Not much news has cir­cu­lated about for­mer Yahoo CEO Tim Koogle since he left the Inter­net com­pany in 2001 in the midst of the dot-com bust. He had a brief stint as interim CEO of social net­work Friend­ster in the ensu­ing years, but now Koogle is try­ing his hand at real estate devel­op­ment. His lux­ury Mex­i­can beach vil­las, of which there are seven, are now on sale for $6.2 mil­lion each, accord­ing to a state­ment Mon­day from his com­pany El Banco.

Koogle isn’t the first Inter­net exec­u­tive to eschew vir­tual invest­ments for ones in real estate. Jim Clark, founder of Web browser pio­neer Netscape and work­sta­tion com­pany Sil­i­con Graph­ics, left Sil­i­con Val­ley after the first Inter­net hey­day to develop con­dos and rental prop­er­ties in Florida. In an inter­view in 2003 with Busi­ness Week, Clark said he had “gone back to mak­ing money the old fash­ioned way.”

For­mer Google soft­ware engi­neer Ray Sid­ney also recently started a sus­tain­able real estate ven­ture called Big George Ven­tures. With about 100 acres of land in Car­son Val­ley, Nev., Sid­ney aims to build afford­able, eco-friendly sin­gle and mul­ti­fam­ily homes in the next few years.

Sim­i­larly, Koogle has built hous­ing on 100 acres of land, but his four-bedroom beach vil­las are much higher end. The devel­op­ment is near Punta de Mita, Mex­ico, about 45 min­utes from Puerto Val­larta, and the vil­las “offer expan­sive views of the Bay of Ban­deras, Mari­etas Islands, Sierra Madre Moun­tains,” and the white-sand beaches, accord­ing to the com­pany. Two of the seven vil­las are built, but all of them are for sale.

Even­tu­ally, Koogle and his wife Pam (a part­ner in the ven­ture) plan to build a bou­tique hotel called Las Ban­deras del Banco, which will include a spa, cook­ing school, and about 75 guest suites.

Like Clark, Koogle seems to be drawn to the tan­gi­ble investment.

“Hav­ing worked on great tech­nol­ogy brands for much of my career, build­ing some­thing as tan­gi­ble as a lux­ury real estate devel­op­ment is ter­rif­i­cally sat­is­fy­ing. My love of design, train­ing as an engi­neer, and his­tory as a busi­ness­man have all come into play in devel­op­ing El Banco,” Koogle said in a statement.

Yahoo’s Found­ing CEO Tim Koogle com­bines busi­ness with plea­sure in his lat­est endeavor, lux­ury real estate in Mex­ico. The first seven Beach Vil­las at El Banco, Koogle’s pre­mium 100-acre, low-density com­mu­nity near Punta de Mita, Mex­ico, are now for sale for over $6,200,000 each.

Each one-of-a-kind lux­u­ri­ous home offers expan­sive views of the Bay of Ban­deras, Mari­etas Islands, Sierra Madre Moun­tains, and El Banco’s long stretch of white-sand beach. The Beach Vil­las bring El Banco’s sig­na­ture style to life – casual indoor-outdoor liv­ing that takes advan­tage of the area’s nearly per­fect year-round weather com­bined with the ele­gance of Old World Mex­ico. The fea­tures of the Beach Vil­las include: a min­i­mum of four bed­room suites, gourmet kitchens, ele­gant pools, spa-like bath­rooms, mul­ti­ple out­door liv­ing spaces, high-tech ameni­ties, and care­taker apartments.

Hav­ing worked on great tech­nol­ogy brands for much of my career, build­ing some­thing as tan­gi­ble as a lux­ury real estate devel­op­ment is ter­rif­i­cally sat­is­fy­ing. My love of design, train­ing as an engi­neer, and his­tory as a busi­ness­man have all come into play in devel­op­ing El Banco. It is my inten­tion to cre­ate a place that oth­ers will, hope­fully, enjoy for years to come,” said Koogle.

The first phase of the Beach Vil­las includes seven homes; two are com­pleted and fully fur­nished, and the addi­tional five are ready for construction.

