Lt. Governor
Richards brings $500 Million Development
to St. Croix
Lt. Governor Vargrave Richards
unveils $500 million hotel
resort development for St. Croix
at a Government House news
conference in December 2005.
On December 13, 2005,
after nearly two years of working
tirelessly behind the scenes, Lt.
Governor Vargrave Richards unveiled
plans for a major development of more
than 2,500 acres on St. Croix's
north shore. The Annaly Bay Development
will include the construction of three
hotels with a combined total of nearly
1,000 new hotel rooms, residential
villages and estate homes. The $500
million project is expected to
generate s800 construction jobs
and up to 1,500 permanent jobs
upon completion.
Lt. Governor
Vargrave Richards shakes hands
with
Throgmartin Company's
Adam
Holwerda.
Jake
Jacobus, who sold the
property to the
Throgmartin
Company, looks on.
Throgmartin Company, the
developers of Annaly Bay, envision a
world-class master-planned resort and
residential community designed in
communion with nature and respectful of
the cultural and historical fabric of
St. Croix.
Among the development's
attractions are:
Three distinctly
different hotels
Quaint Hilltop
Residential Villages
Conference Center
Estate Homes and
Villa Residences
Multi-Family Housing
Village surrounded by nature
preserve
Golf Academy
Commercial Village
containing shops, dining,
entertainment and services
Equestrian Center
The property will
encompass at least 1,327 acres of which
more than 70 percent will remain natural
open spaces and will be developed in
phases over a 12 to 15-year-period.
As he announced the
half-billion project, Lt. Governor
Richards said the project will be a
catalyst for economic revitalization on
the island of St. Croix and raise the
number of hotel rooms to pre-Hugo
levels.
"I have worked long and
hard with the developers to ensure that
a resort development of this magnitude
becomes reality," Lt. Governor Richards
said. "This is a public/private
partnership in which the government will
ensure that the necessary infrastructure
for this project is in place, such as
repairing and extending the Scenic
Drive."
Lt. Governor Richards
said the Government of the Virgin
Islands is an integral partner in this
development and is committed to this
project and ensuring that it becomes
reality.
"The Government of the
Virgin Islands has promised to renovate
the existing Scenic Drive and to extend
it to Annaly Bay, with land that will be
donated by The Throgmartin Company," Lt.
Governor Richards said. "This will be a
unique opportunity for locals as well as
visitors to drive through previously
inaccessible property and witness the
natural and exotic beauty of the
island."
