[St. David, Grenada]
Range Developments breaks ground on its InterContinental Grenada Resort – the second luxury resort it will build in the Caribbean island of Grenada, as part of the country’s Citizenship by Investment Programme.
The event, which occurred at the La Sagesse Hotel, Restaurant and Beach Bar on May 10, gave attendees a bird’s eye view of the visible progress of Range Development’s Six Senses La Sagesse Resort, while simultaneously introducing the highly anticipated 150-room InterContinental Grenada Resort.
The five-star property is being prepped to be a flagship resort skewed toward the business sector. Its anticipated state of the art conference centre is expected to attract Fortune 500 companies to host business engagements in Grenada – a feat, which could help the island achieve one of its long-standing goals of capturing the meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions sector of the regional travel and tourism industry.
With a movement to complete the new resort in three and a half years, Managing Director & Member of the Board of Range Developments, Mohammed Asaria, joked about future dinner conversations where debates question which of the two luxury resorts occupies the number one and number two spots in the Caribbean’s hotel sector.
Asaria, who first looked to Grenada in 2019 to develop the Six Senses La Sagesse Resort as part of Grenada’s Citizenship by Investment Programme, credits the country’s respect for the rule of law, and its political stability as the main reasons for his company’s decision to develop an additional Citizenship by Investment resort in the Caribbean Island.
“Grenada provides that operating environment in which we can thrive and more so invest with confidence,” Asaria said. This means our investment is safe and that is so important for someone investing far away from where one lives.”
Parliamentary representative for the parish of St. David where the resort will be constructed, Oliver Joseph, underscored Asaria’s statement. “Grenada’s political stability, good workforce, highly literate people, friendly people, and nice scenery are attributes that you want when you invest in hotels. Hotels are built for tourists and when tourists come to your area, they want to know that you have a peaceful country, and St. David is a very peaceful place.”
According to Asaria, the move to develop the properties in St. David instead of in Grenada’s hotel belt in the southern parish of St. George, was passionately encouraged by Dr. Keith Mitchell, Grenada’s Prime Minister. In-fact, Dr. Mitchell, who participated in the event, cited the growth of social ills as a consequence of an imbalanced development strategy and a key reason for his decision to push investors like Range Developments away from the traditional practice of investing in St. George.
“Growing up as a young boy, every single development and activity that occurred in the country used to be in one part of the country and that clearly has serious drawbacks,” the Prime Minister said. “It means that everyone will be leaving areas of different parts of the country and heading to one area because people are looking for opportunities. With that comes a lot of social problems that we have had in certain sections of our country.”
With the current development of the Six Senses La Sagesse Resort, the desired shift in the movement of traffic in and out of St. David has already begun, Joseph said. In-fact, Joseph indicated there has been expressed interest by the banking sector in the area, as well as interest by a developer in developing a shopping mall. The addition of the InterContinental Grenada Resort to the existing equation is therefore not just a milestone for the country; according to the Minster for Tourism, Dr. Clarice Modeste-Curwen, “it’s a quantum leap for the industry.”
Representing the InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) was the company’s Regional VP, Luxury & Upscale Development Alex Kuhl. Kuhl, who also participated in the official launch ceremony of the InterContinental Grenada Resort back in December 2021, commended Range Developments, and the Government of Grenada for the progress made on both developments and quipped that the Intercontinental will be the brand of preference at that future dinner debate.
“When we are arguing about brands, we are supposed to be brand agnostic, but I have a soft spot for that brand,” Kuhl admitted. The IHG representative, who by his own admonition has been waiting for this day, said “we are very excited about the opening of both of these flagship hotels and look forward to more trips to the island.”
It has been ten years since Range Developments began developing hotels in the Caribbean funded by Citizenship by Investment Programmes. The company remains the only Citizenship by Investment developer to have successfully delivered two internationally branded, luxury hotels in the region. Its efforts in the regional Citizenship by Investment industry, has assisted over 6,000 individuals with citizenship applications, and has created gainful employment for close to 3,000 individuals.
My Grenada Solutions is proud to be a promoter of Range Developments resorts.
