Hola Amigos,

Can you believe yet another month has gone by and we are almost 1/2 way through the year? Here in RL Costa Rica, May brings the beginning of the rainy season that lasts until the end of November. Good thing here at the Costa Rica Sims it is always sunny and warm! Just like every other month, it is time to recap everything that went on around our beautiful estate this past month.

Notable news from Linden Lab®

First, starting May 1, 2010, all grandfathered regions (sims) that change estate owners will lose the grandfathered tier. 

What does the term “grandfathered,” mean? Grandfathered, or a grandfathered cause, is an exception that allows an old rule to continue to apply to some existing situations, when a new rule will apply to all future situations. 

In our situation, Linden Lab® is changing the rules on pricing for homestead regions that are resold. After May 1, 2010, if a homestead region, which was purchased prior to May 1, 2010, is resold to another estate owner, the new estate owner will have to pay a higher tier for that region.

Second, the tier pricing is increasing for new homestead regions purchased after May 1, 2010. This means that any new homestead regions our estate buys after May 1, 2010 will have a higher tier than the homestead regions we now own. Currently, our tier per prim on our homestead regions is L$9.88 per prim. This means that if you have a parcel with 1,172 prims your tier is L$11,580 a month.

The new pricing by Linden Lab® on homestead regions is $375 USD to purchase and the tier the estate would have to charge for a parcel with 1,172 prims would be L$13,650 a month, an increase of almost 20%.

Ryker Infinity, our CFO, myself, and other estate owners we have consulted with, do not believe there is a market for land with so few prims at such high tier price. This is especially true if you consider that residents can get a parcel with 1,875 prims in one of our full prim regions, which is 703 more prims than a parcel in a homestead region, with a tier of L$15,400 a month.

Lastly, I want to make clear that our residents that own land on one of our homestead regions will NOT see an increase in their tiers for the rest of the year. Linden Lab® announced that it will keep the current tiers on grandfathered sims (both Full prim regions and homesteads) at the current price until January 2011. Prior to January 2011, Linden Lab® will review the tier pricing and make an announcement on any pricing changes.

You can read the original announcement by Linden Lab® here.

I know that some of the terms used in this explanation are not familiar to some of you, so if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at any time if you have any questions.

Commercial Land

I am asked almost on a daily basis why the Costa Rica Sims doesn’t offer any commercial land besides the little boutiques at our colonial commercial district, and the answer I always give is because I was way to busy making sure a projects like the Costa Rica Sims with its 300 + would run smoothly. But now with the addition of one more estate manager, I feel it is the right time to venture into some commercial land for big stores.

We will start this new addition to our estate with a sim we just ordered. San Jose City is located south of La Fortuna 1 and any future commercial sims will be added to the south and east of that sim.

Parcels will offer no less than 937 prims. If you want to enquire more about our new commercial land please contact me at any time.

New member of the Executive Team

As all of you know last month, we welcomed our new Estate Manager to our increasing family. I met Dolci Woodget while she was exploring our estate and we clicked right away. After talking to her for awhile, I was really impressed with her personality and also on how talented she is as a builder.

After a couple of more meetings I told our CFO, Ryker Infinity, I think we have a keeper, then one day we kinda told her we were cooking something, hoping she would agree to come join our family, which thankfully she did.

Dolci and her partner Clay Ellison are both amazing additions to the Costa Rica Sims family. Clay makes the most amazing boats and later on will be bringing our building classes back to our monthly schedule. If you want to take a look at their boats you may want to pay them a visit at their home at the Isla Ballena Sim.

I encourage all of you that if you need any assistance you can always contact both our estate managers Dolci Woodget  and Jarrod Beck; they will be more than happy to help you out. Dolci is in Eastern Time and Jarrod in Central European Time.

Land Sales

Since we are waiting to see if Linden Lab® would change its mind in the grandfathered regions new policy, we decided not to order new residential regions this past month. In April, we closed with the estate at 99% occupancy.

Events

Costa Rica Designers Showcase: Baiastice

What better way to start spring than with Baiastice’s 2010 spring collection. Sissy Pessoa once again outdid herself with such an array of amazing couture for the ladies. Check out the wonderful review of the show posted in our blog by the fab Takeshi Kiama you can also visit our flickr page to see the beautiful creations that were showcased at the fashion show. Many thanks to the entire Costa Rica Sims Productions Team for yet another magnificent show.

