Pond Bay Club Is Latest Private Fractional Ownership Opportunity

Developers of the luxury fractional ownership resort in Chocolate Hole recently opened a new sales office with model displays on the second floor of The Marketplace.

 

The luxury private residence resort Pond Bay Club, under construction in Chocolate Hole, is riding the latest high-end destination real estate trend, offering a 10 to one membership ratio for each of the 50 planned three-bedroom villas on the 15-acre site.

The popularity of fee simple deeded fractional ownership has caught on in the high-end real estate market, starting in premier destinations like Aspen and Vail and quickly spreading with industry leaders like Ritz Carlton and Four Seasons jumping aboard.
Now the trend is hitting the shores of St. John with the development of the six-star Pond Bay Club, managed by Folio Collection and constructed by First American Development Group/Carib.

The five-week partial ownership is ideal for people  looking for a second home, without all the hassles of home ownership, explained Bill Orwig, Pond Bay Club’s director of sales.

“It’s a good interim step for people interested in second home ownership,” Orwig said. “It’s a real estate purchase, so it can be willed or sold. But there are none of the hassles of owning a second home.”

 Like its sister property Isle de France on St. Barth, Pond Bay Club will include all top-of-the-line amenities, but the planned on site spa might be the most exciting.

The 16,000-square-foot ESPA will include relaxation rooms, coral steam rooms and a full compliment of holistic and therapeutic services.

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A model of the planned development is displayed in the new sales office.

 

Featured in such luxurious hotels like the Mandarin Oriental London and Miami’s Acqualina, ESPAs are destinations of their own with strong European following, explained First American director Robert Emmett.

“This will bring a really cool element down here,” said Emmett. “The spa is going to be incredible.”

At Pond Bay Club, ESPA will overlook the pond  on the property and include 20 private session rooms located near the planned gym and club house.

The club house is situated in the center of the site and will feature a restaurant highlighting the best of local flavors and cuisine, Emmett added.

A main pool overlooks the beach, surrounded by spa and clubhouse villas and beachfront cottages. Pond cottages and hillside villas are also tucked away on the property.

None of 50 three-bedroom villas or cottages will be more than two stories and the entire site is designed for the upmost in privacy, explained Emmett.

When completed — the first phase of which is projected to be in finished in the winter of 2008 — Pond Bay Club will showcase the best of St. John with a decidedly luxurious flair, he added.

“It will marry the best of what we’ve done to a St. John hospitality,” said Emmett. “It will be unique and small. Hopefully, it will be the best of what St. John wants to be.”