TERRAQUINTAS — THE BIZZ AWARDS 2026
TERRAQUINTAS — THE BIZZ AWARDS 2026
Interview with Donny Pichardo, CEO & Founder
Could you briefly tell us the story and evolution of your company?
Terraquintas was not founded following the traditional logic of real estate development. It was born from a conviction: that land, when managed responsibly, can serve as a vehicle for both long-term wealth preservation and environmental regeneration.
Twenty-two years ago, we entered a market that lacked structure, where investing in land was largely driven by mistrust. Our first challenge was to bring order to that environment by formalizing processes, ensuring transparency in every transaction, and, above all, guiding clients through a decision that is not merely transactional, but deeply strategic.
Today, we have evolved into a company built on a development model supported by strong governance, measurable sustainability, and a long-term vision that has enabled us to create projects designed not only to be sold, but to endure over time.
What do you consider to be the key milestones that led to this recognition?
This recognition is not the result of a single moment. It is the outcome of a series of decisions we made long before they became industry expectations.
We implemented genuine corporate governance when the sector was not asking for it. We adopted full financial traceability through a strict zero-cash policy, operating entirely through the banking system when it would have been easier not to. We established that 75% of every project would remain protected green space—not as a marketing gesture, but as a structural requirement. We also donated water infrastructure to rural communities that historically lacked access to clean water because we understood that a project surrounded by hardship cannot be sustainable—it becomes vulnerable.
How would you describe the leadership and culture that drive Terraquintas?
At Terraquintas, leadership cannot exist without the structure that supports it. That was a deliberate decision from the very beginning.
Our culture is built on clarity. Every member of the team understands what we do, why we do it, and what is at stake in every transaction. When people realize they are participating in one of the most important financial decisions in someone else’s life, the way they approach their work changes completely.
Today, 50% of our leadership positions are held by women—not because of a declared policy, but because we have always hired based on competence. The result has been a more analytical, less reactive organization with a stronger ability to anticipate future challenges.
How does this recognition from WORLDCOB strengthen your international projection?
Being part of a network spanning more than 100 countries means being constantly measured against a global benchmark that makes no regional distinctions.
For us, this raises the bar for quality. We have spent years building a company that can be understood, audited, and evaluated in any context—not just in Costa Rica. What WORLDCOB has done is validate, before a global audience, something that already existed.
“Corporate reputation is not protected through speeches, but through verifiable actions.”
Those actions now have an audience in regions where sustainable development is not optional, but a market expectation.
What strategies have you implemented to foster innovation within the organization?
It is important to be precise about innovation because the term is often used loosely in our industry. Innovation is not simply about digitizing processes—it is about redesigning the business model when the existing one no longer responds to reality.
We innovated by integrating forestry specialists who conduct real-time field simulations before any land intervention takes place. We innovated by creating direct financing solutions in a market where limited access to credit represented the greatest obstacle for local buyers. We innovated by recognizing that quality in real estate development is not merely aesthetic—it is legal, technical, and operational.
Today, we continue to innovate through Hacienda Sylvara, our first project designed to operate with 100% photovoltaic solar energy. We will soon replicate this concept with our new project, Hacienda Arenya, in San Carlos, Costa Rica.
How do you keep your team motivated and committed?
Commitment is not built through incentives. It is built through clarity and a shared understanding of what is truly at stake.
“I clearly communicate where we are going, why we are doing it, and how each person contributes to the overall outcome.”
When that purpose is genuine, motivation stops being something that needs to be managed and becomes a natural consequence of the company’s culture.
A team that understands its decisions directly affect the financial future of real families does not require external motivation. It needs information, autonomy, and the confidence that its professional judgment will be respected.
What major challenges have you faced, and how did you overcome them?
The 2008 global recession and the COVID-19 pandemic were our greatest tests—not simply because they brought the market to a halt, but because they required strategic decisions to be made in real time, with limited reliable information and simultaneous pressure on both our team and our clients.
We maintained operations, protected our employees, and preserved direct communication with every client without intermediaries. The earlier recession forced us to strengthen our financial structure and accelerate our digital capabilities, which have since become central pillars of our commercial model.
However, our defining challenge was not external. It was refusing to compromise our standards when external pressure made it easier to lower them.
Many companies relaxed their governance practices and diluted their commitments during that period. We chose the opposite path. That moment revealed more about who we are than any year of rapid growth ever could.
What are the next objectives in your growth strategy?
Terraquintas’ growth strategy is not based on rapid expansion. It is based on strategic depth.
“Our next project in the San Carlos region is truly remarkable. That is why we decided to acquire property there, which is now being developed under the same guiding principles that define Terraquintas.”
The same business model. The same conservation standards.
At the same time, we will continue strengthening our governance framework, advancing ESG standards supported by measurable indicators, and demonstrating that real estate development can become one of biodiversity’s strongest allies.
What message would you like to share with other companies around the world?
Participating in an international platform like this is not about celebration. It is about comparison.
It provides a clear perspective on which companies are building genuine organizational structures and which are operating on well-packaged improvisation. That distinction, which may go unnoticed in local markets, becomes unmistakable when the benchmark is global.
The message is straightforward: growing without structure is a short-term managed risk that inevitably becomes a long-term crisis.
“It is not simply about developing land—it is about sustaining trust.”
That is what we have built over the past 22 years, and that is something no market cycle has been able to take away.
What does it mean to you to be part of WORLDCOB’s global business community?
It means embracing a standard that does not distinguish between large and small markets.
The criteria by which WORLDCOB evaluates companies remain the same anywhere in the world: transparency, traceability, and consistent reliability.
For a company founded in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, to meet those standards and become part of this global network is no small achievement. It confirms that what we have built here speaks a universal language.
And for a company that has always believed in territories others chose to overlook, that is precisely the kind of validation that truly matters.
