Ground to be broken for Black Sands Resort Thursday

The ground breaking ceremony for the hotel and villas project at Mt Wynne/Peter’s Hope takes place this Thursday, January 19.

Pace Development, a company based in Toronto, Canada, is the developer of the 400-room project, which will be marketed under the name ‘Black Sands Resort and Villas’.

The principal investor of the “supreme all-inclusive luxury resort” is Joseph Romano, who is an attorney and partner with Pace Development.

The plan is to construct 400 rooms in the form of a hotel and about 50 villas at Mt Wynne/Peter’s Hope on some 36 acres of land, which Pace Development purchased from the Government of St Vincent and the Grenadines for XCD$7 million.

According to promotional literature produced by Black Sands Resort and Villas, the resort will have “first class facilities and state-of-the art amenities” and will be “highly focused on couples, singles or families….”

At the ground breaking ceremony on Thursday, presentations will be made by Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves, Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Affairs Minister and parliamentary representative for Central Leeward Louis Straker and chief executive officer of the Guyana based Roraima Airways Captain Gerald Gouveia.

A source close to the project said that within days of the ground breaking ceremony, the clearing of the land will begin and local architects will be given the opportunity to come up with a design for the villas that will reflect the uniqueness of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

The investors are also looking at the possibility of selling the project as a health rehabilitation centre, taking advantage of the black sand beach, while embracing their corporate social responsibility.

The construction process is expected to be fully completed in five years, but promises to be up and running within two and a half years and employ approximately 200 to 300 persons.(LC)