The pro­pri­ety design lan­guage of El Banco, coined New World Span­ish Colo­nial Design, is inspired by Mexico’s Span­ish Colo­nial archi­tec­tural ele­ments – grand arches, gra­cious court­yards, and hand-craftsmanship – com­bined with a con­tem­po­rary twist of indoor-outdoor design that wel­comes in views, light, and ocean breezes from every direc­tion. Liv­ing spaces extend from indoors to out, thereby blur­ring the lines between the ele­gant indoors and the nat­ural beauty of this beach­side land­scape. The Beach Vil­las cel­e­brate the best – old and new – of what Mex­i­can archi­tec­ture has to offer.

The lux­ury real estate Beach Vil­las are being designed by an award-winning team of bi-cultural tal­ent, includ­ing archi­tects, design­ers, and builders from HKS Inc. of Dal­las, Texas; Rachel Horn Inte­ri­ors of San Miguel de Allende, Mex­ico; an inde­pen­dent archi­tec­ture stu­dio of Guadala­jara, Mex­ico; and Stone Con­trac­tors of Puerto Val­larta, Mexico.

“El Banco has raised the bar in regards to devel­op­ment offer­ings along this coast­line. What makes El Banco spe­cial is the details. You can see clearly how the aes­thet­ics of design are above and beyond, but you can also feel the qual­ity of what isn’t seen – the engi­neer­ing and the con­struc­tion,” said John Youden, pub­lisher of Costa Val­larta Lux­ury Liv­ing magazine.

Yahoo’s Found­ing CEO Tim Koogle’s lat­est endeavor is the devel­op­ment of lux­ury vaca­tion homes in Mex­ico. Koogle’s 100 acre low-density com­mu­nity will offer resort-style ameni­ties and lifestyle for its res­i­dents. Located near the Punta de Mita Penin­sula, 45 min­utes north of Puerto Val­larta, Mex­ico, these one-of-a-kind lux­u­ri­ous mex­ico vaca­tion homes offer expan­sive views of the Bay of Ban­deras, Mari­etas Islands, Sierra Madre Moun­tains, and El Banco’s long stretch of white-sand beach. “The Beach Vil­las bring El Banco’s sig­na­ture style to life — casual indoor-outdoor liv­ing that takes advan­tage of the area’s nearly per­fect year-round weather com­bined with the ele­gance of Old World Mex­ico,” states Koogle.

Vil­las start at $6.2 mil­lion.  The first phase of the Beach Vil­las includes seven homes; two are com­pleted and fully fur­nished, and the addi­tional five are ready for construction.

Cha­cala is a pic­turesque beach-town set in small cove on the Pacific coast of Mex­ico in the State of Nayarit. It is located about 100 kilo­me­ters (60 miles) north of Puerto Val­larta. The name means “where there are shrimp” in Náhu­atl, and is part of the coast­line known as the Riv­iera Nayarita. The pop­u­la­tion con­sists of approx­i­mately 300 full time res­i­dents, but can swell to over 1000 dur­ing Mexico’s most pop­u­lar vaca­tion peri­ods such as Sem­ana Santa, (Easter Week) and Christ­mas. Cha­cala is known for its phys­i­cal beauty, unhur­ried lifestyle, and for the efforts of a small group of “socially con­scious” and “proac­tive” Amer­i­cans to change the lifestyle of the res­i­dents. The Stun­ning beaches of the Mex­i­can pacific cre­ate a unique sce­nario ideal for rest and recre­ation. Mali­nali Nature Vil­las, located on a gor­geous bay presents arqui­tec­tural designs inspired by regional art, the purest expre­sion of a culture’s his­toric roots.

Enchant­ment Group, a spa and resort devel­op­ment and man­age­ment com­pany, announced that they will open 30 guest room des­ti­na­tion spa, along with 25 res­i­den­tial con­do­mini­ums, in Punta Mita, Mex­ico, 45 min­utes north of Puerto Val­larta. Sched­uled for a 2010 open­ing, Mii amo Punta Mita will be the first des­ti­na­tion spa in the master-planned resort com­mu­nity that occu­pies a 1,500-acre nat­ural penin­sula on Mexico’s Pacific Coast. The project will be the fourth prop­erty — and the first out­side the United States — to be owned and man­aged by the Enchant­ment Group.

