredia. This 270 m² home grew out of one clear idea from the client: a house that is part of the landscape, surrounded by trees and connected to nature. From that, our team designed a single-storey contemporary home with clean lines, large areas of glass and finishes in wood and stone tones, with every space shaped around what the client needed and around the gardens.
In the social areas the walls rise to 3.00 metres, which gives a sense of space, allows taller windows, opens the views to the trees and brings in more light. The living room, dining room and kitchen flow into one another around a kitchen island, and the windows and terraces carry the rooms out to the garden. The bedrooms are quiet places to rest, the walk-in closet is organised for storage, and the interior arches, textures and lighting give the house warmth and its own identity. Outside, the gardens, terraces and the gathering area around the fire pit make the trees part of everyday life.
Watch the full 3D walkthrough (about 3½ minutes):
A render lets you start living the project before it is built. You understand the layout, see the finishes and check that every room works the way you want. It is the starting point for turning a personal idea into a home designed around you.
These are real photos of homes our team has built in Costa Rica — not renders. Click any photo to see the full set, 25 photos in all.
+17 more
In Costa Rica, building work is not something you can legally organise on your own. Under the law governing the Colegio Federado de Ingenieros y de Arquitectos (CFIA), every engineering or architectural project — public or private — must be designed, calculated, supervised and directed at every stage under the responsibility of a member of the Colegio.
Every set of construction drawings must carry the CFIA seal, signed with the responsible professional’s registration number, before any public office will even process it. And no municipality or state institution will accept plans that have not been through it.
In plain terms: no registered professional, no seal. No seal, no permit. No permit, no legal house.
Every architect and engineer we bring onto a project is registered with the CFIA. That is not a preference, it is the law — and it is the first thing we check before anyone starts.
Source: Colegio Federado de Ingenieros y de Arquitectos, Ley Orgánica, articles 12, 54 and 57.
This is exactly the kind of thing nobody mentions until a project is already stuck. It is also why the cheapest quote is so often the most expensive one.
We are not going to publish a list of company names, but here is who actually has to be involved in a build of any size, and who we can bring in. The architects and engineers among them are CFIA-registered, because nothing they sign would be worth anything otherwise:
This is where it helps that we are not only a real estate company. Through GAP Equity Loans we arrange property-backed financing from US$50,000 to around US$1 million — the range most house builds sit in. Above that, GAP arranges project funding from US$1,000,000 to US$100,000,000 and above for developments, hotels and commercial projects.
So the land, the build and the money can all come from the same conversation, instead of three separate ones that do not line up.
Jonnathan has over 20 years in Costa Rica real estate and handles the property side of this. If you have not bought the land yet, he is the one who finds it and, just as importantly, tells you when a lot you have fallen in love with is going to be a problem to build on.
Access, water, boundaries, setbacks, what the neighbours are entitled to put up next door — those get checked before you commit, not after.
You do not need to have bought through us. If you already own land in Costa Rica and you are trying to work out whether you can build on it, what it would cost, or simply who to trust, that is the same conversation. Plenty of people come to us holding a plano and a lot of conflicting advice.
- Where the land is — a Google Maps link or a WhatsApp pin is enough
- The plano catastro if you have it, or the finca number
- What you want to build, even roughly: size, bedrooms, one storey or two
- The budget range you have in mind
- When you would like to be living in it
If you do not have half of that yet, send what you do have. The point of talking early is that you should not need the answers before you ask the questions.
Glenn Tellier, founder of Grupo GAP, handles these personally.
GAP coordinates and introduces independent professionals. Design, engineering and construction work is carried out and certified by the responsible professionals under their own registration, and construction contracts are agreed directly between the owner and the builder.