Grupo GAP Founder Glenn Tellier: From Canada to Costa Rica

Every company reflects the person who started it. Glenn Tellier, the Grupo GAP founder, spent years arranging mortgages and bridge financing in Canada before he moved to Costa Rica and formed the GAP companies in 2008. This profile explains where that experience came from, and how it shapes the way GAP works today.

Starting out in Canadian mortgage financing

Glenn studied at the University of British Columbia and began working in mortgage financing in Canada in the 1990s, securing his mortgage license in the middle of that decade. As a licensed mortgage professional and financing consultant, he helped clients and project sponsors arrange financing across a wide range of property and development transactions.

By Glenn’s own account, he arranged hundreds of millions of dollars in loans in Canada in the late 1990s, and was among the top three producers at a company with more than 100 people. His experience also included helping larger real estate projects secure bridge financing involving hundreds of millions of dollars.

Seeing a gap in Costa Rica

After relocating to Costa Rica, Glenn noticed that property owners, foreign residents, private lenders and project sponsors often had no clear path for discussing financing and real estate-backed capital. Banks set their own requirements, which can make bank loans harder for newcomers, and many owners with valuable, debt-free property had nowhere to turn.

In 2008 he formed the GAP companies to meet that need, with a different company for each kind of client.

How the group is organized

• GAP Real Estate helps people buy, sell and list property.
• GAP Equity Loans handles borrowers who want to borrow against titled property.
• GAP Investments works with private lenders and capital providers.
• Grupo GAP coordinates larger projects, institutional relationships and strategic opportunities.

The GAP companies in Costa Rica: who handles what explains each role in more detail. Each company has its own website (gaprealestate.com, gapequityloans.com and gapinvestments.com, with gap.cr as the home of Grupo GAP), and every GAP company uses the same email, [email protected].

What Glenn focuses on today

As Grupo GAP founder and managing director, Glenn provides strategic direction across the group, with a focus on private lending, structured capital, project financing, property-backed opportunities and long-term business relationships. He brings more than 25 years of experience in lending, investments, financial planning, real estate financing and transaction coordination.

He works alongside Lawsen, GAP’s director of operations, who handles day-to-day coordination: borrower communication, lender coordination, property review and document follow-up, drawing on a practical background in construction. Projects of US$50 million and up are led by Steven Stewart, a senior development finance advisor.

The approach he built into GAP

Grupo GAP is built around practical review, proper routing, realistic expectations and disciplined execution, lessons drawn from years of arranging real transactions. In practice, that means reviewing each property properly, keeping the lender in first position, being realistic about what a loan or project can do, and sending each request to the company best placed to handle it. GAP does not promise approval, funding or returns, and GAP closes loans within 10 business days once the required documents are complete.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the Grupo GAP founder?

Glenn Tellier, founder and managing director of Grupo GAP.

When were the GAP companies formed?

In 2008, after Glenn’s years in mortgage financing in Canada.

Where is Grupo GAP based?

Our office is in Escazú.

How can I contact Glenn or the team?

Email [email protected] and your message reaches the right person. You can also read more on the Grupo GAP team page.

This article is general information only. Background details are based on Glenn Tellier’s published biography and his own account. GAP does not guarantee approval, funding or returns.

Contact Grupo GAP → · WhatsApp us at +506 4001 6413 to get started, call or email [email protected]