The Le Paradis Beach, Golf & Marina Resort (which has garnered much attention over the years) is once again in the spotlight after three public officials indicated that the project might very well be revived.
Located in Praslin Bay, Le Paradis was touted as the ultimate getaway, promising 286 units, a five-star boutique hotel, a world-class spa, marina village, a Greg Norman signature golf course, multiple restaurants, commercial centre, and kids club, amongst others.
The project came to a screeching halt in 2008 due to financing issues. As mentioned on govt.lc, the property was already partially built when construction was cut short after the collapse of financer CLICO, the Caribbean insurance conglomerate.
(The company went into liquidation in 2011).
Later, in 2014, an article posted on the government’s website indicated that project negotiations had stalled due to a high asking price.
Nevertheless, government continued its search for investors and in 2014, it had been courting international and regional investors to continue the project and had discussions with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to encourage CLICO to reduce its asking price.
The interventions of the two governments were unrewarding.
Les Paradis which was meant to be built in four phases was only halfway in its first stage when it encountered issues.
The tides now seemed to have turned as the Chief Executive Officer of Invest Saint Lucia (ISL) Octavian Charles recently stated that there is an investor currently having a discussion with government and ISL with regards to the resort.
“There is tremendous interest in that project and we are hopeful that if all goes well we can recommence this project in the not-too-distant future,” Charles said.
Prior to this, Prime Minister Philip J Pierre had indicated that Tourism Minister Dr. Ernest Hilaire was going to continue holding discussions with the developer.
“As you know, that development, when it happens, will transform the East coast of the country. It’s what is called a challenged property,” Pierre said.
A local news publication recently reported that Member of Parliament for Micoud North Jeremiah Norbert said that things were looking very bright for the project.
“On Friday, I’m going to attend a presentation by 1881-Developers. These are the persons who have made a down payment on what we knew as Le Paradis,” Norbert said, according to the publication.