Virgin Gorda Yacht Club and Village Cay Marina to be redeveloped
The BVI Investment Club (BVIIC) is looking towards the redevelopment of Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour and Village Cay Marina to accommodate larger yachts and boost business to aid in the recovery from Hurricanes Irma and Maria and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Speaking at their 30th Anniversary Press Conference yesterday, President Meade Malone said the club has an overall and complete development plan for Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour which includes the accommodation of mega and super yachts.
“I am happy to report that we are very much in hand in moving the Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour forward towards that vision. You will begin to see in the soon coming weeks work around beautification of the area and enhancement of that,” Malone said.
The President also noted that the Yacht Club is not full, but the BVIIC has a blueprint around the tenants they would like to have, and he thinks it would enhance the overall offerings to Virgin Gorda and the wider community.
“We are working steadfastly towards attracting and putting those tenants in place. So, it is not full, and we work with Smith’s Gore to help us navigate through to the proper and complete tenancy of Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbour and we are working towards that, particularly after Hurricane Irma and now after the coming of COVID-19,” Malone said.
Village Cay Marina
The Investment Club President noted that Village Cay Marina is also one of their premier assets and the key feature of the area is the marina facility. He noted the club is looking to further develop the marina aspect and work has already been done but his team is looking to do more.
“In the future, we are looking to do some dredging in the harbour which will help us to accommodate bigger yachts in the marina and that is key for us. On the land side, we have a vision in place of having some studies done by OBMI and another consultancy around the total redevelopment even of the land side of village cay marina,” Malone said.
“Those are things we will focus on in the next phase of development. Where we are right now is really settling ourselves after the pandemic and you will begin to see, and the public will begin to see some of those movements for Village Cay,” he added.
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As wild as a tick on a dead cow
So wonderful to see the Belongers at BVINews censoring and deciding which comments to publish. Free speech is gone in the BVI along with laws. Only thing that remains is lawlessness, drug running and very corrupt politicians. And the Foy is worried about image. Lmfao.
A good simple starting point would be to get power and water on the existing docks, repair the existing damaged bulkheads and the old supermarket, and maintain mosquito control. Thos steps would allow the marina to be profitable and then warrant further steps to grow once a actual foundation is in place.
The vision of the investment club has been “suck out all the money and don’t reinvest” not sure if they will ever have the ‘vision’ fix this mess..
@Vision – Village Cay was a good operation for 30 years… The centre of town, the place to meet and be seen. Not so much these days.
I know it goes against the grain of the Club, but they need to knock down all of Village Cay, including the docks, and build anew. Use that property footprint to its full extent. Build something with a vision towards lasting the next 40 years – and reclaim that centre of town position.
This sadly will not happen, that would involve “investing”.
VGYH and VC marina have deteriorated so much in the last 20 years a better investment decision might be to just put both on the market and get out of the marina/boatyard business in the BVI. A prime example is Yacht Haven Marina in St. Thomas. The original docks built in the 60’s were so deteriorated by 2000 it was a better decision to sell the property and docks to a developer, who tore down all the old buildings and docks and built a well designed megayacht marina with new condos ashore. It takes money to make money. Nickel and dime repairs in the luxury yacht/condo market don’t cut it.
Couldn’t agree more. Both places have been so badly neglected that to bring them back will require a major cash injection and the (so called) “investment” club has shown themselves to be entirely incapable of running these marinas. We badly need some more decent marinas in BVI and VCM and VGYH could be wonderful with the investment, vision and good management.
Hit the nail directly on the head with a sledge hammer. Sell VGYH and get people in who know what they are doing and care. BVIIC has let VGYH disintegrate since the purchase. What was once a THRIVING marina & boatyard is no longer. Sure… put up some buildings which have been EMPTY for years and that’s it.
“Investment” has always seemed a misnomer, for an organization that is devoted to receiving cheques, not writing cheques.
Greedy gluttons
Will they be taking recommendations from the surrounding communities as to what will actually benefit the area? Mega yachts are seasonal, so what will provide profits and jobs the rest of the time?
For mega yachts to call VGYH or VCM their homeport or even haul for repairs you have to have the essential land based amenities available that these vessels would need and the essential repair & refit of these vessels. The investment needed at both VGYH & VCM will need millions of $$$$ to attain the status they “talk” about. And boy ….. we’ve heard the talk but have NEVER seen walk.
The next set ah underhand cr**ks!!
