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St. Clair Collection investing $450M in hotel properties in P.R., Vieques

The St. Clair Collection has officially re-branded its flagship hotel in Isla Verde as Mare, a property that is part of a portfolio that includes six other resorts currently under development, company Founder Keith St. Clair confirmed to this media outlet.

In all, the investment and value of the planned properties is $450 million, he confirmed.

Mare — which has been known as Azul and prior to that, the ESJ Tower — has both regular hotel rooms as well as time-share properties. The hotel component has undergone a massive renovation, and work continues on the time-share aspect, executives said.

Right behind the Mare is the Jade, currently under construction and that should be open for business in the first quarter of 2019. That property will add 112 rooms, a rooftop pool and other amenities throughout its nine floors.

“This is the first new hotel that has been constructed in the Isla Verde sector in 20 years,” St. Clair said of the property facing the Atlantic Ocean.

Meanwhile, construction of the 16-story Noir is also slated to begin next year. The beachfront property will be located on the site of the former Empress Hotel in Isla Verde and will feature 140 rooms.

“When we finish the third hotel in Isla Verde, we’ll have about 750 rooms on Isla Verde beach,” St. Clair said.

St. Clair Collection has more properties in the pipeline, including hotels in Vieques and Cayey. The $70 million Safiro hotel in Vieques, which will be “completely off the grid and independent from the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority,” will break ground in January, St. Clair confirmed.

The 80-room hotel located on the south side of Vieques in the Esperanza sector will feature 15, three-bedroom villas and a world-class spa. Once completed in October 2020, the property will be the largest on the island municipality, unless the W Vieques reopens after Hurricane María shut it down last September.

In Cayey, St. Clair Collection plans to break ground in March 2019 on the “first mountain resort, which will be exclusive.” The property will feature 100, one-, two-, and three- bedroom villas, 14 residential units, a hotel, a restaurant and a spa.

Over at the Miramar Convention Center District, St. Clair is developing a film production complex featuring sound stages, a film-making university that will be managed by Sacred Heart University, and a backlot, among other features. The campus calls for a $136 million investment that will now include a 300-room hotel, at the request of the government, he said.

A seventh property is also planned, although St. Clair refrained from disclosing details, as it is in the early stages of development.

“With those 300 rooms, plus the hotels in Vieques and Cayey, and the other that we’re going to do that we can’t announce yet, we’ll have about 1,100 to 1,200 hotel rooms in Puerto Rico and about 6,500 direct and indirect jobs,” the executive said.

Author Details
Author Details
Business reporter with 30 years of experience writing for weekly and daily newspapers, as well as trade publications in Puerto Rico. My list of former employers includes Caribbean Business, The San Juan Star, and the Puerto Rico Daily Sun, among others. My areas of expertise include telecommunications, technology, retail, agriculture, tourism, banking and most other segments of Puerto Rico’s economy.
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9 Comments

  1. Maria December 6, 2018

    And here they come, the vultures for my country. Poor Vieques just got out of 60years of occupation by the Navy. Now Americans will eat it up for their own amusement. Disgusting.

    Reply
    1. Rafa December 7, 2018

      I remember the slogan… “Paz para Vieques”….now it should be “Pan para Vieques”.

      Why is it so bad that Mr. StClair and his company wants to invest in Vieques?

      As far as I am concerned Vieques REALLY needs economic activity over there.

      Reply
    2. Carla December 8, 2018

      Yes Vieques is somewhat clear of the navy, but as for the Americans this is US and The people of Puerto Rico are American as well. The economy is suffering and needs to prosper, done tastefully ! Paz y Pan

      Reply
    3. Vulture January 10, 2019

      Oh poor Maria…. so silly and so ungrateful! Since you don’t consider yourself American, please give up your citizenship and move somewhere else. I’m sure Cuba or Venezuela would love to have you with your anti-american views. I’m sure you have enjoyed your American food stamps, and your American welfare, and your American emergency funds, aid and assistance!

      Only if you knew how much positive economic impact, jobs, tourism and people like Keith St. Clair bring to the island of Puerto Rico!

      Please go get some American backed student loans or good old American financial aid (I’m sure you qualify) and get some AMERICAN EDUCATION!!!!

      And P.S. Keith St. Clair is British!!!!

      Reply
      1. Vandy February 16, 2019

        “Vulture”: completely unnecessary. Leave your bigoted hateful stereotype s to yourself. Educate yourself about PR instead of channeling Trump and Fox. Maybe Maria has a valid perspective which needs to be heard at the very least – why don’t you go help somebody in need

        Reply
    4. Sandy Roldos May 10, 2019

      Maria you are completely right. Like the song says “con medio peso” Keith came here in 2015 with nothing, Conexus paid 8.5 M for property management of ESJ Towers which had assets in the millions as a condominium. He inherited 71 units and with the help of branding gurus borrowed from Oriental and other banks to build the “Titanic” Verde Hotel. His “collection” DOES NOT EXIST! ESJ Towers is a condominium which has him in court for removing the name ESJ from our façade and trying to illegally change the name of our condo to AZUL (which threatened to sue him for using their name), then to Mare which only exists in his 71 rooms and his dreams. Noir is not, nor will it ever be built, Neither will Zafiro if I know the power of the people from Vieques. He is trying to buy out the condo owners to convert the condo into a Hotel but we will not let this happen. There is a fox in the hen house and the sooner everyone realizes this the sooner we can excise this cancer before it spreads any faster. Help us by signing in to ESJTHOA and join. We have the Numbers the Law and the Power to make the right choices for Puerto Rico!

      Reply
  2. Burr Vail December 6, 2018

    Will “Time Share” be part of the Vieques prpoerty?

    Reply
  3. Dr Wang December 7, 2018

    Chinese money

    Reply
  4. THE TRUTH HURTS June 13, 2021

    Blah Blah Blah…Nothing but lies,as an owner at ESJ Towers I know the story well.
    This man is broke and being sued by everyone,Sadly in PR,we believe any “cuento Chino” anyone foreigner tells,we don’t do our due diligence, give them incentives and money, and they default we cry.St Clair is just one ofmany similar stories.
    Will we ever learn?

    Reply

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