The des­ti­na­tion spa will build upon the tra­di­tions — acclaimed in the indus­try for lead­er­ship and over­all excel­lence — estab­lished at the company’s Mii amo spa in Sedona, Ari­zona. Mii amo will com­ple­ment Punta Mita’s exist­ing ameni­ties — includ­ing a sig­na­ture Jack Nick­laus golf course, Res­i­dents’ Beach Club, Four Sea­sons Resort and pri­vate home devel­op­ments — ele­vat­ing the lux­ury expe­ri­ence for home­own­ers and guests. A sec­ond Jack Nick­laus course and St. Regis Resort & Res­i­dences are sched­uled to open mid 2008. In addi­tion, Punta Mita’s unique loca­tion pro­vides access to a wide range of expe­ri­ences — from explor­ing the eco­log­i­cal pre­serve of the Mari­etta Islands and indige­nous Hui­chol cul­ture, to surf­ing off one of Punta Mita’s great break points.

“We have been look­ing for a sin­gu­lar ocean­front loca­tion to com­ple­ment our des­ti­na­tion spa in the red rock canyon of Sedona, and we believe Punta Mita’s white sand beaches and hill­side loca­tion over­look­ing the Pacific will appeal to our guests who seek a world class spa expe­ri­ence in an awe-inspiring envi­ron­ment of nat­ural beauty,” said Mark Greno­ble, pres­i­dent of Enchant­ment Group. “For home­own­ers look­ing for a vaca­tion home with the ser­vices of a spa, the loca­tion offers unpar­al­leled lux­ury with spa ser­vices pro­vided by one of the industry’s rec­og­nized leaders.”

“We’re so very pleased to wel­come Mii amo and its unri­valed des­ti­na­tion spa expe­ri­ence to Punta Mita,” said Andres Ros­setto, man­ag­ing direc­tor of resort and devel­op­ment for Punta Mita and DINE. “As we con­tinue our plan for smart growth, we’re com­mit­ted to adding only those prop­er­ties and ameni­ties that com­ple­ment each other and the Punta Mita lifestyle. Our part­ner­ship with Mii amo under­scores our pledge to sus­tain the endur­ing value and appeal for home­own­ers, guests and share­hold­ers alike in one of Mexico’s most dis­tin­guished pri­vate resort locales.”

In line with the company’s phi­los­o­phy to cre­ate unique des­ti­na­tion spas in stun­ning nat­ural set­tings, Gluck­man Mayner Archi­tects has been retained. Known for the design of muse­ums, the firm designed the first Mii amo, a des­ti­na­tion spa at Enchant­ment Resort in Sedona, Ari­zona. Gluck­man Mayner’s other cred­its include the Geor­gia O’Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe, NM, The Andy Warhol Museum in Pitts­burgh, PA, and Museo Picasso Malaga, in Spain.

“We have been plan­ning a selec­tive expan­sion of the Mii amo brand and are delighted this Punta Mita project will let us bring this plan to fruition,” said Greno­ble, who added that addi­tional loca­tions, inside and out­side the United States, are cur­rently under close review by Enchant­ment Group senior management.

About Enchant­ment Group

Enchant­ment Group was renamed in 2007 to reflect the company’s focus on pro­vid­ing proven expe­ri­ence in devel­op­ing and man­ag­ing all aspects of spa-oriented resorts and com­mu­ni­ties. Based in Sedona, Ari­zona, Enchant­ment Group pro­vides highly per­son­al­ized branded or cus­tomized spa and resort devel­op­ment and man­age­ment ser­vices in ways that max­i­mize per­for­mance and return on invest­ment. Award-winning prop­er­ties man­aged by Enchant­ment Group include Arizona’s Enchant­ment Resort; Mii amo, a des­ti­na­tion spa at Enchant­ment, named “world’s best des­ti­na­tion spa” in 2007 by Travel + Leisure read­ers, and Tides Inn in Vir­ginia. The firm’s exclu­sive brand­ing options include Mii amo, for all-inclusive des­ti­na­tion spas in stun­ning nat­ural set­tings, and Jour­ney Spa, for urban hotels, inde­pen­dent resort spas and res­i­den­tial resort communities.

