Executive edge: Pat Butler; CEO of Club Acquisition Co. wants resorts to embrace the environment.

AuthorBronikowski, Lynn
PositionAttitude at altitude

Pat Butler would never consider himself to be a "tree hugger," yet the chief executive officer of Denver-based Club Acquisition Co. talks passionately about the Sea Turtle Sanctuary at his Estrella del Mar Golf and Beach Resort in Mazatlan, Mexico.

"Sea turtles have a 5 percent survival rate because of the predatory birds during the egg-laying season, but with the program we instituted at the turtle sanctuary, we released 85,000 sea turtles last year," said the former vice president of the Marriott Corp. "Once you get into something like that, you realize how you are part of a much bigger picture, and you try to do things the best possible way."

In 1993, Butler founded CAC to oversee development of resort and vacation communities in Mexico and most recently acquired the historic Hartsel Springs Ranch in Park County, Colo. For the 63-year-old Dallas native, who graduated from Allegheny College and earned a master's degree from Loyola University in Baltimore, that meant doing plenty of research before plunging into master planning.

When he saw farmers in the fields of Mexico burning excess bales of straw, he brought experts to the planning table to not only help the local agrarian economy but transform the surplus hay into insulation that now lines the stucco walls of 150 energy-efficient straw-bale homes.

"I like to do scalable projects by putting together a team and getting into the essence of building a sustainable project as opposed to just building something," Butler said.

For CAC's golf course projects at Etrella del Mar in Mazatlan and El Dorado Ranch near San Felipe in Mexico, Butler patented a system that uses high-salinity water to irrigate the golf course greens so his projects aren't a drain on Mexico's precious fresh-water supplies.

He has installed solar panels in more than 750 homes in his Mexico projects, he builds his own water-treatment plants and is...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT