hovensa closing

The villas/timeshares atthe Divi were also a Hugo rebuild. When we bought one back in 2001 they told us the plans were to build another 4 buildings/20 units between the existing ones and the casino. I'm glad they went with the hotel expansion instead.

Trivia question: what and when was the last hotel developed on St. Croix? From scratch - not a rebuild of an existing hotel.....

Oooooooooooooooooooh. Good one.

Dunno the answer. My guess is longtime. Pre-Hugo.

King's alley was pretty much torn down and rebuilt.

Trivia question: what and when was the last hotel developed on St. Croix? From scratch - not a rebuild of an existing hotel.....

I cast my vote for Carambola in the mid- 80s.

As far as I understand, Divi was rebuilt from another hotel erased by Hugo.

Bernie

Hiya,
You are correct about Kings Alley but do you remember how many """Years""""and """""""""""years"""""" it was to rebuild it. I went into the lobby to get a brochure recently, the young lady at the reception desk didn't even pick up her head to ask if she could help me. When I asked her for a brochure with rates, I got the sucking teeth routine, at that point I felt that I was home.

People from the States use a finger signal or lip sync their displeasure, many do not know what the sucking of the teeth mean until they have been here awhile. I would suggest that teeth suckers knock it off ASAP (not cute).

The Divi was built where previously the Beach Hotel stood. I don't know if the full name was the Grapetree Beach Hotel or just the Beach Hotel, but it was nice.

Kings Alley is now owned and run by the VI Govt.

i love the history lesson. cool beans. 🙂 Thanks to all.

i remember divi sitting there empty after hugo.

The last from scratch development (not a rebuild or an addition) was Carambola back in 1986 (or was it 1982? someone please help me out on the date).

Kings Alley was a rebuild. (Please note the Anchor Inn is still in ruins from HUGO downtown). Divi was a rebuild of the old "Beach Hotel" - Beach Hotel and Grapetree were one in the same owners pre Hugo. Back in the day they used to haul guests back and forth between the two on golf carts to listen to the band at one of the hotels if one was playing and the other didnt have entertainment that night.) And that kiosk at Jack's Bay was where Grapetree used to boat their guests over to during the day. I don't count the expansion at Divi as it was just that -- an expansion required in order to get their tax benefitted Casino license.

So...... 26 years folks..

"Gretchen! Stop trying to make St. Croix happen!"

Thanks for the recap, foodie.

The Anchor Inn was bought by Allen Stanford. He had all but one building removed and was going to renovate the lot and old building before he got busted for the ponzi scheme. The VI govt bought it at auction last year.

matbe the government will buy our latest closure at a bargain basement auction...The GERSTX Refinery! Hahahaha

The last from scratch development (not a rebuild or an addition) was Carambola back in 1986 (or was it 1982? someone please help me out on the date).

Kings Alley was a rebuild. (Please note the Anchor Inn is still in ruins from HUGO downtown). Divi was a rebuild of the old "Beach Hotel" - Beach Hotel and Grapetree were one in the same owners pre Hugo. Back in the day they used to haul guests back and forth between the two on golf carts to listen to the band at one of the hotels if one was playing and the other didnt have entertainment that night.) And that kiosk at Jack's Bay was where Grapetree used to boat their guests over to during the day. I don't count the expansion at Divi as it was just that -- an expansion required in order to get their tax benefitted Casino license.

So...... 26 years folks..

Couldn't have been 1982, because the final scene of the movie "Trading Places" was filmed on the beach there, and there was no hotel on it. That movie came out in 1983.

Bernie

Must have been 1986 then. Bernie nailed it.

I honestly am sad for all of that call St. Croix home and will continue to stay here and try to make it work.

All of us Realtors are fielding panicked calls from Hovensa home owners, so expect a glut of new listings to hit the market over the next few weeks. Prices will drop. Rental rates will likely drop further. There will be foreclosures. There will also be quite a few cars available for sale as well as household "stuff" that people don't want to ship to the mainland when they go.

Maybe we can attract retirees who have guaranteed income if the real estate prices drop low enough to be irresistible. They wouldn't be worried about finding jobs, anyway, and yet they would buy groceries and patronize restaurants and shops. Some might even hire house keepers, grounds keepers and repairmen to provide a few jobs along the way. Anything would help at this point.

Maybe the USVI Government should start an ad campaign on the mainland aimed at the retirement market.

Anyone seen anything from Venezuela about where they are going to ship their oil for processing?

Is Chavez as screwed as the VI or does he have another refinery lined up to process is thick crude?

I figured Chavez might start selling his oil to China in 2014 when the expansion of the Panama Canal was finished and you could get huge tankers through the new and much wider locks.

Ummm....Curacao refinery bought by Pedevesa from Shell Oil. Big capacity. .............

Alexandra- what price point are those homes generally?

All of us Realtors are fielding panicked calls from Hovensa home owners, so expect a glut of new listings to hit the market over the next few weeks. Prices will drop. Rental rates will likely drop further. There will be foreclosures. There will also be quite a few cars available for sale as well as household "stuff" that people don't want to ship to the mainland when they go.