Rezz Days Party

Adventure wear was the theme for the rezz days party in honor of our April babies, what a wonderful time we all had. For me it was really special since I had the chance to party with our CFO Ryker Infinity that is never in-world on the weekends.

If you were not able to attend the party, read the review posted by our estate blogger Takeshi Kiama.

Upcoming Events

So we start May with 4 new monthly events. Three out four will showcase the amazing voice of Ceci Dover, something you don’t want to miss. I want to thank Moonde Magic for letting me know about this gifted performer.

First stop is the Costa Rica Ladies’ Society Friendship Ball at the Botanical Gardens. As you know, the majority of the Costa Rica Sims residents are ladies, so this is a good opportunity to meet your fellow female residents and to the singles ladies and gentlemen perhaps this event will provide you with a new love affair.

Every Second Saturday of the month at 2:00 PM SLT, the biggest private residence in our entire estate opens its doors courtesy of its owner and longtime resident of the estate Mr. WK Ganesvoort. Dress to the nines and mingle with your fellow residents at The Community Ball. Once again Miss Ceci Dover will entertain guests with a live performance.

Every second to the last Sunday of the month we will award a L$5,000 prize to the winner of the best photo of the Natural Wonders Photo Contest. If you haven’t entered our Moolto group, please join it, so you can compete and vote for the best photo of the month. If you want to learn about the contest, please click here to read all information. 

 
There is no other estate in Second Life® that can compare to the Costa Rica Sims when it comes to its influential residents. From designers, top models, fashionistas, magazine editors, beauty queens and kings, every last Sunday of the month we will pay tribute to one of our residents that in some way has contributed to the world of SL™ fashion. To open this fabulous new event we will pay tribute to one of the iconic models in Second Life®. Miss Payton Heron with over 130 fashion shows is by far one of the most accomplished models. So look your best and join The Influentials as we pay tribute to this beautiful lady. Our very own DJ Azu will provide the hot tunes.

Updates

Leatherback Turtle Trust

In April, we raised L$4,860. I would like to thank all residents and friends of the estate who kindly donated to this worthy cause: Suzette Fairlady, LexiDare Claven, BogOleBear Clawtooth, Dolci Woodget Rowdy Tisane, Lamed Townsend, Ewen Scarmon, rukdngme Fairlady, Jen Mikado, Lillmiss Core, Jena Twig, Carmichael Caudron, Twyla Tomorrow, Jen Tafer & LittleLulu Uggla.

As always, here is a photo of he transaction made via Paypal for last month’s donation.

The Geko Stoop butterflies sales

As you all know, all proceeds from the sales of Geko’s butterflies go to the American Cancer Society via their Relay For Life kiosk, located at the Geko Stoop’s Memorial Forest sim.

During the past 7 weeks ,we raised L$11,880 I would like to thank all the people that donated: Sunshine Zhangsun, Gillian Gustafson, Tekillya Mode, robin Brinner, Declan Stratten, Carmichael Caudron, Dory Serpente, Dolci Woodget, Allyn Irelund, Jarrod Beck, Chase Roddenham, Lacy Muicastle, jilly Arabello, Troll Parnall, Brian Lindman, Colleen Braceen, David Júpiter, LexiDare Claven, Tempest Hennesy, Tondy Treves, Grace McDunnough, Vanilla Catteneo, Gualtiero Hax, Maurice Messmer, Brianna Vollmar, SarahJane Rotaru, Rhea Meads, DzinWiz Babii & Bex Mavendorf .

Below there is a photo for the transaction made via the Relay For Life kiosk.

And finally I would like to welcome all the new residents that moved to the estate in the past month and are now part of our growing family: Akri, Angelisimo, Ashleyy, Ashleylauren, Aspen, Bareges, BigOleBear, Canci, Corleth, Darkevilone, Deangelo, Dex, Diamond, Diesel, Dylaan, Dolphin, Donnatella, Eli, Ericaane, Eve, Ewen, Frida, Gidget, Hollee, JuliannaKlawdija, Kevoinitch, Laralouren, Lilmiss, Lily, LittleLulu, Lorrie, Lukrecia, Madison, Mafalda, Marcc, Maximus, Miaa, Michele, Mina, Mona, MsJaqueline, Mstorm09, Nathan, Needla, Nemu, Nomaya, Opal, PacMan, Paige, Rascal, Redhairgenie, Sanodore, SarahJane, Shiloh, Silke, Taina, Taya, Tycoonbabe, Unrulie, Vanilla, Wills & Wes. 

Until next time.

Love & Light,

Gian