St. Maarten Private Eye

It is amusing to see how quick people are to make assumptions without ever investigating a fact!!! Law suites start over less!!!! I see the writer is so sure of there words no name was given!! As for the Bell's and anyone who SELL's Or enters into a contract on the lease or purchase of land. You know what you are doing when you cash the check...so why is it that OTHER people are worried about you. Did they get a part of the money??? The truth is this land was leased by the Bell's long ago to another party.
From what I have seen of this project it is going to be a beautiful location with loads of green space. Roddy at Lucky Stables can't wait to get into there new home and business there. Seems the only people who complain are people using the land without the owners approval "TRUST PASSING"
Let's look for the good before we throw dirt on someone!!!

You sound lke a developer. They all say how "beautiful" their development gonna be. I love the "with loads of green" part. Afraid of something ?
The bottom line is that Sint Maarten does not need another 400 housing project and we can not handle it either. Besides, I just hate to see that piece of nature disappear forever. No matter what you put there. So I do complain but I never trespassed there. Do you know the facts ?

" Let's look for the good before we throw dirt on someone!!! "

Ok I've looked and I can't find any.

In the subsequent posts numerous facts were presented, none of which you have disputed. So my question is what facts are you talking about?

Its interesting that your equally anonimous comment comes on the same day that the Daily Herlad publishes a publicity piece disquised as news.
Things that make you go hmmmmmmmm!!

Hi there Know the facts, you question the writer saying they are so sure they did not put their name, but neither did you with know the facts.

While I agree with flipper, I too have heard about the questionable background of the developers. it seems that the US bankers are a bit like loan sharks, very high interest rates. I had also heard that the reason they ended up with the Bell's property is because certain family members of the Bells took out a loan with the US bankers and could not pay back.

The property was collateral and the bank now has control. If I heard this and you heard a similar story, something must be and some bit of it must be true.
But if you can provide the names of the redi mix company and the name of the US banks and some other related stories, it would help us here, after all SXM is island of pirates, a haven for crooks and thieves and our government welcomes them with open arms, without asking background information.
But we the locals have to kow tow to every developer as if they are the coming of jesus.

It's easy to say these things and let's face it, most if not all of our real estate companies on the island are more than willing and able to help developers and purchasers hide their assets in offshore trusts and companies.

However, when making statements like that above, we request that you also include links to back it up. If the man is a known 'embezzler and thief' then there will be news or information online about it, use google. The same goes for the financiers. Perhaps provide the names of those involved, it is not a crime to do so. But making unsupported accusations most probably is.

I am hesitant and wary of publishing an anonymous comment like that above and will likely delete it unless the poster can provide more information to back it up.

Flipper

By all means delete if the comment is deemed inapproriate.
ADT's recent acquisition of BBW's parent co. Devcon int. and the subsequent sacking and investigation of the on island manager, Steve Smith is relevant.

Further information will be provided. The orginal comment was posted as a warning.

After internet investigation the following was discovered.
Devcon was in negotiations to sell their construction division which the deal fell through. They are currently posting a loss for the year of 9.19 Mill. Devcon has three operating divisions. The Security Division provides electronic security services to commercial and residential customers in selected markets. The Construction Division dredges harbors, builds marine facilities, constructs golf courses and prepares residential, commercial and industrial sites, primarily in the Bahamas and the eastern Caribbean. The Materials Division produces and distributes crushed stone, ready-mix concrete and concrete block in the eastern Caribbean with principal operations on St. Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles and on St. Martin in the French West Indies.

Devcon website

And you appear to know plenty about it. So, we await your next post :)

Flipper

Further to my previoius warning about this project. I am able to provide some background on what has transpired over the last couple of years.
The family still own the property but entered into an extended lease agreement with a developer several years ago. The orginal lease agreement was expedited with the help of Tendall Holdings and the developer was unable to meet the crediotors requirements and was forced to turn over the lease to his creditor (Name to follow later). The family still receive lease payments but cannot touch the property.
More recently Steve Smith and a group ( Names will Follow) entered into an agreement with the creditor to develop the property for a near 50 - 50 share of the future profits. The group has been busy trying to find equity partners to help in the development of the property and as far as I know have been unsuccesful so far. Several major local contsruction companies and realtors have been approached but have declined the offer. (I have intentionally left out their names)
The very slow clearing of bush on part of the property now is strictly a dog and pony show to entice creditors to invest in this project. No permits have recently been applied for or granted.
The real Estate Boom has reached its peak and is on the decline. Add to that the number of projects already underway and more already scheduled to begin in the next year and this project must be considered a risk at best. If you add shaky financing and character issues to the mix when considering the viability or investment opportunities of this project then the result can only be a disastor.
To be continued.

