Shoal Bay, Anguilla, described as one of the top ten beaches in the world, is home toZemiBeach, a luxury development. It is owned by the Goldstein Family, an established name in US real estate industry for over 45 years. Zemi Beach is currently the only tourism project under construction on the island. One of the big plusses is that it is enjoying a field day in successful international marketing, and therefore has every reason and opportunity to be in full swing, once many purchasers come forward.
Jeffrey Goldstein, who has responsibility for marketing and sales, was recently inAnguilla. His father, Sheldon Goldstein, and his son, Joshua, are responsible for construction and design. “We are currently building the main entrance into the development” Jeffrey Goldstein told The Anguillian. “We are building our model and sales facility which will be in building one on the west side ofShoalBay.
“We expect that model building to be completed sometime in May. We expect phase one, which includes our model and entrance way, to be finished somewhere in late June. We are in the process of doing sales. We have run advertisements in the Caribbean, theUnited States, South America, theUnited KingdomandEurope. We have had a tremendous response in the three weeks we have been running the ads. We have had about 150-160 people who are interested in the development.”
Mr. Goldstein, whose family development inAnguilla, is represented by Scott Hauser, well-known real estate operator on the island, was asked to comment on the development which provides for a total of 87 units of which 73 are for sale. “We are developing the property as a rental programme,” he stated. “Those persons interested in buying into the one, two and three bedroom units will join the rental programme, and will be able to use their units for a specific period of time as well as then rent them out to the hotel company we hired to manage the property.
“All of the condominium units will be part of the hotel as per our Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) except we are allowed, I believe, to sell about 15 percent of them outside of the hotel programme. Quite honestly, I don’t think that is going to happen. I think most people want to be part of the rental programme and earn the income from the units as well as per our rental design.”
In close proximity toZemiBeachdevelopment isAnguilla’s historic Fountain Cavern, where a national park is to be developed. Mr. Goldstein commented that his family of developers would like to assist the Government and the National Trust with what they want to do. “We welcome them to join us in part of the development,” he offered. “We are here to help them. We have beenvery sensitive to the national park property. For example, we made sure that our truck traffic does notcome down the easement right away road. We created a new construction road so that vibrations don’t affect the national park property, and we have also fenced it off.”
The Zemi Beach property will feature a lot of wood in its construction and will showcase both Anguillian andCaribbeancharacter, according to Mr. Goldstein.
At the time of the interview, there were 60 workers on the construction site. “As we move into building numbers two and three, we will increase the trades,” he said. “Major trades now employed are excavation and masonry; electrical and plumbing will start very soon and that is when the trades will start increasing again. We made it one of our major goals to hire Anguillian sub-contractors as we build the development. As I mentioned, building number one, which is on the beach, will be completed we hope either in May or June of this year. Shortly after that we will start building number three, then after that number five in that order. We are doing that for sales reasons. Building number three has the one-bedroom models in it, and building number five has the three bedroom models in it. If sales are good and active, we will build the entire development as quickly as we can but, of course, we are not going to get ahead of ourselves at this point in time.”
Mr. Goldstein made the point that, unlike some of the other properties in Anguilla, theZemiBeachproperty will not experience any ownership and legal difficulties – and will move forward in a pleasant and non-confrontational and productive manner which would be a good model for everybody. “Most importantly, my family is building this,” he stressed. “We are not a public company or a corporation from theUnited States. My son and my father and I are building the development at this time. We will also be running the hotel once it is completed with the manager and the company we have hired; and we hope to be here for a long period of time.”
Asked about the pricing of the property, Mr. Goldstein disclosed that the one bedroom units were starting, currently, at US$675,000 going up to the three bedroom units to be sold at US$2,100,000 each. The entire construction cost of the property is estimated in excess of US$60,000,000. Nearly half of the 5.25-acre site has been reserved for lush gardens, featuring cascading swimming pools, courtyards and other facilities. Apart from oceanfront restaurant facilities, the resort will feature a 2,500-square-foot spa with four private treatment rooms, modeled as an elegant island great house. There will be indoor and outdoor pools with elevated gazebos, a juice bar, jacuzzi and plunge pools. Other facilities will include a 1,350-square-foot glass-walled gym featuring state-of-the art Nautilus equipment. Outside will be a yoga terrace with spectacular ocean views.
In terms of employment opportunities, the construction work is expected to provide up to 300 jobs for local workers, and a further 200 jobs in various departments during the operation of the resort. The Goldstein family stated in their brochure that “the project means considerable gains for the local economy, trickling downstream to a multitude of businesses.”
Back in theUnited States, the Goldsteins are owners of a number of hotel projects, shopping centres, movie theatres and other real estate. With all that, the family undertook to invest in far-flungAnguilla. “We came here and we loved in,” Jeffrery Goldstein said. “We got involved with an investment partner years ago, who is no longer involved in that property. We chose to purchase, redeem and develop the property because, as you can see, it is gorgeous. It is a great island which we want to be part of.
“We are happy to be here. We are probably the only one of the developments currently being built. I have driven around the island and there are lots of signs about developments to be built, and there have been a lot of MOUs signed. The Government has been very favourable in helping us to develop the property and I would like to say thanks again. It is a great partnership at this point.”
One of the rich cultural heritages that the Goldstein family has taken care to preserve is the Zemi, a carving which traces Anguillian ancestry, before the arrival of the European settlers, to the age of the Arawak Indians. The resort’s brochure noted that “the Arawak deities, the Zemis, were represented by unique three-pointed carvings in bone and rock.” The write-up added: “It is exactly these relics that were uncovered atZemiBeach, in theFountainCavernNational Park. Thus, they not only shed light on the Arawak civilization – they also gaveZemiBeachits name.”
Editor’s Note: Zemi’s are among Arawakan artifacts displayed atHeritageCollectionMuseumatEast End, where the Curator is Colville L. Petty, OBE.
