St. George’s Resort Act 2015 Tabled In House
Minister of Tourism Development and Transport Shawn Crockwell tabled the St. George’s Resort Act 2015 in the House of Assembly, with the Ministry saying the proposed $120 million development will include 122 hotel rooms, renovation of the St. George’s golf course, up to 90 condominiums and a casino – which will be subject to an application to the Gaming Commission.
“This special Act of the Legislature authorizes the leasing of the land to the Developer and to facilitate the project by granting, subject to conditions, rights, leases, concessions, permissions and approvals necessary to develop and deliver the St. George’s Resort on land lying to the south side of St. Catherine’s point in the Parish of St. George’s,” the Ministry said.
The House of Assembly will resume on Monday, August 17th, so that the St. George’s Resort Act 2015 can be debated.
“I am very excited to announce that the Bermuda Government and the Desarrollos Hotelco Group are now poised to finalize the Master Development Agreement for the St. George’s Tourism Development Site and as such I am able to table the St. George’s Resort Act 2015,” said Minister Crockwell.
“This is a group that is more than capable of developing a world class, full service resort and we are very excited to have them as our partner.”
“Today marks a significant milestone for this development, it is indeed very good news and comes as a result of numerous meetings that the Government, the Bermuda Tourism Authority and Desarrollos have had with both internal and external stakeholders, to negotiate terms and to prepare the relevant documentation.”
“This is a $120 million dollar development and very significant to the revitalization of our tourism industry, the St. George’s community and Bermuda as a whole.”
“This development has the potential to spur other developments and provide exponential employment opportunities. It is crucial to Bermuda and it will have a positive impact on our Island.”
“This Government made a promise to develop a resort in the east end and it is a promise that we are keeping.”
“I must applaud the hard work and commitment of the Ministry of Tourism Development and Transport, the Bermuda Tourism Authority and our consultant on this project, the Hemisphere Group, a Miami based international real estate advisory firm.”
“Reaching this point is a testament of our focus and efforts to create an inviting business environment to attract inward investment and private sector jobs for Bermudians. This is a very important piece of legislation and I encourage the Opposition to support it as it is a tremendous benefit for all of Bermuda.”
The Ministry said, “Desarrollos is an experienced international real estate and hotel development group that was founded in 1997 and over the years they have developed commercial, residential and hospitality real estate projects in Latin America and the Caribbean region.
“A sample include the award winning Ritz-Carlton in Aruba, the Marriott and Renaissance Hotels in Caracas, Venezuela, a Marriott currently under construction in Bonaire, and a Ritz-Carlton to be developed in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
“The selection of Desarrollos resulted from a thorough Request for Proposal [RFP] process that had the stated objective “To provide a high quality tourism development that will complement the St. George’s UNESCO World Heritage Site designation and accentuate the historical significance of the area while providing economic opportunities for the people of St. George’s and Bermuda”.
“At that time, interest was expressed by over a dozen international development and investment companies which resulted in five written submissions being received by the Ministry of Tourism Development & Transport by the March 31st deadline, 2014.
“Each proposal was thoroughly reviewed and evaluated incorporating a decision matrix that took into consideration the respondents international experience in successfully financing, building, owning and operating luxury resort developments and their relationships with renowned hotel brands. From this process two shortlisted finalists emerged and the finalists were invited to make oral presentations to the Economic Development Committee.
“It was not an easy decision as both shortlisted finalists’ submitted impressive proposals that were augmented with very detailed oral presentations that highlighted their desire and enthusiasm for the development opportunity, but most importantly their proven ability to deliver projects was evidenced. Ultimately, Desarrollos was chosen.
“The proposed development includes 122 hotel rooms and the renovation of the 18 hole Robert Trent Jones designed St. George’s golf course.”
The Ministry said the resort development will also include:
- Up to 90 Condominiums
- 6 Estate Residences consisting of 3 and 4 bedrooms
- Spa and fitness center
- Meeting rooms
- Casino [subject to an application to the Gaming Commission]
- Swimming pools
- Pool bar and grill
- A Specialty Restaurant
- Beach Restaurant and Bar
“This world class resort facility will be managed by the St. Regis, Starwood Hotels & Resorts top luxury brand, and it is anticipated that work will start before the end of this year,” the Ministry added.
The St. George’s Resort Act 2015 follows below [PDF here]
When was this ‘”tabled”.
It’s Sunday.
