Plans and sales are continuing for the Jumeriah Anguilla Resort at The Forest Bay area. The project is a coming development owned by the Kentish andLakeFamilieswith legal title held by Conch Bay Development Ltd., a wholly-owned, single purpose Anguillian company, whose shareholders are the adult members of both families.
Jumeriah Anguilla is associated with the Jumeriah Group, a Dubai-based international luxury hotel chain, now expanding to theWest from the Eastern Hemisphere with Anguilla in its sights for what is to be the flagship resort in theCaribbean.
On Sunday, February 19, theForestBayarea, which has already taken on the formality and appearance of a development site, was an impressivescene of social activities, food and music. The event was Jumeriah Anguilla’s hosting of its first Annual Beach Volleyball Competition which attracted a large and excited crowd from throughout the island.
The event was overseen by representatives of the Anguillian families involved in the development and of companies associated with the project.
Steve Haines, a Principal of Trophy Properties Ltd., (with offices in the United States), the companyresponsible for sales and marketing, told The Anguillian that the reason the local families selected the Jumeriah Group brand was because of itsreputation and the hotel chain’s move westward to expand its 5 and 6 star resorts.
“They wanted to launch their expansion in the best island, and on the best land, and they basically found us and we found them,” Haines stated. “It’s a kind of perfect marriage. The brand is dedicated to service – personal attention – and their design group is very particular when it comes to the indigenous nature of any place where they go. They have looked at our land and want to take some of the families’ ideas, and the heritage ofAnguilla, and build in it what is going to be a 140-room hotel on some 370 acres. It is a tribute to the families to dedicate so much land to golf and not to real estate sales – and not to hotel and density.”
In addition to the hotel, the project willhave an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course, Talise Spa and Private Beach Clubs, on-site Restaurants & Lounges, Conference facilities, Championship Tennis facilities, Infinity-Edge Pools and World-class fitness facilities. There will be a cluster of residencies in the hotel area; and at the western end of the development there will be accommodation for not more than twenty Founders Programme Properties. The plans also include an area for Customs.
“On over 365 acres, we only have 18 lots on the water and only 20 condominiums,” Haines continued. “Everything else is for the people ofAnguilla: the beaches and also for golf. The families have decided to have a great product…What we have is called a Founders’ Programme, a package of real estate that includes a lot of extra amenities and starts from 1.6 million to 2 million dollars. It is only 20 of them and we got a good start, so if anyone is interested, we have some left but we should be closing out by August.”
Joyce Kentish-Egan, one of the Directors of Conch Bay Development Ltd., was asked what the Anguillian families wanted to have in the project. “We want to see a brand of resorts of the highest quality, introduced on Anguilla, as a product that Anguillians can truly identify with because it is Anguillian-owned unlike 90% of the five-star resorts onAnguilla,” she replied.“It is something that we have been planning and looking forward to for years, and this is one of the reasons why this piece of land, unlike most tracks of land onAnguilla, has never been sub-divided.
“We see this as an opportunity to bring the best flagship resort onto Anguilla, through the Jumeriah brand, and to really have one of a kind of experience which is tied into the families’ concept of legacy, going on from generation to generation.
“You may ask me about thestakeholders we are trying to attract. We are trying to attract persons who understand the potentiality of Anguilla and the investment possibilities ofAnguillaas a high-end destination. But we are [mainly] trying to attract those who understand that what the families want is that when somebody comes in as an investor, or as an owner, that we want to be embracing and participating in a legacy arrangement which goes from generation to generation. In other words, the brand can never go down. The quality of the brand always goes up because of its generational attributes.”
Mrs. Kentish-Egan explained that apart from the hotel, golf course and amenities, the development would include 90 half-acre estate lots and a few condominium clusters, totaling 200 condominium rooms. “It is very low density on a parcel of land like that,” she stressed.
Asked why a small scale development was being pursued in contrast to a mass one on some 370 acres of land: “You have hit the nerve centre for us as a family,” she responded. “We could easily have taken the route with so much land available to us in the family, … We decided against that. We think it would be an abuse of such a beautiful piece of land to turn it into a concrete asset which you simply sell off. We think that its best potentiality is to use it and develop it sensitively and so, therefore, the demographics must reflect the land. Keep the demographics as low as possible, but yet making sure that the luxury aspects are there – and you can still reap your investment potential. So from that standpoint, we don’t want a project which is an overbuild. Our family has made definite decisions against that. It is no over build; no turning this property into something which eventually someone will say ‘that is not the character that we are looking for from a legacy standpoint.’”
Mrs. Kentish-Egan’s husband, Noel Egan, GeneralManager of Conch Bay Development Ltd., spoke mainly about the public social event on the property. “The most important thing was that as Jumeriah, and a family, we wanted to showAnguillathe potential of the beaches,” he explained. “I think it is nice to say that we have recreated or re-founded two of the jewels of the Crown that Anguilla has long lost which are the Forest Bay and the Long Bay areas and, of course, the very famous Conch Pool.
“Only a few months ago, this was six feet high of brush and scrub land, and we meticulously used our hands, in most cases, to remove rocks, clean the beaches and recreate a beach area that people knew from 50 years ago. Incidentally, it won awards across the Caribbean as the best beach in the entireCaribbean. People never knew that and it is an absolute fact.
“By this exercise today, we wanted persons to meet and greet Jumeriah and, not only that, but for us to showAnguilla’s beaches and for Anguillians and tourists alike to enjoy what we are creating. We also wanted to show that we are very supportive of our community, youth and sport. So we invited the Anguilla Amateur Volleyball Association…to come to the first Annual Jumeriah Anguilla Beach Volleyball Classic. We told them we will hold a tournament for you. You run it and do fund-raising. We also invited all the primary schools to get the youngsters ofAnguilla, not only the adults, to reclaim two jewels in the Crown of Anguilla.
“We have been delighted also to assist local business people who have come along with their dance castles, horses and boats. They have actually seen a part ofAnguillathat they probably haven’t seen for decades.”
Meanwhile, a statement from the Volleyball Association said that the competition was held in three segments: primary, female and male. It started with a six-side match for six public primary schools. TheValleySchoolemerged winner and was awarded US$500. Vivien Vanterpool placed second; andMorrisVanterpoolSchool3rd.
A female competition involved six energetic volleyball teams in which Suzie and Marhsa proved to be unbeaten. In a similar male competition, Tucker and Nodle walked away the winners of that event. Both teams were awarded US$1,000.
The Volleyball Association welcomed the opportunity, at Jumeriah Anguilla, to raise funds for the Eastern Caribbean Volleyball Association Annual Tournament as well as the Women’s World Cup Qualifers inAntigua. The male tournament will be held in St. Maarten/St.Martin. All tournaments are expected to be held during the first half of this year.
