A Major Caribbean Luxury Golf Development Is Coming to Saint Lucia
By Joe Pike, Special Contributor
Golf enthusiasts may still be about two years away from taking their first putt at the much-anticipated Cabot Saint Lucia, but that hasn’t stopped investors from aggressively scooping up the luxury residences’ lots.
Including Cabot Point, the first course in the Caribbean by esteemed golf course architectural firm, Coore & Crenshaw, Inc., Cabot Saint Lucia is expected to be the Caribbean’s next hot, luxury golf spot, especially for investors and homebuyers.
“Golf is currently available on the island, but it’s not really a big tourist attraction,” said George Punoose, principal at Cabot Saint Lucia. “We are not knocking anywhere else in the Caribbean, there are a lot of great courses, but we never understood why no [developers] really wanted to go to St. Lucia [for major luxury, golf projects]. There is a just a different level in St. Lucia, a world-class level [for golf].”
In an exclusive interview with Caribbean Journal Invest (CJI), Punoose said Cabot Saint Lucia started phase one of its pre-sales a few months ago and has already sold, or is in the process of selling, 24 lots. That’s more than half of the planned 42 lots for phase one, said Punoose.
Punoose told CJI the course is expected to be fully ready by 2022. Punoose said Cabot will have 320 residential units, about 200 of which will be townhouses and flats. He also said there are 100 in actual lots.
Punoose said the lots in phase one are between $750,000 and $2.4 million. Townhouses and flats are between $1.6 and $2.6 million, depending on whether it is a two-, three- or four-bedroom unit. The overall lots, he said, go from about $1 to $10 million, but noted that “these are future phases.”
And as far as the course goes?
Bill Coore of Coore & Crenshaw, Inc., which has a reputation for being somewhat picky in its golf location selections, told CJI that the project is perhaps the most visually stunning course he and partner Ben Crenshaw, have ever worked on.
“Ben Crenshaw and I have enjoyed a longstanding relationship with the Cabot team and we’re thrilled to have Cabot Saint Lucia as our first Caribbean course,” Coore told CJI. “Thanks to Mother Nature, Cabot Saint Lucia is likely the most visually dramatic site in which we have ever worked.”
Punoose also said there is a $50,000 membership initiation fee that goes up $25,000 for every 40 members. He also noted, however, that there is an 80-percent return on the membership price at its current value. For example, if someone buys now and eventually sells for $150,000, they would get 80 percent of that membership fee back. Punoose also noted there will be a $10,000 annual club fee once the golf course opens.
He said the golf course construction team has been hard at work over the past few months and now has a total of six golf holes shaped: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 11.
He said while he and his team are making great progress on the site, the disruption this spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic has meant a delay in the planned opening dates.
He told CJI the team is now looking forward to opening Cabot Point for preview play in late 2021, with a full opening in 2022. The Beach Club is expected to open for member and guest use in 2022, he said.
“Cabot’s multiple offerings such as a hotel, luxury real estate, golf and retail will have a strong appeal for investors and vacationers,” Beverly Nicholson Doty, CEO of the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority, told CJI. “And in a time period when we have shifted our tourism focus to COVID recovery, Cabot’s commitment to building in and promoting St. Lucia signifies a strong positive step forward.”
The Beach Residence, designed by Studio RHE, is one of the luxury real estate options available at Cabot Saint Lucia.
The double frontage design allows the house to function as both open to the beach – with a beach-front infinity pool and carefully designed spine walls channeling the cooling breeze through the house – or closed, to enjoy the private courtyard with a reflecting pool and fire pit.
The Master Suite spans the entire width of the home and features full views in both directions.
The Boutique Component
Punoose told CJI that Cabot Saint Lucia is currently in the design phase for a 50-room boutique hotel that will open as early as 2023.
He said the property’s main target clientele will be wealthy families from the U.S. and the U.K, as well as the neighboring Caribbean.
“Cabot Saint Lucia represents a significant moment for tourism development in St. Lucia,” said Nicholson-Doty. “Its prime location in the north aligns with our long-term tourism plan for developing the northern area of the island.”