Aug 17th?
I must be a day late and a departure tax short.
“…and a casino – which will be subject to an application to the Gaming Commission”
Build it first, get permission afterwards
Awesome news….Let’s Go Bermuda, keep up the good work!
” Up to 90 condos ” ?
how many hotel rooms
It’s there in the statement, first paragraph, 122
and how many empty condos already on the island?
“Condos”.
Money above; Bermudians are going to buy them?
Kan ewan pay dee lackalite.
Rum all around.
They are for the PRC’s
Put a cruise ship terminal to the East of Fort St. Catherine and request an RFP for a 200 room cruise ship (hotel) to dock in St. George for the next ten years during the tourism season. Ship will have all of the facilities St. George lacks, will be moveable during off-season.
Quo Fata Ferunt
Desarrollos does indeed have a good track record for resort development in similar jurisdictions, but we must wait until the shovels are actually in the ground!
Another promise made and another promise kept by the OBA!!! Thank you so much!!! Maybe Ewart and flip flop furbert might actually now thank the OBA for completing something they could not??? This is the difference between a competent government ( OBA) and an INCOMPETENT government ( plp )
Shut up. You aren’t helping with your endless cheerleading and bashing.
And I’m an OBA supporter.
They promised Transparent,Openness and Honesty also.
Great news so far. But yes let’s get shovels and trucks moving!
Fabulous.
another step in the right direction
thank you
Oops so the oba had to amend the tailor made gaming bill, so the St. Georges Resort can qualified for a license, that the government has no say in who gets.
Maybe I missed it, but I could find no where that it says they will be granting a casino license outside the remit of an application to the gaming commission. It fact the statement talks about a casino in the event of approval of a license. That said, it is probably a foregone conclusion they will get a license, as they want to have one in the east end and that has always been the prospective site for it.
You REALLY have no idea what you are talking about.
Will the condos be built first,and how much is the public purse on the hook for making this happen, last we heard they didn’t have the funding.
You mean like Port Royal and PLP hospital development on the hook?
There is no way you would support any development under any circumstance.
as a PLP supporter, you don’t Bermuda to succeed in anyway under the current Government.
Everyone is so apprehensive about this development because we were fed so much misinformation and lies during the PLP administration. The public now do not trust the situation, and rightfully so!
How many hotels did the PLP promise us!? All we got was the bill x3 the originally quoted costs for EVERY SINGLE capital project under the PLP. That is what you call on the hook!
The only way this will be a success is if everyone were to “climbed onboard” and see the benefits it will bring to the East end as well as the Island on a whole…
Though I must mention I do concur with an old friend, (James Rego) that said, “I will save my praise and congratulations until I see shovels in the ground and cement trucks rumbling through St. Georges. Lord knows I have had enough of false promises from Ewart Brown regarding this issue.”
That has always been my stance on a new hotel development, I’ll believe it when they open it.
Good news for sure.
A couple of questions:
How can they include a casino that is subject to approval – cart before the horse?
The Casino legislation requires a 200 room hotel. How will the new hotel qualify for a casino licence if they have 120 rooms?
What concessions have been granted to the developers
What is the estimated date to open the new resort
At what stage will the golf course be redeveloped.
Write them a letter
Pretty obvious that the whole thing would be a no-go without a casino license. What do you expect guests to do, go all the way to Hamilton just for a little fling with a one armed bandit? Never happen.
After so many “It is gonna happen soon” grand announcements by the previous administration it looks like it really is gonna happen.
Cmon Government – No one is going to build a casino or even draw up plans for one unless they have a license! Give them one and lets also get Morgans Point up on one too! These are the only properties that qualify and you cannot expect someone to plan and build and then wait for a license!
Also we need jobs that a new hotel AND casino AND golf course will OBVIOUSLY provide so lets get your fingers out and give them the approval they need. This also provides us with architect, engineering, construction and service supply jobs!
Where is the urgency here?!
Lets get Morgans Point up first as they are here and waiting on Government for planning permission and casino permission and then get the East end up! We can train or people so they can take on Morgans Point and New East End hotel! Unless of course the plan is to give licenses to the Princess Hotels and to heck with the new developments?
We need casinos and new property shovels in the ground now. Lets give these new developments a runninf start and put Bermudians to work! Its not hard – get your thumbs out OBA!
Is that? no surely not….but could it be a little ray of platinum on the horizon??????