After two decades of controversy and false starts, ground should finally be broken on a new resort at Prospect Reef next year, according to Premier Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley.
A Cabinet decision on who will develop the long-abandoned site is imminent, Mr. Wheatley said last week during the government’s Virgin Islands Voice broadcast.
“We have a Cabinet paper which will be coming to Cabinet soon, where we will have a number of entities which submitted expressions of interest,” Mr. Wheatley said, adding, “The Cabinet paper will approve for them to be able to submit proposals, and then we will have those proposals evaluated, and a successful tenderer will win the job to develop Prospect Reef.”
The government, he said, hopes to break ground in 2026.
150-room hotel
The request for expressions of interest, which the government issued in January, called for a four to-five-star hotel with at least 150 rooms and “modern conference facilities” capable of accommodating 300 people.
Government posted the request on its website on Jan. 17, and submissions were due by March 3.
Officials have not said how many responses were received, but Mr. Wheatley said in his May Territorial Address that the request drew a “strong response” from investors who want to restore the derelict property to its former glory.
The premier has framed the development as complementing other tourism-focused projects, including the runway expansion plans for Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport and the revitalisation of the capital.
False starts
The 11-acre Prospect Reef site was once a popular resort.
But it has been mired in controversy and delays since the government purchased it for about $6 million in 2005 with plans to turn it into a government-owned hospitality training centre.
That project stalled, as did attempts in 2013 to strike a deal with the United Kingdom-based developer Sir Robert McAlpine Group to build a $100 million hotel on the property.
The next major effort came in 2017, when then-premier Dr. Orlando Smith signed a $90 million agreement with the United States-based ICA Group to finance, develop and operate two hotels, condos, town houses, a marina, a conference centre, and parking lots.
But following Hurricane Irma, that deal fell through in 2019 amid recriminations between the government and the developer. The Covid-19 pandemic brought further delays.
