A sale could be closed by the end of the month on the long-defunct Grapetree Hotel that sits across the bay from the newly refurbished Divi Carina Bay Resort and Casino on St. Croix’s east end.
Although details are limited, Julie San Martin, owner-broker of Remax Realty on St. Croix, said a contract has been drawn but the deal has yet to close. The Remax broker for the deal, Roland Groder, declined to comment.
Because of provisions in the contract, San Martin said she could disclose neither the name of the potential buyer nor terms of the deal.
"The second this sucker closes it’s public record," she said.
Individuals familiar with the St. Croix real estate market said that Korrey Family Investments LLC of Minnesota is the prospective buyer of the 45- to 50-room hotel and some 25 adjacent cottages. Representatives from Korrey couldn’t be reached for comment.
One estimate has placed the sale price of the hotel, which sits on about 45 acres, at $1 million. But Greg Hamilton of Hamilton Real Estate said such a figure sounded high.
"That price would really surprise me," he said, mainly because of the extensive state of disrepair at the site.
Hamilton said the "heyday" of the Grapetree Hotel was in the late 1960s. San Martin said the property has been on the market for at least 15 years that she knows of.
The interest in the old Grapetree Hotel can likely be attributed to the renaissance of the area by the remodeled Divi Carina Bay Resort and Casino. Grapetree Shores Inc. reopened the derelict Divi Divi Resort in November after it was destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in 1989.
Grapetree Shores Inc. owns the new 130-room resort, which includes 20 one-bedroom suites.
Last August, St. Croix by the Sea Hotel, west of Christansted, was sold at auction for $700,000. The 65-room hotel in Estate St. John was purchased at a bankruptcy auction by J.R. Neal after closing its doors in 1996 and going up for sale a year later. According to the former owner, Eric Lawaetz, the decline of the hotel began around 1975 when the government built low-income housing next to the property. Hurricanes also did damage.
