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POINTE BLANCHE--St. Maarten Quarter, a major mixed-use waterfront development project by Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL) is ready to commence and "go full steam" once approval is given by the Council of Ministers. The project has been in the making for eight years and its presentation to Government seems to have been well received.

Time is of the essence, as RCCL and its partners must have approval to finalise funding commitments. RCCL and the St. Maarten Harbour Group of Companies (SHGC) want to announce the project at the global Seatrade Cruise Shipping Conference in Miami in the week of March 17, amongst international industry players and travel and trade media.

RCCL Vice President of Commercial Development John Tercek and his partners presented a full project overview, including its history, vision and impacts, to the Ministers and Parliament's Permanent Committee for Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications (TEATT) on Thursday.

Main presenter Tercek was joined by consortium members Adam Petrillo of leading construction management company Hill International; Craig Baptiste and Ralph Ledee of Platinum Harbor, both local partners; SHGC Chief Executive Officer Mark Mingo; and two harbour officials.

Tercek said he was happy to be able to deliver the presentation to the officials in an "appropriate and transparent way," and some Members of Parliament noted the same.

Feedback seemed positive with the exception of MP Franklin Meyers' comments that Dutch contracting companies "make hundreds of millions" in St. Maarten and that a local company should be considered. Most questions related to competition, passenger distribution, facility access for locals and quantifying the positive impacts.

Committee Chairman Frans Richardson concluded by saying that people would be "intrigued" and he was happy that something had come in "a positive light," which had not been the case over the last few years.

Dutch-based construction and engineering company Ballast Nedam has been chosen for the project, while local subcontractors will be used. Both Tercek and Baptiste stressed that the project would promote local employment opportunities. They used one of their projects in Jamaica as an example, where everyone employed, including management, was sourced locally except for one store manager.

Baptiste also stressed that international projects were demonised easily, but said they were "kindred spirits" and the development would provide jobs for the populace that normally might not go to them.

More than 250 jobs will become available during the project's construction phase over the next 2½ years, and more than 400 fulltime quality jobs after its completion, Tercek said.

Petrillo also indicated that social corporate responsibility was a central focus, particularly community-building, children, employment and environmental sustainability. Internship programmes and summer camps are planned for the future. The team wants to "make sure people are first and foremost taken care of," he said.

Vision

St. Maarten Quarter Development NV, the entity set up specifically for the project, presented key elements accompanied by loose artist's impressions and mood boards.

The development will feature high quality entertainment, dining, accommodation, retail and activity facilities, focused on brands new to the island as well as local offerings.

A four-star 200-room hotel ¬– ¬¬¬¬ either Hard Rock or Marriot brand – will include an infinity pool, meeting and conference rooms, and a fitness centre and spa. Mingo is in favour of Marriot.

A zip-line attraction will both start and end on the property, have no impact on traffic, and is meant to be a quick, fun attraction that can "zip up to six guests from 0 to 60 miles per hour," Tercek said.

A Reef Lagoon is planned, which will include stingray and shark sections, as well as an aquarium where visitors can walk underwater. These are proven tourist attractions, but are not found bundled together, which will make the development a novelty in the Caribbean.

The Reef Lagoon will allow "tens of thousands to experience Caribbean sea life without causing damage or environmental stress to St. Maarten's reefs."

Retail brands selected include those popular in Europe, the United States and South America. The retail products were chosen to complement local offerings and not become "another jewellery mall." Advanced discussions are going on with Zara and this would be its first store in the Caribbean.

Other elements include a casino, up to 500 parking spaces and up to nine yacht slips.

Expected benefits to the island include an estimated US $120 million other-tourism-based investment, a major multiplier effect on the economy, and the generation of around $1 million as well as indirect revenues to the harbour annually through lease- and development-rights payments.

The project is meant to upgrade the visitor experience and mitigate effects of anticipated passenger number growth. Expected to be "vibrant even in the low season," it will target cruise passengers as well as overnight tourists and local residents. The upgrade also should make the tourism product more attractive in general to other cruise lines as well as airlines.

Bringing fresh products to the port area also was discussed as something critical to pushing towards longer hours spent on island and repeat visitation, necessities that have been stressed by Mingo concerning sustainability of the cruise product.

Progress

The master site plan has been approved by the harbour and at this point the group needs to go through all regulatory processes before the project is confirmed. Without the approval, any money spent on detailed engineering and design work cannot be justified.

The next steps entail commencing detailed design and attaining relevant permits. The group anticipates that as the project was designed in conformance with zoning codes the process will be fairly straightforward and construction can start in this year's fourth quarter. The project should be ready for the 2017-18 winter season.

Discussions originally started in the early 2000s between RCCL, the harbour and the former government, which aimed to improve cruise tourism. After two docks were built at the harbour, the second one helped along by RCCL, some 10 acres of land were created as a result of the dredging.

RCCL soft-loaned $10 million in 2007 for the building of the second dock and negotiated a long-term lease of rights concession to the property that will now house the waterfront project. RCCL has paid nearly $5 million in rent over the years. There was a quiet period during which the project came to a halt because of the global economic crisis.

The harbour needed the land during the construction of the second dock, but gave it back in 2013, the same year the consortium was established. In 2014, RCCL and its partners formulated a comprehensive financing plan and submitted its master plan to the harbour for approval, which was granted in December 2014.