Best you guys quit while you’re ahead, sell it and collect your check and keep out of that line of business. There is proof that the leadership has no idea of what’s required to operate a real marina in VG.
Ok, How do you turn a mega yacht around in the VG marina. No room!
The horrible mismanagement of both of these assets including the seizure by customs of many of the yachts in storage at these facilities proves to me that their basic management team is incapable. Why would megayachts come when there are no services available for them? You bought a multimillion dollar travelift how many years ago and what does it do besides haul ferries? import duty structure coupled with a lack of services the mega yachts might require mean this work will never come here. These yachts plan years in advance their refit works and only use reputable yards with longstanding track records for exceptional work.
All the service people that were in Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor were eliminated before Irma – with the idea that The Investment Club could build a Yacht Service center in the North Yard…they hired 2 alcoholic managers to oversee this and you can now see what we have! NOTHING.
No idea how to manage a Boat Yard. No idea how to hire or deal with people. No communication with the community.
They seem to be working on making the place look bad and people that live nearby feel marginalized. I don’t think
I will never forgive them for cutting down all those beautiful Australian Pines…
If Villge Cay doesn’t fix the sewage problem no Mega yacht will stop there. It is the marina of last choice due to the sewage and smell
Over ten years ago, a close personal friend, who happened to be President of the largest chain of salt water marinas on the US West Coast, and who had personally overseen the development of most of their properties, visited me in the BVI. At the time, I was a long term slip renter, well known to management, who were then (as always) talking about improvements. I asked my friend if he could do an assessment of the needs and condition of Village Cay, and advice as to how to proceed to bring it to true international standards, and he kindly agreed. After doing a careful survey, at no cost and as a fovour to me, we were supposed to meet with Investment Club reps, and Mr. Malone. Of course, the meeting was cancelled at the very last moment (we were basically stood up), with the explanation that they preferred to use the skills of the various Investment Club Committee members.
So, we will see if anything changes!
BVI Investment club are a either in the business of money *** or the most inept group of people to ever think that they could be an investment club. Virgin Gorda yacht harbor has gone from a first class destination harbor to a rat infested hole under their watch. Don’t cry me a river about Hurricane Irma, blah blah blah. The way they treated the boat owners who’s boats were destroyed by their lack of preparedness was truly eye opening. 90% of those who had boats there will NEVER COME BACK after the way they were treated. In the four years since there is so little progress in rebuilding that most boaters avoid VGYH altogether.
They have had multiple chances to show good faith and have done nothing but not show up .. wake up, they are not your friend.
What everyone has said in the comments already posted and more ! BVIIC has destroyed the VGYH complex and they know it. It is obvious they have done the same to VCM. All any of us have heard from the BVIIC regarding VGYH is basically silence. Maybe 3 community meeting in 15-20+ years – which never ended well for BVIIC. They have never been interested in the concerns of the VG community and what one sees today is the evidence. Sure Irma decimated the BVI but VGYH was already in complete disrepair prior to that. All the BVIIC has done all these years has put superficial changes to a product in a futile effort to disguise its fundamental failings. They have no clue how to successfully operate anything in the marine industry.
We don’t want no foreigner buying it though. HVe seen the plans. I have confidence it iwill get done and be better than it was before
Ahhh…. seeing “plans” and following through on those “plans” are two different things. We on VG looked at a huge drawing/rendering posted in full view in the marina for 10+ years !!!! Then it was removed because little happened – except two very, very expensive large buildings which sit almost empty to this day. So much for “plans/drawing renderings”.
A north section of the marina, which they completely denuded for so called mega yachts, which have yet to show. The only vessels in that yard are a few ferry boats and in hurricane season hauled bareboat fleets.
So….. drawings/plans/renderings mean NOTHING !!
Can they even pay their small staff?
I parked my boat in Village Cay docks yesterday…they were empty (there was a broken down catamaran on B dock and our boat – 30 empty slips).
These jokers are bad news. What they have done to Virgin Gorda Yacht Harbor is criminal.
The Yacht Harbor was the center of Virgin Gorda for years. Then the Investment Club started to kick out the long term commercial tenants…the only saving grace is that the relocated businesses are now thriving and were able to survive in better locations during Irma. The Yacht Harbor is now rebuilt and empty – who needs that in their community??
The Investment Club is BAD for the BVI. Someone should stop this mess.
BVI biggest boy business is the 40-60 footers, year round. Sadly they’ll chase shiny mega yachts who don’t actually spend their money in the BVI