Governor John deJongh said the second property tax bills of the year will be mailed by the fall. The 2006 bills reflect results of a territory-wide property reassessment that’s been underway for more than a year.
In remarks to the V.I. Territorial Association of Realtors at Caneel Bay, deJongh said the 2007 bills will be mailed next May or June, according to a report of the meeting by the St. John Source.
DeJongh is also on record saying he plans to launch a bonding program for local builders, the Source reported. This, presumably, would insure that if a contractor begins a job and fails to finish it, there would be money available to pay somebody else to pick up the contract.
The founder and former chef at Tage, one of the island’s best-reviewed restaurants, has launched a newspaper column in the St. John Tradewinds. In his first effort, Ted Robinson said the bimonthly "A Kitchen Conversation" is intended "to get the point across that food and cooking should not be about a technical list of ingredients." Cooking should be simple and enjoyable. "It should be about the act of doing it, adding your own personal touch…"
The first column included a recipe for "Dry Rub Grilled Mahi Mahi with fresh fruit, salsa, arugala, and crispy bread. It calls for 8 seeds and spices and five fruits (simple?). The list also includes a bag of Josephine’s Greens, a loaf of bread from Baked in the Sun, salt, pepper, and oilier oil. Read his columns (1) and (2).
Meanwhile, Ted’s doing some promotion for his private chef business. Eric, on the Virgin-Islands-On-Line forum, post a link to Ted’s Supper Club.
The real estate market is not dead in the Virgin Islands. Even though the inventory of houses for sale on St. John is near a record high, a review of transactions reveals a surprise.
So far this year, 19 houses have gone to closing, including the all-time most expensive property. David Mugar’s Peter Bay home went for $14 million. For comparison’s sake, we’ll ignore that transaction and, to try to keep looking at apples and apples we’ll ignore the highest priced transaction in 2006. The result: the average 2007 home’s sale price was $1.590 $1.7 million. Here’s the surprise. That’s more than 20% higher than the average for all of 2006. But – and there’s always a ‘but’ – that average price is well below the median asking price of $2.2 million but is even with the average price of all listed homes, $1.6 million.
The sales history, as published on the Islandia Web site, also shows there were 19 residences sold this year, compared to 33 all of last year. So, after 50% of the year has passed, the number of deals closed is 60% of the 2006 total.
The picture is not so positive for land and condos. Lot sales are down sharply, with the average sale price of $308,000 being 31% below the average land deal a year ago. The average condo sale price is off 15% from 2006.
There’s still plenty of choices for would be buyers; 126 homes on the Multiple Listing Service, of which 6 are reported as "sale pending." Two oceanfront properties, under construction at John’s Folly, are priced near $9 million each. One (pictured above) has 6 bedrooms and two pools, the other has seven bedrooms and one pool. John’s Folly is on the southeastern corner of St. John. The property listings say the houses will be complete this fall. And believe this – or don’t: Property taxes for these 8-thousand square feet behemoths are estimated to be about $70,000 a year.
The weekly podcast is being published a day early because I expect lots of you won’t be working after Tuesday and many of you check the site, and download the podcast, at work.
There won’t be much work on St. John after Tuesday afternoon, either. The St. John Festival features Cultural Day in the park followed by the Festival Mix and its bands Tuesday night at the ball field behind Sprauve School (and across the street from Tage).
Then on the 4th, the partying starts at 4 a.m. with J’Ouvert, a marching through town, followed later by the Festival Parade with dancers, steel pans, and floats. The annual Fireworks (to which News of St. John is a contributor) will be ignited at 9 a.m. (Anyone on island who’d like to e-mail some photos, please do. I’ll be happy to post ’em.)
Part of the annual Festival’s fun is the Village in the Cruz Bay public parking lot, across the street from the Post Office. More than a dozen plywood shacks are erected, painted brightly, and imaginatively lit as folks sell island foods, drinks, and fun.
One of the booths, the Shuga Shack, is the work of Jessie Cawley and Miss Val. They are teachers at the St. John School on Gifft Hill. This is the second year Jessie and Val have run the Shack, offering Johnny Cakes, Pates, and beverages. And while it’s a lot of fun, they’ll be happy when it’s over. What’s it like to do a booth? Listen to this conversation with Jessie. Click the play button below.
You can also download or hear the conversation by clicking here.
Free Beer Offer! If you’re on island, and go to the Shuga Shack, and say "The Jumbies are in Town," Miss Jessie and Miss Val will give you a free Virgin Islands Pale Ale – if you’re among the first 10 people to say those secret words. Happy Carnival wishes from News of St. John.
Subscribe to News of St. John’s weekly podcast at the Apple iTunes Store and search for "news of st. john,"
or copy "http://fbarnako.libsyn.com/rss" and paste it into the "Subscribe" field under the iTunes software’s "Advanced" tab. You can also use
that link to subscribe with other podcatching software. If you’re having
a problem, e-mail: [email protected].
