Real Estate

A young Alexander Hamilton would not have known the building on the corner of Company Street and King Cross Street as the Quin House, but the boy and his mother almost certainly knew the place well. More than 261 years after its construction, Christiansted’s historic landmark is for sale. 

The historic Louisenhoj estate perched atop St. Thomas is more than the island’s most mesmerizing recent real estate offering. The former plantation focal point — with Magens Bay on one side and Charlotte Amalie on the other — was foundational to what the Virgin Islands is today.

When Cleve Jacobs was young, he and other Boy Scouts would pack overnight bags and camp in once-remote areas of St. Thomas and St. John. They’d learn about local vegetation and interact with farm animals. Although many of those sites are now parking lots or retail outlets, Jacobs hopes his family land in undeveloped and somewhat remote Estate Neltjeberg gives Virgin Islands youth a hands-on understanding of the outdoors.

The former Good Hope School campus in Frederiksted, St. Croix, is now on the market, offering a unique opportunity for redevelopment.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development implemented federal disaster assistance Friday for the U.S. Virgin Islands, sending federal aid to supplement local recovery after Tropical Storm Ernesto in mid-August.

From a long stretch of remote Anegada beachfront to an industrial acre in what could soon be a busy St. Croix shipyard, available Virgin Islands commercial real estate rivals its dream homes.

Your own little hotel in a quiet slice of paradise, where locals and tourists soak up hospitality, blending steel-pan nights and soft ocean-wave days, where business and pleasure can’t help but intertwine like toes in the sand, like ice melting in some flamboyant drink — it’s a dream so powerful, so pervasive, it’s practically a tropical archetype.

Brochures might not always show it, but there’s a broad diversity of real estate for sale in the Virgin Islands. St. John, with its limited housing availability, is a prime example. An off-the-grid cabin in the wild, a snazzy apartment near town, a barren plot of land to build on, a hilltop house celebrated on a TV show about amazing homes — St. John has them all.

Coveted by second-home buyers and vacation-rental entrepreneurs, St. John can be a tough place to find the right real estate fit. While there may not be a ton of availability, there is diversity in both size and price.

How far $750,000 goes in buying Virgin Islands real estate depends on where you look and what you want.

The Catherine’s Rest home where NBA legend Tim Duncan grew up is on the market, and it’s more than a landmark. The four-bedroom, two-bathroom main house has an attached one-bedroom, one-bath apartment with a separate WAPA meter, meaning it could be easily rented out, according to listing agents Sea Glass Properties.

Buying or selling a home is personal. It’s more than a financial investment. It’s emotional. That’s something many venturing into real estate transactions underestimate, said Gail Bourdon, president and principal broker at RE/MAX in St. Croix.

The Virgin Islands is loaded with iconic properties. This week, we highlight three vastly different real estate opportunities that represent the history, natural beauty, and commercial potential of the territory.

Tough choices are made when times are lean. Luxuries can be cut but the roof has to stay overhead. A new program offers Virgin Islanders $25,000 to make those decisions a little easier. Eligible residents can receive up to $25,000 to cover outstanding expenses like delinquent mortgage loans, property taxes,...

Depending on your budget, finding an affordable home in the Virgin Islands can be an adventure. It’s also a matter of addressing what works for you. Three homes on the market now represent a sliver of what’s available in their district, exemplifying the personalities of each district’s real estate.

Danielle Austin offers over 18 years of corporate experience at Christie's International Real Estate, most recently as senior vice president of the Southeast United States, Caribbean and Latin America.

Daydreaming about uninhabited islands could probably qualify as an official Virgin Islands pastime. What could you put there? An eco-resort? A little house with a shady wrap-around gallery? Or maybe you leave it as it is and host bourgeoisie weekend cookouts on your private island.

While the owners and agents of Christie’s International Real Estate USVI have been serving the St. Croix market for decades from its home base of St. Thomas, heightened interest from buyers over the past few years prompted the establishment of a bricks-and-mortar location on the island.

NAI Island Commercial aims to aggregate commercial listings, market data and brokerage services across the region’s many island territories.