Three Luxury Hotels Planned for Grace Bay

Turks & Caicos News – November 2012

Three Luxury Hotels Planned for Grace Bay

Venezuelan hotel developer Desarrollos Hotelco Group has signed an agreement with the Turks and Caicos Islands government to build three luxury hotels on Grace Bay at a cost of $500 million, government announced Oct. 30.

The first 400-room hotel is planned for the 10.5-acre site adjacent to the Seven Stars Resort on Providenciales. Desarrollos Hotelco also plans to build two more hotels with a total of 500 rooms on property west of the Sands that was formerly planned for a development called Mandalay, also on Providenciales.

None of the buildings will be taller than 96 feet, which is the height of the Seven Stars. The development is not related to the proposed 28-story proposal by Skyline Development Co.

The brands of the proposed hotels have not been disclosed, but the developer owns three hotels in Venezuela managed by Marriott, and it has developed a Ritz-Carlton resort on Aruba.

“We were attracted to TCI because it is a high-end tourism destination with great potential, friendly and welcoming people, and an excellent investment climate,” said Pedro Vera of Desarrollos Hotelco. “We look forward to investing in TCI and being a participant in bringing luxury resort brands to these islands.”

Desarrollos Hotelco first visited the TCI in March 2011 and has been working with the government’s Investment Unit, which set up meetings with the Planning Department and Airports Authority to help ensure the sustainable and supported growth of the island’s infrastructure needs and airlift capacity.

Consultancy firm KPMG TCI has been employed by the developer to complete a full social and economic impact study for the properties.
“This is the best possible vindication of the new TCI Inward Investment Policy, management structure and approach to attracting inward investment on the best terms for the taxpayers of the TCI,” said His Excellency the Gov. Ric Todd.

“This confirms that major international investors are impressed by the reforms that we have made over the past three years and, despite global economic difficulties, see the Turks and Caicos Islands as a great place in which to invest and to do business.”

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Turks & Caicos Free Press Newspaper, November 2nd, 2012