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Real Estate

New Miami-like boutique hotel for Cruz Bay

Denise-david What's a nice couple like this doing in a place like St. John?

Living the dream.

David Guidi and Denise Walker, a couple of transplanted Canadians, say that's what is behind their decision to develop an old downtown convenience store building into the Cruz Bay Boutique Hotel. Opening day is about three weeks away.

The hotel has six guest rooms and a penthouse suite.  It is in the same building which used to house Oscar's store and is now also home to Da Livio Italian Ristorante.

With a background in real estate construction and hotel management,the Guidis oversaw renovation of the building this year.

"Blending chic Miami boutique hotel decor with the more casual style of an island villa," said David Guidi. "The result is a clean, simple, yet elegant venue." About-hotel-1

Rates start at $175 a night during the winter season.  A modest Continental breakfast is included.

"We've travelled to St John numerous times over the past 10 years, and got married here in 2009," David explained. "One thing that always stuck out in our minds is that accommodation on the island is expensive, and there is a severe shortage of good, affordable in-town options."

Cabaret comes to Caneel Bay

Beech_on_beach St. John's favorite cabaret singer will be crooning all winter long at the Turtle Bay Estate House at the Caneel Bay Resort. 

Marty Beech will be playing piano and singing during suppers Wednesday through Sunday evenings beginning next Thursday, Nov. 18.

His playlist has a bit of everything for everybody, but there's an emphasis on Old Blue Eyes. "My repertoire features jazz standards, especially the music of Frank Sinatra, from romantic ballads to up-tempo swing tunes," Beech said. "I also cover a variety of other styles such as classic rock, soul/R&B, blues, reggae and country."

He came to the island a dozen years ago.  Beech and his wife, Cathy, and kids wanted to "follow a different course," he said.  Since then the kids grew up and Beech is still singing. "I love what I do and I am grateful to have such a wonderful venue on the best little island in the Caribbean," he said of his Caneel Bay opportunity. You may have heard him singing at various restaurants on the island over the years, recently including Ocean Grill at Mongoose Junction.

While he sings at night, during the daytime Beech is a broker for Islandia Real Estate. "As of today the St. John MLS has $516 million worth of property listed for sale," he said. "I think the best we can hope for in the immediate future (for real estate) is slow but steady growth.  The bubble was exciting but not so healthy long term," he said, adding "Right now there is no plan to quit my night job."

He has recorded one CD, Summer Wind, featuring a standards and Sinatra tunes.  Listen to it – and buy it – at http://cdbaby.com/cd/beech

Kenny Chesney’s house is for sale

Aerial Greatroom Country Music’s biggest star has put his Susannaberg villa up for sale.  The price to live like a rock and roll star: $9.9 million.

The seven-bedroom, seven-bath property has a three-car garage, spa, and outdoor pool with a water slide.  Nearly 8,000-square feet, the house sits on 1.6 acres of hilltop off Centerline Road, overlooking Hawksnest Trunk Bay and the north shore. (The Google map above is showing the Susannaberg area, not specifically the house location.)

“Situated amidst and abutting preserved National Park lands, this exclusive family compound is only 5 minutes from Cruz Bay,” the listing says. “No expense was spared.” 


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Listing of the house is another move off island by Chesney. He’s previously sold other St. John property and this fall, for the first time in a few years, there have been no reported star sitings at Woody’s or anywhere else.  It’s become a tradition that when Chesney’s summer tours ended, he’d fly the band down to St. John for some active relaxing.  Not this year, so far.

  •   Islandia Real Estate has the listing for Chesney’s manse: here.

Flicker of life for Pond Bay

Pondbay The ambitious Pond Bay Resort project could come back from the dead if somebody wants to throw more millions of dollars into the half-finished project at Chocolate Hole.

The possibility that could happen was raised by a decision this week by the Board of Land Use Appeals. The Board overturned a previous decision by Coastal Zone Management refusing to allow Pond Bay's building permits to someone who might like to buy the project out of liquidation.

The St. John Source quoted an attorney for West LB Bank saying it could take two or three years before construction could be restarted, assuming a developer can be found. West LB is a German bank which loaned Pond Bay's developer $35 million. Understandably, nobody's about to buy the debt or project if they can't also complete construction.

Read about the Pond Bay hearing in this story from the St. John Source.

Shrinking number of villas for sale

The number of St. John villas for sale on the Multiple Listing Service has dropped 20% since late July.  The MLS now offers 117 residences, priced between $24 million and $275,000.

Do fewer listings mean that the big inventory of the summer is selling, thanks to the lowest mortgage rates in history?

Alas, no.  "Obviously not that many have sold," said Merry Nash, President of Islandia Real Estate. " I think some owners are letting their listings expire until the market improves or until winter  season starts. "

Cruz Bay Realty's Gretchen Labrenz echboed that, saying "Properties are contracted or they expire, therefore, the MLS fluctuates."

Islandia reports four homes were sold during the third quarter, two of them Islandia's deals.  One land lot sold; four condominiums were contracted, and four fractional properties, all at the Westin Vacation Club, were sold.

The market is not dead, but it is lethargic.  Islandia's Nash reports there are some interested buyers. "The number of people looking is about average," she explained. "But many are hesitant to make a decision until they have more confidence in the U.S. economy.  I hear that every day."

