Fortress Investment Group Plans to take Frenchman’s Reef to Next Level
Officials from CREF3 USVI Hotel Owner, Inc., a company owned and managed by Fortress Investment Group, on Tuesday presented plans for the Frenchman’s Reef Marriott Resort, which the company has scheduled to reopen in November 2022, after it was devastated by the storms of 2017. The presentation was made during Tuesday’s meeting of the V.I. Economic Development Authority Board.
2021-10-13 13:17:22 - VI News Staff
The project to restore the Marriott Frenchman’s Reef Resort and Spa in St. Thomas, originally owned and operated under DiamondRock Hospitality Company, was stopped in 2019.
“Under new ownership, construction has finally begun and is actively ongoing,” said Attorney Adriane Dudley, who represents CREF3.
Originally, under DiamondRock Hospitality Company the resort was slated to open in 2020 but then was sold to a New York-based private investment firm Fortress Investment Group earlier this year.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Joe Gould, managing director of Fortress Investment Group, detailed the plans for the property. He said Fortress has invested more than $50 million.
The total investment into the resort is expected to be more than $402.6 million dollars. Gould said that the resort will support $1.5 billion in business sales, $559 million in income, and $182 million in U.S. Virgin Islands tax revenue in the next 10 years.
“Our goal in purchasing the Frenchman’s Reef is to build upon its rich history,” Gould said. “We have carefully layered the design, branding, and conception to truly provide a unique experience while working together to create an overall destination, and an overall encompassing ecosystem.”
Some of the renovations will include 486 guestrooms, 10 restaurants and bars, four pools, a 60,000-square-foot indoor and outdoor function space, a kid’s club and activity center, 13 treatment room luxury spas, and a 1,400-foot white sandy beach.
Areas of expansion will include improved guest room experiences, an additional eight guestrooms at the main building, upgrades to the pool deck, fully redesigned and expanded spa and fitness facilities, upgraded infrastructure, a more efficient wastewater treatment plant, and an erosion plan in accordance with CZM permitting.