EHI appealing federal judge’s Caneel Bay ruling

EHI Acquisitions is appealing a federal judge’s ruling in a dispute over ownership of the former Caneel Bay Resort property on St. John.

The company is asking the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the District Court’s ruling that the National Park Service owns the 150-acre property, according to a notice filed Wednesday by attorney Craig O’Shea, who is representing EHI.

The lengthy legal battle began in June 2022, when EHI filed a “quiet title” claim to Caneel Bay. Former owner Laurance Rockefeller gave 5,000 acres of land on St. John to the U.S. government to create the Virgin Islands National Park in 1956, but retained private use of Caneel Bay in an unusual 30-year agreement that extended to 2023.

The agreement was transferred to other companies over the years, ultimately ending up in the hands of EHI and CBI Acquisitions, and EHI offered to sell the land to the government for $70 million after the 2017 hurricanes destroyed the historic resort’s buildings.