For more infor­ma­tion, visit www.enchantmentgroup.com.

About Punta Mita, Mexico

Punta Mita is an inno­v­a­tive resort and res­i­den­tial com­mu­nity cov­er­ing more than 1,500 acres on a spear-shaped penin­sula sur­rounded on three sides by white sand beaches, Pacific Ocean waters and lush trop­i­cal flora. It is cur­rently home to Four Sea­sons Resort Punta Mita, var­i­ous res­i­den­tial homes and the Jack Nick­laus Sig­na­ture Golf Course at Punta Mita, ranked World’s Best Golf Resort by read­ers of Conde Nast Trav­eler 2006 and one of the best golf courses by Travel + Leisure Golf in 2006. The mas­ter plan of Punta Mita includes sev­eral lux­ury devel­op­ments in the works, includ­ing the St. Regis Resort & Res­i­dences (mid 2008) with a sec­ond Jack Nick­laus Sig­na­ture golf course, and a vari­ety of exclu­sive res­i­den­tial offer­ings and estate lots to com­plete this very priv­i­leged resort community.

For more infor­ma­tion, visit www.puntamita.com.mx

DINE, Mexico’s pre­mier real estate devel­op­ment com­pany, is the owner and devel­oper of Punta Mita. DINE’s real estate port­fo­lio includes com­mer­cial, res­i­den­tial and mas­ter planned com­mu­ni­ties through­out Mex­ico. DINE was founded in 1978 to serve the spe­cific needs of the high­est income sec­tors in Mex­ico, estab­lish­ing unprece­dented design qual­ity in res­i­den­tial, com­mer­cial, leisure and cor­po­rate real estate development.

First Mii amo Spa in Mex­ico will Fea­ture Indige­nous Treat­ments
from Both Sides of the Border

Mex­ico will seek a six-fold increase in tourism invest­ments by 2012, to reach 20 bil­lion dol­lars, Mex­i­can Pres­i­dent Felipe Calderon said Thurs­day. In a meet­ing with the busi­ness com­mu­nity to pro­mote invest­ment in infra­struc­ture in the tourist sec­tor, Calderon said a record invest­ment of 3.5 bil­lion dol­lars was reached in 2007, sur­pass­ing expec­ta­tions.“Our wish is, of course, not just to keep up, but to increase the rhythm of invest­ment in the sec­tor this year. By 2012 we want Mex­ico to have pri­vate invest­ment in tourism of at least 20 bil­lion dol­lars,” Calderon said.The Mex­i­can pres­i­dent is keen to pro­mote invest­ment in infra­struc­ture as a way to dif­fuse the effects of a pos­si­ble reces­sion in the United States. 

On Wednes­day, the cre­ation of a National Fund for Infra­struc­ture was announced. In its first year, it is set to have some 3.7 bil­lion dol­lars in pub­lic funds to finance top-priority works.

Calderon said Mex­ico is try­ing “to cre­ate a favourable busi­ness envi­ron­ment for invest­ment,” through a deter­mined fight against orga­nized crime, eco­nomic sta­bil­ity, and a his­toric pub­lic spend­ing of 25 bil­lion dol­lars over the next five years.

In the field of tourism, he said, there are “new, very inter­est­ing mar­ket oppor­tu­ni­ties” in cul­tural tourism, eco­tourism, con­ven­tions and in the real estate mar­ket for sec­ond homes for for­eign­ers who chose to spend long peri­ods or retire in Mexico.

The pres­i­dent said the con­di­tions are right for Mex­ico to attract more tourists from the United States, Canada and Europe, given the strong euro.