London---30 Sept. 2006---British property developers Robin Paterson and Mike
Pemberton are behind ambitious plans to attract some of the world’s wealthiest investors to
two new leisure projects in the Caribbean.
When completed they will rival Sandy
Lane, the multi-millionaires’ playground in Barbados.
Paterson and Pemberton have acquired sites in Barbados
and Grenada
to build two hotel and villa complexes with a development value of $1.6 billion
(£855m).
The duo have signed up Four Seasons, the hotelier, to anchor both resorts. In
addition, a $250m banking facility to help finance the construction costs has
been put in place by HBOS.
The Barbados
project is now under way. When finished it will include a 117-bed hotel with 44
villas that will range in price from $3m to $12m. Four of the beachfront villas
have already been sold.
Paterson and Pemberton intend to have a plane to ferry guests between
the resorts, which are 150 miles apart.
Paterson said the Barbados government had relaxed its
tough stance on allocating work permits. It is allowing Four Seasons to fly in
its own staff on condition that 100 Barbadians are taken off the island and
trained every year.
Paterson believes the Caribbean is 20
years behind India and the
rest of Asia in terms of providing top-class
tourist resorts.
Several other hotel groups share this view and are looking hard at
potential sites. They include Ritz Carlton and Mandarin Oriental.
The Grenada
development will be the most ambitious. It is being built on 550 acres bought
from the local government. When complete it will comprise a 125-bed hotel and
60 villas. The opportunity to buy the land came after two previous buyers
abandoned negotiations.
The Four Seasons hotel has signed up for a long operating lease, which
has helped make the project easier to finance.
The developers have also teamed up for two high-class projects in Britain.
One is at 88 St James Street
in London’s West End,
a building bought from Lord Jacob Rothschild, the financier. Subject to planning
they intend to convert it into a residential club selling rooms into fractions
of six. This allows individuals to have a London
address but to share the costs.
The other project is at Park
Place in Henley, Oxfordshire, which is being
turned into an American-style country club.
Paterson
is a former investor and chief executive of Hamptons, the estate agent.
Pemberton has a track record for developing top hotels in the West
Indies.
Source: timesonline.co.uk