Hotel on the Cay
Governor Albert Bryan on Monday announced that he has signed a fully negotiated and executed lease agreement between the Government of the Virgin Islands and Christiansted Harbor Resort and Marina LLC for the redevelopment of the historic 7.2-acre Hotel On The Cay property.
Mr. Bryan also said he was in the process of transmitting the lease agreement to the V.I. Legislature for its approval and ratification. Once approved, the developers "are ready to go," the governor told the Consortium.
Under the terms of the agreement, the company will receive a 60-year lease and will undertake a two-phased $25 million renovation of the resort, which sits at the entrance to Christiansted Harbor on Protestant Cay, according to the governor.
The leasing of the property for hotel development and operation was put to bid in October 2020, and Christiansted Harbor Resort and Marina LLC was the winning bidder among several bidders.
Mr. Bryan said the redevelopment agreement includes renovation of the 55 existing hotel units, along with upgrades to the pool and existing restaurants. It also includes construction of 60 additional hotel units, dock extensions and improvements to the ferry that brings guests from the Christiansted Boardwalk to the property.
The governor hailed the agreement as another major step forward in his administration's continuing efforts of developing a robust tourism product for St. Croix.
“We modernized the Midre Cummings Park, completed improvements to the departure lounge at the Henry E. Rohlsen Airport, and made significant investments toward beautifying the towns of Frederiksted and Christiansted and marketing the Island of St. Croix individually for its unique offerings to our territory’s overall tourism product," he said Monday. "Since then, we have seen a favorable response from the private sector, including the reopening of the Grape Tree Hotel, the King Christian Hotel in downtown Christiansted and several new small businesses in both towns. The time couldn’t be better as Royal Caribbean and the V.I. Port Authority are working together to triple the number of cruise calls to St. Croix, and the significant hotel redevelopment underway at the eastern portion of the Christiansted Boardwalk.”
Construction improvements and renovations will take place in two phases at estimated costs of about $8 million for Phase I and $17 million for Phase 2.
The estimated timeline for the completion of the Christiansted Harbor Resort and Marina project is about 34 months for Phase 1 and about 30 months for Phase 2.
The administration pointed to the repaving roads in the town of Frederiksted, improvements to the Ann E. Abramson Marine Facility, and the reconstruction of the Vincent F. Mason Sr. Coral Resort as major redevelopment efforts undertaken to increase tourism activity on St. Croix.