Pricing, in the aggregate, is down.  The average listing price on the MLS today is $2.0 million, if you exclude from the calaulation a $25 million Peter Bay property.  In July of this year, the comparable asking price was $2.2 million.

  • The St. John Multiple Listing Service is here
  • Islandia Real Estate's Web site is here
  • Cruz Bay Realty's Web site is here

Rummage sale at Pond Bay

Pb A Canadian company is selling personal property and construction equipment at the unfinished Pond Bay Resort at Chocolate Hole.

An advertisement in the online V.I. Source  is headlined, "Court Authorized sale of certain Assets of the Pond Bay Club."

Alvarez & Marsal said it is conducting a sale this week equipment including two electric generators, seven Jeeps, construction materials, furniture and fixtures, a concrete plant, as well as constriction and shipping trailers. A detailed listing also includes light bulbs, doors, Bose sound systems, WiFi routers, a 48' Aquos flat screen TV,doors and desks. 

In other words, it looks like everything's for sale if it isn't nailed down.

Work at the fractional ownership resort ended more than a year ago when the developer, First American Development Group/Carib LLC, ran into financial problems.

There were reports that a German financial institution held the prime mortgage on the project and was trying to transfer rights and permits on the project to another developer.  The VI government resisted a transfer.


Restaurant at Wharfside for sale for $550K

RestaurantThe Spyglass restaurant at Wharfside is for sale for $550,000. 

The second-floor, waterfront business has been operated by the owner of Wharfside shopping center since the previous owner left the island in January. The space then operated as the Balcony.

Interestingly, Wharfside is not offering the business through an island real estate agent, at least it's not on the Multiple Listing Service.  Instead, he is using an Internet site, Businessesforsale.com, which is a good idea if you're trying to find interest off island.

"Operations are very profitable," the listing says. "Approximately two-thirds of daily revenue is paid for by credit card, and the balance is paid in cash. A restaurant like this is not available for sale very often."

The restaurant is licensed for liquor, beer and wine sales as well as food and may also operate as a cabaret, according to the offering description.

Villa and condo sales recovering

It could be that the worst is over for island real estate, that the bargain hunters are grabbing what they can and the bottom has been touched.

"Yes, the market has improved," says RE/MAX's Diana Beam. Her year-over-year comparison of the residential sales market shows business up 50% compared to this time last year.

  • Homes under contract: up 36%
  • Homes sold: up 50%
  • Sold volume: $19.5 million, compared to $9.6 million ytd 2009
  • Avg. sales price: $1.3 million vs. $953,000

However, before getting too excited about these numbers, one villa owner
pointed out that the comparisons are from a very low base.

One of the most interesting data points is this: "Percentage of sales price off listed price."  Beam says in 2009, buyers were underbidding and buying at about 19% lower than the asking price.  This year, the discount is 12%.

The number of condos sold this year compared to this same time past year, is up 25% (5 sold ytd 2010). The total dollar amount is up 9% ($2,2 million/$2,4 million). The average sales price is down 12%. This year the average sales price for a condo is $484,460.

  • (Disclaimer: Diana Beam's RE/MAX Island Paradise Realty is an advertiser on the site)

Real estate: villas ARE selling

Forsale

Six months' results do not a year make, but there's something for both optimists and pessimists in St. John real estate sales for the first six months of the year. 

Transactions listed on the RE/MAX Island Paradise Realty Web site show 13 homes changed hands between January and June. If you annualize that number, this is about a 15% increase in units.  Land sales show the same kind of extrapolated growth with 10 deals in the first six months compared to about 24 in all of 2009.

(It's only fair to point out that RE/MAX's sales history differs from that of Cruz Bay Realty's. The latter shows one more villa and two more land sales.)

Pricing, however, for both homes and land is soft.  The average final asking price for a home in the first half of the year was $1.8 million, while the average selling price was $1.563 million, a decrease of 14.5%.  A similar story with land sales; average asking price of $368 thousand and a selling price of $305 thousand, a nearly 17% discount.

The inventory of homes for sale has been steady at about 145 properties, according to the Multiple Listing Service.  It's a good bet, however, that some villa owners would like to sell but just don't feel it makes sense to put their house on the market in a, shall we say 'soft' economy.

The bill’s in the mail

The first Virgin Islands property tax bills to be issued in years have arrived in territory and stateside mailboxes.  The new bill is for 2006. 

The Tax Assessor used the same valuations for St. John as in 1998, meaning it's a bargain given the incredibly high values set from a VI-wide reassessment several years ago. 

A federal district court blocked the Virgin Islands from issuing bills based on those values. The government has been without property tax revenue for years while the court case continues.

Property owners have until Oct. 15 to pay the new bill before accruing late fees.

A second tax bill, for 2007, is likely to be issued this fall, as the Territory plays catch up. It's possible bills for 2008 and 2009, will be issued next year.

The Coral Bay Community Council spoke for many property owners, perhaps some still in shock from seeing their property values calculated as rising 400 or 500% from the unimplemented reassessment. "This is EXCELLENT short term news for St. John taxpayers — and will also allow the government to collect up to four years of much needed revenue for the infrastructure and services we all desire."