Premier targets 2026 to start redevelopment of Prospect Reef
What remains of the Prospect Reef Resort on Tortola. (BVI News photo)
Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley has indicated that redevelopment work on the long-awaited Prospect Reef Resort could begin in 2026, with the government preparing to move the project to the next stage of review.
Speaking on the government’s *Virgin Islands Voice* programme, Dr Wheatley confirmed that a Cabinet paper will soon be presented to allow the evaluation of proposals from investors interested in redeveloping the derelict property.
“We have a Cabinet paper which will be coming to Cabinet soon, where we will have a number of entities which submitted expressions of interest. The Cabinet paper will approve for them to be able to submit proposals, and then we will have those proposals evaluated, and a successful tenderer will win the job to develop Prospect Reef,” Premier Wheatley stated.
He added that the government hopes to “break ground in 2026” once a suitable developer is selected.
A long-stalled tourism asset
The 32-acre Prospect Reef site, located near Road Town, has remained abandoned for more than a decade. Once a popular resort and training facility, the property was purchased by the government in 2005 for about six million dollars under plans for a public–private redevelopment. Successive administrations have since proposed various partnerships, none of which materialised.
In 2017, then-Premier Dr D Orlando Smith said the government intended to partner with a US developer to create a world-class resort and conference centre. However, those plans were shelved following the hurricanes of that year and later by the 2020 pandemic.
More recently, the Dr Wheatley administration signalled renewed interest in turning the site into a major tourism and hospitality hub to support economic diversification and local job creation.
Next steps
The Premier explained that the next phase will involve assessing the detailed proposals submitted by qualified developers before Cabinet selects the winning bidder.
“We will have those proposals evaluated, and a successful tenderer will win the job to develop Prospect Reef,” he said, noting that the government intends for the process to be transparent and competitive.
The development is expected to complement other tourism-focused projects across the territory, including the ongoing airport expansion plans and the revitalisation of the capital.
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“seeking investors”
Any investor who is not a belonger will not be interested .
Waiting time for alien land holders license, waiting time for trade license, waiting time for immigration and labour.
This country places too many obstacles and makes it too difficult for foreign investors to come here.
Check how other islands welcome people who want to invest in the country.
Exactly and then once you’ve jumped through all the hoops and built a top resort government officials will force you to transfer part of the ownership to a belonger. Apparently it’s happened several times before!
How will any of this development be funded. Is there even an estimated budget for what this might cost? A commercial property not used or maintained for more than 20 years will take some serious work.
How many meaningful jobs will refurbishing Prospect Reef bring to BVIslanders during its construction, and later during its operations.
Government is not in the business of doing developments. The Admin building has not been completed to date.
What do you expect from prospect reef ?
Focus on the water supply, the roads, things that are within your remit.
The annual promise of redevelopment ..
quadrennial. they only talk about prosprct when they gearing up for election.
Running he mouth for sport at this point. Nothing this dude talks about comes to fruition. The B.V.I is nothing but a pretty 3rd sh!+hloe.
But yet people are knocking on its doors Let me in Let me in.
He talked about doing whatever it takes to to Lift the order in council where the UK was attempting to suspend the territory’s constitution.
And it looks like that is happening. And that is one of the most important things to happen to the territory in decades.. so get the hell on talking piss
This property should be used to develop a community center for residents and visitors.
Until we have roads we can drive on, Reliable Electricity, Water available 24/7 and Drainage. This is the investment you need to make in the country before even thinking about a project like this. Lets get the basics right before any pipe dreams.
This is the development a BVI Government stole from other investors.
Prospect Reef 32 acres? This must be including the sea! The Elmore Stoutt High School campus is 8 acres, and I just dont see that campus fitting in the Prospect Reef property four times.
Even that high school you mentioned is not no 8 acres. What happen an acre of land is two tennis courts in the BVI man? Nonsense about 32 Acres for Prospect Reef and 8 Acres for the high school. Sorry,not buying none of it…
A bunch of liessssss
Why don’t the governmemt seek a brand name hotel to invest. Most of the neighboring islands have at least one brand name resort. Sandals, Marriott, Four Seasons. What is the government afraid of? Foreign Investments?? Oh well, I guess they don’t mind endimg up behind the eight ball
Another successful government ran project, someone made a fortune from the public purse here goes another little earner!
The government needs to rake down those old buildings and erect a few more administration that can accommodate all government departments and ministries. This will cut cost rent expenditure, have all departments in a convenient centralized location instead of in every crack and cranny all over Tortola.
Every crack and cranny owned by someone that VIP wants to favour with a monthly income. There is method to their madness, unfortunately the method is not for the benefit of the people of the VI.
Clean up the dam area. Push all concrete into the ocean now.
It seems the government are thinking of something like a 200 bedroom plus hotel. The question is ,what is the attraction that will fill it? It is not a great site. No beach. Gambling? There is lots of competition and that can bring its own problems. Conventions? People look for other attractions, shows, events etc. Even Las Vegas is currently suffering and it has gambling and shows galore. We cannot compete with world capitals, London, Paris , Rio etc for convention business. Might be better to think of a major attraction , that wouldn’t costsomuch, to take money off cruise ship passengers.
Perfect for a 2nd Govt headquarters, housing immigration, labour, License dept AG office..The rent save by having this can pay the loan month and with a couple hundred thousand in the bank monthly, Plus two cafeterias on rent. its our own…Remember prospect is a huge spot, creating parking is not a problem..
In the meantime please clean up the drainage by the entrance creating a permanent cess pit along the road. I also wonder why we pay statutory board members when it’s clearly derelict?