The Virgin Islands Daily News

By:
Lynn Freehill

Published:
11/17/2006

St Thomas – With a celebratory champagne toast for developers toast for developers who devoted five years to the project, Yacht Haven Grande opened for marine business on Thursday, welcoming the first megayacht to the docks of the $160 million waterfront development.

The 192-foot Linda Lou yacht was guided into Charlotte Amalie Harbor just after 5:30 p.m., as the blue lights of the docks and white lights of the town adjacent cruise ships began to glow.
 
Clapping, hugs and congratulations were shared among employees as Island Global Yachting president Elie Finegold approached the marina building after greeting the boat.    Island Global Yachting is the management company for Yacht Haven Grande.
 
“It’s a new day for St. Thomas,” Finegold called out.  “With 50 more, it’s going to be humming.”
 
Andrew Farkas, chairman and president of Island Global Yachting’s parent company, Island capital Group, also was present for Yacht Haven’s launch of business.
 
Farkas said the project is a prototype for marinas he plans to develop all over the world, with St. Lucia’s slated to open next.  Hosting the first of these developments, he said, is “very exciting for St. Thomas and for the entirety of the eastern Caribbean.”
 
Luxury yachting is growing worldwide, with an estimated 7,000 motor yachts in the use- up from 4,000 a decade ago.
 
Island Global Yachting already manages three facilities on St. Martin-St. Maarten; Isle de Sol, Port de Plaisance and Portofino.  The company was not the original builder of those marinas, however, and Finegold said to St Thomas’ new facility is superior to them.  “We’re in a location that is unparalleled and deserves to reclaim its spot as the premier yachting destination in the region,” he said.
 
Construction continues on the retail portion of Yacht Haven Grande.  On Thursday, workers there added more landscaping to a series of palm trees that had already been planted around buildings at a cost o $5,000 a piece.
 
The buildings, which will host restaurants, shops, offices and 12 luxury condominiums, are re-roofed, with weathered-stucco exteriors and sections with the look of bluebit stone.  Brick pavers are being laid for the wide esplanade that will lead visitors around a courtyard, fountain and musical performance space - all designed to lend a village feel to the development.
 
The finished marine portion of the project is not open to the public.  It will remain a secure area protected 24 hours a day by four armed guards at gates, security head Oliver Christian said.  A card system will allow dock access to yacht crews, guests and employees only.
 
The development’ shops and restaurants, available o island visitors and residents alike, will begin opening early next year, Yacht Haven Grande general manager Alex Andrade said.  Nearly all of the store space has been leased, he said.  Upscale retailers like Coach, White House/Black Market and Little Switzerland have begun their interior building and are expected to open within the next two to three months.
 
The first business expected to launch in Yacht Haven Grande is a restaurant.  Wikked, with casual offerings like burgers and wings is tentatively scheduled to open the first week in January, Andrade said.  Fat Turtle will begin serving its trademark barbecue the first week of February, while martini bar and bistro Grande Cru will open by the end of that month.
 
Head chef Brian Katz, formally of St. Thomas’s Old Stone Farmhouse restaurant, and the restaurant management team continues menu-development meetings on the property Thursday, preparing for tastings begin on Dec. 7.
 
Elsewhere on the site, workers labored on the steel-reinforced foundation of an octagonal building over the water.  The building will house Three60, a fine-dining restaurant that will fuse Caribbean ingredients with Asian and Latin influences. 
That restaurant will not open until next fall, Andrade said.
 
Meanwhile, yachts are expected to continue docking at Yacht Haven Grande in coming days.  Marina representatives traveled to yacht rendezvous and boat shows in Monaco, For Lauderdale and Fisher Island in recent months to promote the destination.
 
It was in Fort Lauderdale when Yacht Haven Grande marina manager Kristen Fritz met the captain of the Linda Lou – considered on of the top 200 such vessels in the world. 
Its captain had never been to St. Thomas before, Fritz said, but the vessel’s next charter wanted to be picked up there.  The captain canceled his reservations to berth on the waterfront when he was told that Yacht Haven’s docks would be ready.
 
Yacht Haven managers declined to provide the name of Linda Lou’s owner for privacy reasons.  Of crew member, who were exhausted after four days of sailing from Miami and did not want to be interview, Fritz said, “They’re excited.  They said the marina’s beautiful and they’re happy to be here.”
 
So far, Yacht Haven Grande has hired 54 employees, Andrade said.  By the completion of its retail-marina phase, the company expects to require 350 employees, with 250 of those working on the food and beverage end of the business.
 
“We’ve become a hospitality company,” said Andrade, a former general manager of Hyatt and Sheraton hotel properties.  “I have a human resources department, accounting, property maintenance, director of food and beverage and a quality assurance manager.  I want to make this like a hotel, with that nice refined feel.”
 
The development’s grand opening celebration is likely to be held in March, he said.