Plans for Mt Wynne/Peters Hope hotel, villas project moving ahead – PM

Plans for the building of a hotel and villas project at Mt Wynne/Peters Hope are moving ahead, as the developers explore architectural designs.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the project was held on Thursday, January 19, and the fact that nine months later, construction has not started, has raised eyebrows in some quarters.

But at a press briefing on Tuesday, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves said a project of this nature is not something that can be hurried along and the developers are making moves that will see the project soon begin.

Pace Development of Toronto, Canada, is responsible for the project, with the principal investor being Joseph Romano, an attorney and partner with Pace. The plan is to build on some 36 acres of land, which Pace has paid EC$7 million to acquire.  

The Prime Minister said on Tuesday that the plan is to build about 160 four and five-bedroom villas and a 200-room hotel. The initial announcement was 400 rooms in the form of a hotel and about 50 villas.

Gonsalves said while some have said negative things about the project, there are stipulations attached to alien land holding licences and a developer will not spend so much money on land and not act on it. He said a few conditions were attached to the sale of the land and persons can inspect this, as the alien land holding licence is a public document.

“I myself, I want to see the project move at the swiftest possible pace, but I happen to know that they are doing things,” Gonsalves told journalists.

He said villa designs have been done and the investors are working with local architects on the concept.