Is in the media again with preemptive strikes to limit any opposition to this project.
The spokes person for now is Steve Smith.
Mr. Smith's involvement in this project makes the whole project suspect.
A brief History:
Steve Smith, son of Donald Smith founder of Devcon International, was first brought to St. Maarten around 1993 to run B.B.W. BBW had just been sold back to Devcon so placing there own person in charge made sense. Between that time and 2005 BBW became a shell of it's former self and now commands less than 30% of the redi mix market and 0% of the materials market. The quality of the product is questionable and they own virtually nothing anymore. In addition BBW was kicked out of the hope Esate and Grande Case Quarrys. It is now virtually bankrupt. This is Steve Smith's legacy at BBW
During 2005 Devcon International's ownership was taken over by a qroup that had less than controlling interest but had Don Smith in an uncomfortable position. The way it was put to him is that either he relinquish control of the company or Steve and a couple other employees of BBW/SCGC would be jailed on embezzlement and theft charges. Needless to Say Mr. Smith caved to protect his son.
Since then Devcon has sold off the materials division to a group out of the USVI and the heavy construction division back to Don Smith. They are desperate to sell off BBW but have nothing to sell.
Steve is a minority partner in the Indigo project. How this came about is not quite clear but his connection to a Venezualian owned company that is known locally as Goya Contruction is in the picture. These two had numerous questionable deals during Steve's tenoir as BBW manager and became close and Goya construction has never had problems accessing funds in the past.
Why do I bring all this up? It is as a warning for those that choose to get involved either in the construction or as an owner. Be very, very careful and ask questions about this man's history before opening your wallet. Leroy Deweever would be a good one to find to get information.
It is rumored that Westin is eyeing the hotel project.
The original Lease holder is Frederick R. Feder of Pinnacle Developers. Associates, LLC
The original company that put this together is Anzonia also of F.R. Feder
email: Anzonia@aol.com
The existing plans are very different from the plans that the permit was granted for.

Thank you very much for your synopsisof the story behind Cay Bay development. A question for you, there appear to be two developers plans, Indigo and Cay Bay Development, are they one and the same?

I have to agree with you, having been following the housing market in the US and although I'm not an expert, the evidence seems to be there that it is not so healthy.

Housing: A Picture is Worth 1000 Words

Added to that, and mentioned on here a few times, what happens when another 2000+ condo/rooms are added to the market. There are no studies of the current occupancy from real estate agents and rental companies and when you ask they won't tell you, "I'm not telling you about my business" was one answer.

So, the developers and RE agents tell potential buyers that they can make several thousand per week from rental income. I would say this is a more likely going to be some weeks, maybe, in season.

Development on the island is permitted to run wild by Roy Marlin, there are no studies, no statistics and no thought at all for the future needs of the people of the island in regards to affordable home ownership. The jobs being created for LOCAL people are minimal and low paid.

It will be interesting to observe how many local managers get employed at the two new Grande Marche locations on Union Road by the old Napa and by the old Hot Tomatos. THey have ahd a few year to train some locals to be managers, but I suspect they haven't.

I wonder if GM donate to the DP? I know Danny from Prime, one of the shareholders, does.

We love juicy stories here :)

Hady

How difficult would it be for our government to purchase land, like that at Cay Bay or Guana Bay, for preservation? For camping, fishing, walking.
For us St. Maarteners.
Should we start a campaign requesting that land be preserved? I have emailed Governor Richards (no reply...yet...but I won't hold my breath) and will continue writing but is it something that could actually come to pass? Does EXCO have any plans at all to preserve a bit of green anywhere? Besides the hill tops I mean?

Didn't you read the story by DBPrincess?

I don't think they have any plans for the environment SAM, or for the future generations of the island. All they care about is now, making money and getting reelected so they can make some more and pretending that they have a vision for the future. A concrete jungle with SXM'er's living in a dirty overcrowded and overdeveloped hell.

LH