Tan Kay Hock's development group has put the former Yacht Haven Marina up for sale. The asking price is $8.5 million.
The group bought the Long Bay property, including the empty, derelict hotel, for $5.5 million from the Bank of Nova Scotia in a bankruptcy sale about two years ago. Its plans for a mega-development, an "Asian Village," have been mired in controversy ever since.
The project was officially pronounced dead early this month, the developers having failed to reach an agreement with the West Indian Co., which controls the cruise ship dock, Havensight Mall and other adjacent property.
Now the entire package is for sale, according to Marilyn Blackhall, a Remax Realtor who is handling the listing along with her husband, George Blackhall, and Jackie Marin.
Details of the property, as well as of the ownership, which she described as "a complicated corporate structure," will be available to serious buyers.
But in general terms, Blackhall said the package includes the old hotel building and about 4. 5 acres of land upon which it sits, a marina with approximately 14O slips and a "major interest" in three nearby parcels of land.
At the heart of the deal is the marina, which has continued to operate despite the demise of most of its support businesses, and which, Blackhall said, has a Coastal Zone Management permit that extends for another 50 years.
She said the property is being marketed "everywhere that we can." That's a lot of places, since "we have international contacts" through Remax.
"It's a complicated sale," she said, but "there are people who have expressed interest" already. In general, "people are seeing opportunities here."
Blackball said the marina dates back to the mid-'60s and the complex was rebuilt in the late '70s.
Over the years, the hotel went through several ownerships, including such major hotel chains as the Sheraton and the Ramada.
But it appeared to he floundering by the early '9Os and after Hurricane Marilyn severely damaged it in 1995, it was taken over by the bank.
It has never been repaired and is generally described as an eyesore sitting prominently along the main route between the cruise ship docks and downtown Charlotte Amalie.