The Pellas vision
Don Carlos Pellas
The brainchild of successful entrepreneur and native Nicaraguan, Don Carlos Pellas, Guacalito de la Isla fulfills a dream to do something meaningful for his homeland and, ultimately, for all of Central America by using the region’s emerging sustainable tourism industry as a method for balancing fragile economies within local communities. His vision for Guacalito de la Isla is to create a unique eco-retreat at a special place in Nicaragua and share it with a select group of like-minded ambassadors—people who have fallen in love with this part of the world and wish to help save it. Together with Don Carlos’ wife Vivian, a prominent patron of the Nicaraguan community, the Pellas family is planting the seeds for a new society that will raise the standard of living in Central America.
“We have been charged as stewards. Stewards of the Earth. Yet not only of our planet, but also of the cultures of its peoples. And as long as humanity has dwelled upon this wonderful world—each tribe sharing its ways with the others—our unalterable charge has never changed. And never will.”
The Pellas Legacy
A 135 Year History: In 1875, 25 year-old Francisco Alfredo Pellas Canessa came to Nicaragua to take over the family business, Caribbean Pacific Transit Co., founded by his father Carlos Napoleon.
The young Francisco transformed that company to Nicaragua Steamship Navigation Company with an initial investment of US$ 225,000. With a fleet of 23 ships, he connected the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans of Nicaragua, becoming an icon in the country.
What started as a transport business was transformed in 1890 into Nicaragua Sugar Estates Limited, owner of the San Antonio sugar mill. In 1912, after the death of Francisco Alfredo Pellas, the San Antonio sugar mill produced more than 100,000 quintals of sugar per year.
The sons of the founder of the Pellas Group, Carlos Pellas Vivas and his brother Silvio, assumed the stewardship of the family business.
Casa Pellas, the first distributor of GM vehicles in Central America, was founded in 1913. With the molasses produced in the San Antonio sugar mill, the production of rums began, which were introduced in the Nicaraguan market in 1937 by Compañía Licorera de Nicaragua, the producer of the prestigious Flor de Caña, the world’s most award-winning rum, which has become an ambassador of Nicaraguan identity.
In 1952, after the death of Carlos Pellas Vivas, his brother Silvio expanded the activities of the Pellas Group by entering into the financial world with the founding of Banco de America, which over time became Nicaragua’s largest private bank.
A year later, after the death of Silvio Pellas Vivas, the leadership of the Nicaraguan business group passed to Alfredo Pellas Chamorro, son of the deceased Carlos Pellas Vivas. Under his leadership, the San Antonio sugar mill produced its first million quintals of sugar in 1959.
Alfredo Pellas Chamorro led the Group through a first phase of modernization and developed the financial business through Banco de America, one of the first Latin American banks to use plastic means of payment when Credomatic acquired the MasterCard and Visa franchise in 1975. In 1982, Banco Popular was acquired (now BAC Florida Bank).
As of 1985, and over the last 25 years, Carlos Pellas Chamorro has been at the helm of this corporate conglomerate, consolidating it, diversifying the areas of business, and expanding it into one of the most dynamic business groups in Central America.
Carlos Pellas Chamorro transformed the San Antonio sugar mill into an agro-energy complex that produces sugar, ethanol and energy, and has made Nicaragua Sugar one of the main exporters of ethanol in Central America. Pellas eliminated bunker consumption by generating clean energy from bagasse cane, which supplies 7% of Nicaragua’s energy demand during the harvest season. On the other hand, his brother Silvio Pellas Chamorro, at the front of Casa Pellas, has injected great dynamism with the distribution of brands like Toyota, Suzuki, Hino, and Yamaha motorcycles, among other products of world prestige.
the developer
Pellas Development Group is part of Grupo Pellas, one of the largest financial conglomerates in Central America.
With over a century of history, this Nicaragua-based group has distinguished itself for its inexorable pursuit of excellence, continuous improvement, and innovation in a variety of interests across banking, sugar, energy, Flor de Caña rum, and many other industries.
At Pellas Development Group we are dedicated to developing upscale master-planned resort, golf, and residential communities in one of the most strikingly beautiful and engaging regions on the planet - Central America. We take pride in developing these communities under sustainable practices and with state-of-the-art construction, infrastructure, and amenities that create long-term value and quality of life for their residents.
