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The St.Kitts and Nevis economic boom is set to get even bigger with the construction of a new massive multi-million dollar Hotel project. Saturday November 11th was the ground breaking of the Seaview Gardens Hotel Community Project in Camps, St.Kitts. The EC$326million project officially broke ground at a ceremony which featured presentations by Prime Minister Dr Hon Timothy Harris and Minister of Tourism Hon. Lindsay Grant. The Developers and investor team on the project is led by Alex Lee an economic citizen of the federation. The project represents a Direct Foreign Investment of over US$120 Million. It will encompass 20 acres of 700 units including a 350 room hotel, Condominiums, Villas , Casino, Commercial and Residential spaces and recreational areas. It is anticipated to run over a 5 year construction phase providing jobs for hundreds . All phases of the project is expected to be complete by 2022.

In addressing the Ceremony Minister of Tourism Hon. Lindsay Grant thanked the developers and investors in the project and highlighted their background .
Hon. Grant said “I want to take this opportunity on behalf of the Government and citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis to commend the developers of this project, Royal Limited, but notably, its owners, Messrs. Alex Li, Jun Qian and Jei Liu, for demonstrating confidence in the economy of St. Kitts and Nevis and, in particular, our country’s Citizenship by Investment Programme through their investment in this project. The investors in this project who are proud holders of citizenship of St. Kitts and Nevis and are all very accomplished business persons successfully operating a number of businesses in St. Kitts and Nevis and abroad. In fact, Mr. Alex Li who has been residing in our beautiful Federation for the past ten years has already contributed significantly to our country’s growth and development through investments in two supermarkets and two other stores that specialize in the sale of household items and beauty products. To you, we are indeed grateful that you have chosen St. Kitts and Nevis to execute your next business venue and we wish you successful returns on your investment.”
Minister Grant also indicated the processes adapted by Government to ensure that the project was one of an extremely High standard and one that would provide short term and long term benefits to the country.

 

“The Cabinet is pleased to have granted approval for this project to be designated an “Approved Project” under the Citizenship by Investment Programme. This approval followed a thorough review process by the CBI Projects Technical Review Committee, which falls under SKIPA. The CBI Projects Technical Review Committee ensures that projects of very high standards are considered under the CBI programme by certifying that each application complies with the standards established by the committee. This is a very important component of the review process as it assures investors under the Real Estate Option of the CBI Programme that they will receive a product of very high quality for their investment. I would also, at this time, wish to commend SKIPA for the work the Agency has been doing in attracting Foreign Direct investment to our shores, along with the facilitation services and support provided to these investors resulting in the approval by Cabinet,” Hon. Grant declared.

Minister Grant continued “Today’s ground breaking is important as it comes on the eve of the opening of the brand new Park Hyatt – St. Kitts hotel and thereby helping to sustain job levels in the construction sector, which is a key sector for the economic growth and development of the country. We prognosticate that the opening of the Park Hyatt – St. Kitts will redound to the benefit of the entire country, in particular, the citizens through the creation of employment and the overall tourism sector as a result of having this prestigious global brand operating here. In the very near future, St. Kitts and Nevis is expected to greatly increase its hotel room stock as the projects aforementioned that are under construction begin to come on stream. As the Government continues its development strategy in line with the National Adaptation Strategy for the diversification of the economy, hotel, villas, and condominiums developments such as the Seaview Gardens are important components to the country’s economy that would bring many benefits to our citizens. Some of these benefits include but are not limited to: revenues from room tax, the purchase of local food, in particular, agriculture produce, taxi services, tours and the emergence of other spinoff businesses such as spas and restaurants to name a few. An important indirect impact of growth in hotel room inventory is that it also supports the airlift coming into the country, which translates into increased stay-over visitors. Therefore, the outlook for stay-over visitors in the long term is very positive as these projects come on-stream.”