After years of preparation, permitting, arguments and public hearings, developers of the swanky Pond Bay Club project at Chocolate Hole have gotten some heavy lifting done.
Land clearing has been underway, silt fences have been installed, and construction could begin by fall.
FOLIO has launched a Web site for Pond Bay. It includes a site plan and artist renderings of units.
There will be several dozen units, including three- and four-bedroom villas and cottages. The Club will be part of the Folio Collection, a of "destination club" real estate venture. The New York Times published a story Sunday about destination clubs. Read it here.
The Helium Report says one-ninth interests in Pod Bay will start at $325,000 and guarantee buyers’ access for 35 days a year. Annual maintenance fees will begin at $10,000.
"Pond Bay Club is planned to be a private enclave of spacious villas and cottages with the amenities of a spa, swimming pools, restaurant, beach club and clubhouse. Located in Chocolate Hole, on perhaps the last great beachfront development parcel in St. John," explains an information page on the Web site of Holiday Homes.
It’s been so hot inside the Cyril E. King airport’s waiting room that the candy bars are melting.
The federal baggage scanners are talking about walking out because it’s so hot.
At least one airline is asking the VI Port Authority for a rent rebate because the facility is so uncomfortable.
The airport’s a. c. has been out of order for several days, with the Virgin Islands Daily News quoting a Port Authority spokesperson saying he is unsure when it will be repaired. "The staff and management … apologized for the inconvenience," the Authority said in a statement, the News added. Read the Daily News story here.
Now, try and find that news release on the Authority’s Web site, http://www.viport.com/. Not there. In fact, no news announcements have been posted this year! And when you click on a link to the Authority’s "Newsletter," it takes you to a September, 2005 document – apparently the first and only newsletter. (Wanna guess whether the Port Authority’s budget has an allocation for ‘Newsletter’? Wanna guess what’s happened to the money?)
Are these people on the ball? Think they’ll be in a rush to fix the air conditioning in a public building dedicated to the island’s only industry, tourism?
Meanwhile, back at the airport, it’s still hot, hot, hot. On the first floor, with its open air ticket counters, inside in the Customs clearance area, and even more so back in the holding pens (where travelers wait – and where it’s usually so cold you wish you’d put your long pants on).
The airport staffers are blaming the Water and Power Authority for power surges which caused the a.c. chillers to shut down; WAPA says, "Uh, uh, it wasn’t us." The Daily News says the Authority estimates it could be eight weeks before the air conditioning is working again.
There’s a new Iguana wrangler at the Westin. Toya Frazer-Ellis, a native St. Thomian and University of Florida graduate, has been promoted to
be the new Director of Fun at the Westin Resort. Her job, according to a news release, is to
"ensure that kids of all ages have an enjoyable stay." That means she manages the daily Iguana feedings
and Hermit Crab Races, organizes Bobbing for Sodas and Beer by the pool, and
sets up Dive-In Movies, too.
Frazer-Ellis has worked at the Westin for two
years. Her previous title was Director
of Romance. She helped plan guests’
weddings.
Will Culver is a bit worried for some people buying condos in Cruz Bay and hoping to get Internet access. Despite guarantees by developers at Sirenusa and Grande Bay, Culver says Innovative Communications, the islands’ phone company, can take years to install phone lines, never mind DSL technology.
"Pulling wires is expensive which is why I like fixed wireless, Culver said. That’s technology through which a small dish picks up a broadband signal from a tower. There is a tower on St. Thomas and if you have a view of St. T, you can get Culver’s wireless service.
In the second part of an interview with Culver, the owner of Surf da Web, says he sees visitors to St. John using their laptops to do e-mail and make phone calls via Skype. Click the play button below.
You can also download or hear the conversation by clicking here.
Subscribe to News of St. John’s weekly podcast at the Apple iTunes Store and search for "news of st. john,"
or copy "http://fbarnako.libsyn.com/rss" and paste it into the "Subscribe" field under the iTunes software’s "Advanced" tab. You can also use
that link to subscribe with other podcatching software. If you’re having
a problem, e-mail: [email protected].
The beat goes on Thursday evening when Festival Village opens in the Cruz Bay parking lot. The bad news is this
reduces parking availability downtown; the good news is that crafts and food
and music are on display for all to enjoy. The Village is being called "Parisville", in respect to the Village’shonoree, Camille "JuJu" Paris.
Speaking of parking, they’ve begun to pave an the ground across
from the old barge dock, next to Nature’s Nook. The plan is to use it as a sort of staging area for taxicabs/safari buses – perhaps reducing the number of taxis taking up parking spots along the waterfront.
