Xala, Rasaland

Rasaland, a unique development company based in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, contracted with IDEAS. Our charge was to help define what a next-generation sustainable resort community should be at its site in Mexico. 

Chalacatepec (Chala) is a coastal agricultural live/work/play community about 120 kilometers south of Puerto Vallarta. It encompasses 8,500 pristine acres comprising Pacific Ocean beach, rolling hills and farmland rich with coconut, mango and papaya.

Our tasks are defining the brand while driving master planning and design. To do so, we’re using our brandRing system to create the property’s definitive guest/resident experience.

The process began with a two-day StoryJam and site familiarization.

A diverse group of stakeholders came together to author the narrative that will support the property’s distinctive development programs.

StoryJam is a tested and highly efficient method for creating an action plan built on a solid narrative foundation.

Once we’d completed and processed the storywork, we began the Experience Design process. Our Experience Design work creates a detailed, audience-centric program.

Using that program, we visualize the community’s conceptual attributes. We also articulate distinctive experiential elements that fill two roles:

• Define the master plan
• Inform architectural and engineering design development

We’ve teamed with Ypartnership, a leading travel and lifestyle marketing firm, for the Chala site’s development and action planning.

The StoryJam narrative drove the brand development work. Next, we refined it with Ypartnership’s qualitative and quantitative research.

When complete, Chala will be an industry-leading example of sustainable, profitable lifestyle development and set the pace for the next decade.