Maybe we can attract retirees who have guaranteed income if the real estate prices drop low enough to be irresistible. They wouldn't be worried about finding jobs, anyway, and yet they would buy groceries and patronize restaurants and shops. Some might even hire house keepers, grounds keepers and repairmen to provide a few jobs along the way. Anything would help at this point.

Maybe the USVI Government should start an ad campaign on the mainland aimed at the retirement market.

Alexandra--Attracting the retiree market is a great idea (although they need to be "healthy" retirees who don't need complex medical care). I also think attracting people like myself--not retired, but with a portable job that can be done anywhere--would be a good tack to take. There are lots of people out there who are tired of the cold and snow, and who just need an Internet connection and a cell phone to do their jobs, who could do well here. The fact that it's a US territory means no complicated work permits, and you can get stuff shipped via the USPS quickly and cheaply. Right now, there's probably some poor sap freelance writer or website developer in Minnesota freezing his arse off who might entertain a more pleasing work environment during the winter months.

Bernie

All of us Realtors are fielding panicked calls from Hovensa home owners, so expect a glut of new listings to hit the market over the next few weeks. Prices will drop. Rental rates will likely drop further. There will be foreclosures. There will also be quite a few cars available for sale as well as household "stuff" that people don't want to ship to the mainland when they go.

I am in the market for a new car and a new apartment and am actually looking forward to auto and rental prices returning to something more affordable. Used car prices here are outrageous.

Alexandra,

All ideas are good at this point, especially new ideas.

Health care is top concern for retirees. VI health care sucks. Low crime is another. Crime is rampant. "Ease of living" (ie low maintenance living) is another--homes with generators and cisterns are not "easy". These are same reasons why hospitality and other industries avoid the VI. Schools for depenants is a reason why more families don't settle.

Fix the underling territory wide issues. Make the area more attractive to new business. Retain educated people. Make it good place to conduct business and raise a family.

The territorial government F'ed up. Sorry folks. Hovensa wanted to bring in LNG and less expensive more reliable power but our leaders wouldn't/couldn't make the infrastructure investment. The feds won't chip in because "chavez" and LNG are political death bells. No private investor will do business with territory or Wapa.

Now the territory can look forward to less tax revenue and higher energy costs and fewer educated productive families.

i agree. i think it would be to little to late. maybe the local govt will find out just how important the refinery was to st. croix.
the crime is just beginning. where will people work??
its time to move

i'm confused. do you mean time to move on to solve the problems st. croix now faces or time to move off island? truly just my opinion. obviously if you have been a hovensa employee and have lost your job, you will have to move off island to find a job{and my heart truly aches for you and your families] unless someone else takes over in the near future. on the other hand, if you have not been employed by hovensa and plan to leave the island because times will be tough for a while, you now greatly help me understand the resentment SOME west indians have towards mainlanders who move here. when the going gets tough they leave ,instead of helping to provide solutions to the island's problem. i don't mean to come across as harsh. again it's just my opinion.again, if you are a business owner and your business fails because of hovensa's closing that is a different circumstance too. i guess everyone has to do what they respectively have to do,but it does help me understand .

Healthy retirees would be a good idea. They would also have to be rich and stupid to move here.
Think about it for a minute:
.
You're retired, on a fixed income, maybe a pension and social security
Expensive air fares
Food (stale food) twice the cost of the mainland and maybe more with less selection. Milk now $7.00 a gallon.....$2.39 on the mainland last week.
Housing 2-4 times the cost of the mainland + high local mortgage rates
Unreliable electricity, 5-8 times the cost of the mainland and likely to increase with the Hovensa closing
Petrol, the same cost as the mainland but likely to increase with the Hovensa closing
House insurance, 15-20+ times the cost on the mainland, depending on your location on the mainland
Car insurance, 2-4 times the cost for less coverage and no liability
Poor Healthcare at best
Crime, Litter, no recycling....the list goes on.

Not all the facts but it certainly is NOT a retirees paradise by any measurement
Good place for a quick vacation.

"The territorial government F'ed up. Sorry folks. Hovensa wanted to bring in LNG and less expensive more reliable power but our leaders wouldn't/couldn't make the infrastructure investment. The feds won't chip in because "chavez" and LNG are political death bells. No private investor will do business with territory or Wapa."

I'd be curious to know more about this - did our "leaders' - who by the way aren't leaders but elected representatives - really say we can' do this? Are they out of their minds....

foodie:

http://virginislandsdailynews.com/news/hovensa-today-1.1238063#axzz1k20cTfrF

....."The current situation is not sustainable," Lever said. "And so we are talking with owners about what those solutions might be."......

....."Importing liquified natural gas is certainly one of those options," Lever said. "But with anything you do in our business, economy of scale comes into play. And so, if we could put in a facility that not only served the refinery, but the islands, then there might be some appeal in that."

WAPA Executive Director Hugo Hodge Jr. has said the authority is considering using natural gas.

"But again, HOVENSA would need assurances that we were going to get paid for whatever we supplied and that there would be assurances around our, basically, our permit to operate in the Virgin Islands," Lever said.......

Why do think VP Biden was here over xmas vaction with out Dr. Biden and family????