Pond Bay Club officials would like to open for the upcoming winter season — but in fact it will open when construction is done, resort manager Paul Helson told a dozen or so Rotary Club of St. John members Friday at the Westin Resort and Villas.
Helson works for Auberge Resorts, the company hired to manage the resort at Chocolate Hole. Back in the 1990s, he worked for Caneel Bay Resort.
The developer, First American Development Group/Carib Limited Partnership, broke ground on the project in April 2008. So far, Pond Bay hasn’t finalized any contracts on its fractional ownership program, Helson said.
"But we have 40 ‘reservations’ from people who have put down earnest money," Helson said.
He said work on writing those contracts will begin soon. That part of the process was slowed because Auberge Resorts had to incorporate in the territory, which just happened this week, Helson said.
In response to questions from Rotary members, Helson said the resort has no plans to add sand to the beach, a process call re-nourishment. He said that when people buy ownerships they will buy them knowing the resort has a pebble beach.
"Most of the guests will be more interested in the pool," Helson said.
The issue of beach re-nourishment was an issue at several Coastal Zone Management Committee hearings as Pond Bay worked through the permitting process.
Work on the resort will be done in phases, with the first 26 of the 50 units planned completed first. Of those 26 units, two have four bedrooms and 23 have three bedrooms. Helson said prices start at $300,000 for five weeks of fractional ownership. Buyers must purchase the entire five weeks, though they may put some of those weeks into the resort’s hotel plan.
Helson said the second phase consists of 24 units and will soon follow as construction equipment is already on site.
Auberge Resorts signed on to manage Pond Bay Club in March, Helson said. He said since then, the company reduced the size of the building that will contain "back of the house" operations. That building will run on solar power, which Helson said will also be used to recharge the resort’s electric carts, used for transportation around the property.
The resort’s 117-seat restaurant may not open when the first units become available, but Henson said the bar definitely will open – guests will want it.
He stressed that Auberge Resorts is interested in being part of the St. John community. "I bring an understanding of the integral part businesses play in the community," he said.
