Planning on knocking down and opening. You have to 
wonder at the chutzpa. Someone informs me that they contacted the Shoal Bay Resort and Spa development. They claim that they are planning on knocking down Madeariman and Uncle Ernie’s in March 2009 to start construction of the villas! IMI staff swarming all over the place. They deny they are in anyway connected to Viceroy. Just coincidence. God knows, no one else does, how Viceroy connections come to be so pervasive. And persuasive. IMI have to have some story about when construction is starting. After all, they can’t just tell the speculators, “I don’t know when we will start. Just give me your money and don’t worry about it.” They only have two choices: tell some lies, or quit marketing the project indefinitely. And, then what do they tell the suckers who gave them their deposits? That they spent their money on something else? I don’t think so.
So, why is the whole project for sale? [It has since been pointed out to me that I mis-read the linked advertisement which relates to one unit only, not the entire project.]
Someone else emails me that I am to stop worrying. Rendezvous Bay Hotel is ‘getting its financing arranged in a few months’ time’. Let me see now. I am an investor and looking for someplace to put my money.
Cap Juluca is burning through money. Wish they’d give me some. I walk Maundays Bay beach once a week, early in the morning. I notice the barge load of sand due three weeks ago finally arrived last Sunday from
What a start to the tourist season!
Don,
ReplyDeleteI think you misinterpreted the ad, the whole property is not for sale, I hope not as the price is 715000. That is the price of one unit. Regardless I agree that now is not the time to buy real estate in Anguilla, but hopefully for us someone will, because with every other project closing we can use the business.
If the whole place isn't for sale, what is the meaning of the headline that reads "Resort for Sale in Shoal Bay East, Anguilla"?
ReplyDeleteIs there some other resort in Shoal Bay that's for sale or is this the usual false advertising that we've come to know and love in Anguilla?
For a lifetime, it has been the policy of the Government of Anguilla that foreigners will not be allowed to speculate on Anguillian real estate.
ReplyDeleteThe Shoal Bay developers, however, are promoting exactly that, and you are correct in calling buyers "speculators." I quote from
http://tinyurl.com/63hka7
"Rapid appreciation on the island (i.e.: My colleagues purchased 2 units pre-construction about 3 years ago. They purchased a studio for $715k, and put 20% down ($143k)...the last comparable studio that sold in the development went for $1.2 million (339% return on there initial 20% deposit). They also purchased a 2 bedroom lock-off for $1.5 million, and put 20% down ($300k)...the last comparable 2 bedroom lock-off that sold in the development went for $2.3 million (267% return on there initial 20% deposit)."
This not only allows speculation in Anguillian land, it encourages it!
It's my understanding that the late Ernie Harrigan started operating a barbecue on Crown land and later added an illegal shack. Planning objected, but the Ministers decided that since Ernie was an old man and had already become an institution at Shoal Bay, they would legalize what he'd done by leasing the Crown land to him, with some public health conditions, and that the lease would expire upon his death.
ReplyDeleteHe is dead and his body has been cold for some time. Why are his heirs still there? Have they sold out to Madeariman Reef? Are they going to build villas on Crown land? OUR Crown land? Does Government at least get 20% of the shares, like they do at Cap Juluca? Is this corruption, negligence of stupidness?
Because his surname is Harrigan.
ReplyDeleteI have stopped by the sales office several times over the last two years, more out of boredom than any real interest.
ReplyDeleteAs an engineer, I had major reservations about the design-the floor to ceiling windows, the inverted roof, the small footprint of the individual villas.
And the mealymouthed answers to my questions! Such as how sewage would be delt with, where water would come from.
I felt then that the project was a scam and still do.
I asked about all that glass just a few feet from the sea and possible hurricane damage. The salesman told me they intended to use unbreakable glass, so hurricane shutters were unnecessary. I don't think he knew or cared that such glass hasn't been invented yet. He quickly changed the subject, telling me what a great investment the units were.
ReplyDeleteA larger problem than the glass seems like the structural framework, which is so thin I don't see how it could possibly keep the roof from blowing off.
From the website you cited:
ReplyDelete"Deriving its influence from the culture and history of the island and those who have fought to keep it pristine and pure, Shoal Bay has been flawlessly planned utilizing environmentally friendly and authentic architecture and design."
Three-story-high glass walls facing the sea are an authentic part of our history, or an authentic part of our culture?