Cabinet shares plans for possible Yacht Marina at Fort James

More than 23 acres of the rocky terrain on the west side of the southern end at the historic Fort James beach could be transformed into a yachting marina.

This is being considered as the proposed Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines project has been shelved due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines was to collaborate with Global Ports Holding in creating the US$100 million beach club.

“We are looking at ways of making it easy for some yachts to remain in the St. Johns Harbor. The idea is to increase the amount of economic activity that takes place there. We believe it will be a perfect place and make Fort James a better place than it now is. we want to make Fort James as attractive as Nelson’s Dockyard…and this idea of a yachting centre is very attractive and we are pursuing that,” Cabinet Spokesperson Lionel Hurst explained.

According to this week’s Cabinet notes, the specific area would see buildings constructed to serve the moored yachts. The luxury vessels will complement the beauty of the rehabilitated historic Fort.

In addition to that area, discussions are also underway for a development project at Shell Beach.

Luxury homes are to be built on approximately 20 acres of land between the road and the eastern border of the Military Base; the investment will be exclusively for Antiguans and Barbudans, to encourage participation in a very profitable sector of the tourism industry.

“This area was selected because it is close to a beach. Many persons had their eyes on it and the Prime Minister Gaston Browne has decided that Antiguans and Barbudans should have a piece of the pie and invest. Therefore, we want to set aside this acreage so that Antiguans have a chance to benefit from the tourism sector in a meaningful way,” Hurst added.