VOLUME 13 ISSUE 28

Page 1

JULY 15TH, 2017 – JULY 22TH, 2017

VOLUME 13 - NO. 28

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12-STOREY APPEAL

W I T H D R AW N

by Hayden Boyce Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

A

fter almost two years of legal wrangling and hundreds of thousands in legal expenses, objectors to the 12-storey $224million Ritz Carlton hotel in Grace Bay, Providenciales have withdrawn their appeal to the Privy Council in London. In an interview with The SUN, Conrad Griffiths QC, the lawyers for Tuscany Strata Corp. and The Venetian Strata Corp., said: “We confirm the appeal has been withdrawn, the parties having reached agreed terms.” However, although the appeal has been withdrawn, it is understood that there will be another three months of public consultation before any construction commences. The hotel, which will be built by the Desarrollos Hotelco Turks and Caicos, will be the most significant and expensive hotel development in the history of the Turks and Caicos Islands. In addition to 380 guest rooms and suites, the hotel will feature a gourmet specialty restaurant, a three-meal-a-day restaurant, a lobby bar and lounge and a pool bar & grill, some 1,300 square meters of meeting space, including a ballroom; as well as a 962 square meter spa and fitness center, a kids/teen club, three swimming pools and a 901 square meter casino. The primary architect for the project is Robert M. Coleman & Partners, whose also designed the Ritz-Carlton New Orleans, the Marriott’s Aruba Surf Club timeshare resort, the recently-opened Renaissance Curaçao Resort & Casino and the Ritz-Carlton Aruba. Walter Stipa, the majority investor of Desarrollos Hotelco Turks and Caicos Ltd is also the majority shareholder of the 269-room JW Marriott Hotel Caracas, the 207-room Venezuela Marriott Hotel Playa Grande and the 212-room Renaissance La Castellana

The Ritz-Carlton Residences, which will be located on the world-famous Grace Bay, will be the first luxury-branded homes to be built on the islands of Turks and Caicos. This sumptuous beachfront development will feature a contemporary design, with access to the amenities of The Ritz-Carlton hotel. The property will be built on 11 acres of land and spans 688 linear feet of ocean frontage Caracas. frame expired before the Court of Additionally, he owns the 320- Appeal’s written reasons were delivered room Ritz-Carlton Aruba. on March 17th, 2017. In the Caribbean, Ritz-Carlton In their appeal, the two has hotels in the Cayman Islands, companies contended that the Chief Puerto Rico, and St. Thomas in the US Justice erred in law and fact in Virgin Islands. concluding there had been adequate In February 2017, the Turks consultation with respect to the 2016 and Caicos Islands Court of Appeal changes to the Development Manual dismissed an appeal brought by the to permit increases in height from 7 to developers who had challenged Chief 12 storeys and also density increases Justice Margaret Ramsay-Hale’s and that she she erred in law and fact decision to dismiss their judicial in concluding that the environmental review into Turks and Caicos Islands protections of section 18 of the Government’s decision to raise the Constitution had been met. building height and density in the Turks Elliott Mottley, QC, President and Caicos Islands. of the Court of Appeal, who wrote the After the Court of Appeal dismissed the decision, stated: “I agree with the Chief appeal, the Tuscany and The Venetian Justice in her conclusion that whether had 21 days within which to give notice the decision to adopt the proposal was of their intention to appeal. That time- the right one and whether 12 storey

developments will in fact enhance the Turks and Caicos Islands tourism product and grow the economy are questions on the merit of the decision. I also accept that these are issues of policy which fall outside the ambit of judicial review. The case is concerned only with the process by which the decision was reached and not with whether the prospective gains justify a change in policy as such a question is for the policy makers, and not the Court. This Court cannot concern itself with the issue whether the Government’s policy to increase the height of the building or the density of bedrooms per acre is the correct policy. I accept that the issue of whether this is the correct policy is not for the Court but is one for the Executive, and, as was pointed out by the Privy Council” Continued on Page 2

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