We are pleased to report continued strong growth in the residential sector through Quarter 3 of 2014. Single Family Home and Villas lead the way with a 99% leap in $Volume over Q3 last year . . . Click here to read more
Christie Brinkley’s Beach Home!
The description, “tall willowy and blond,” was considered to be the ideal woman long before the beauty with the smiling eyes, Christie Brinkley, was first discovered in a Paris post office in 1973 by American photographer, Errol Sawyer. As a self-described “California surfer girl,” she certainly never thought of herself as a model, but decided to give it a go when Sawyer introduced her to John Casablancas of Elite Model Management agency in Paris. After talking with him, she flew back to California to meet with Nina Blanchard, the Eileen Ford affiliate in Los Angeles, and from that point was propelled into the the modeling career of a lifetime. Most widely known for her record breaking successive Sports Illustrated swimsuit covers from 1979 to 1981, she also broke the record of having the longest contract in history for Cover Girl that lasted 25 years. Brinkley has graced the covers of almost every fashion magazine, appeared in roles in the National Lampoon’s Vacation films and has now appeared on Broadway as Roxie Hart in Chicago.
What sets Christie aside from most top-tier models is her astute business sense. Starting by producing two of her own calendars after the success of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit calendars, to amassing a fortune in real estate, mostly in the Hamptons, to writing, illustrating, appearing on sitcoms, designing clothing patterns and now with her own wig company, Hair2Wear, Christie has accumulated a net worth over $130 million. Not a flamboyant spender, she takes pride in managing a rather low key lifestyle. Now at age 60, Brinkley is selling her beach home where she and her children happily frolicked and spent valuable time together away from the eyes of the paparazzi, at her private beachfront island paradise in Parrot Cay in the British West Indies’ Turks And Caicos islands.
Parrot Cay is a private oceanfront resort of 1,000 unspoiled acres along more than a mile of white powder beach. Brinkley’s Lucky House is sited on 1.6 acres facing ocean sunsets from its 200 feet of beach. Surrounded by lush tropical landscaping, the 3,400-square-foot main house has three bedrooms, all with ocean views, four baths with the master suite located in its own detached pavilion only steps from the sand. Interiors exude the tropical feel with whitewashed walls, wood beams and floors. Outside is the infinity pool, terrace and gardens with a two bedroom guest house/staff quarters with additional storage and golf buggy garage. Resort amenities include the award-winning COMO Shambhala Retreat, which provides a range of holistic, Asian-inspired therapies as well as Yoga and Pilates. Services include estate management, private butler service, daily maid service, and in-villa dining. When not in residence, the property can be put into rental management and has been rented for over $8,000 per day. For more information.
Christie Brinkley’s private tropical paradise retreat is now on the market. Previously priced at $10.75 million, now reduced to $9 million.
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Turks & Caicos Sotheby’s International Realty visit ONE Sotheby’s Realty corporate office in Coral Gables, Florida.
Making great connections and working together as global real estate advisors our partnerships with 720 affiliate offices in 52 countries and territories worldwide provides an unparalleled advantage in locating the best properties and investors, Sotheby’s International Realty is truly the only luxury real estate brand with a vast network and global footprint.
Pictured from left to right, Gus Rubio, COO, ONE Sotheby’s Realty, Joe Zahm, President, Turks&Caicos SIR, Nina Seigenthaler, Vice President, Turks&Caicos SIR, Daniel de la Vega, President, ONE Sotheby’s Realty
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Sotheby’s International Realty’s Annual Global Networking Event, a dynamic, three-day event, was held Sept. 8 to 10 at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach in Florida. This conference brought together approximately 1,500 network members from 31 countries and territories worldwide. Turks & Caicos Sotheby’s International Realty’s Directors and Sales Agents had a great opportunity to network and share best practices with some of the world’s most talented real estate professionals, generate valuable referral business and learn more about the industry and the Sotheby’s International Realty brand’s vision for the future. The Sotheby’s International Realty network currently has more than 15,000 independent sales associates located in approximately 720 offices in 52 countries and territories worldwide.
Pictured from left to right are Dee Agingu, Lisa Lopes, Takera Francis, Joe Zahm & Nina Siegenthaler. Second photo are Dee Agingu, Joe Zahm & Buddy Rego.
August 21, 2014 | 7:01 am
The Turks and Caicos Islands received a total of 199,347 stopover arrivals in the first half of 2014, a 25 percent increase compared to the same period in 2013, according to newly-released government figures.
That represented the largest improvement of any Caribbean tourism destination with complete reporting for the first half, according to an analysis of Caribbean Tourism Organization data by Caribbean Journal.
The growth was driven by a strong winter and spring tourist season, the government said.
Above: the Parrot Cay resort in Turks and Caicos
The United States was the British Overseas Territory’s largest source market, accounting for 161,385 stopover arrivals, a 28 percent improvement over 2013.
The territory’s second-largest market, Canada, brought in 22,593 arrivals, a 14 percent improvement compared to the first six months of 2013.
The territory also reported increases of 17 percent and 86 percent from France and the United Kingdom, respectively.
While it accounted for a small percentage of arrivals, the territory saw a 57 percent improvement in arrivals from Brazil.
“I am extremely thrilled to know that the number of tourist arrivals are up. This attests to the fact that despite the challenges being faced throughout the world economies, travel has sustained the necessary cutbacks in leisure spending and further, our beautiful by nature Turks and Caicos Islands remains the destination of choice,” Turks and Caicos Premier Dr Rufus Ewing said. “I am extremely optimistic and confident that our numbers will continue to climb and that our high end luxury brand destination will deliver the highest numbers that our industry has ever seen.”
In a statement, Tourism Director Ralph Higgs said the tourist board was projecting a total of 1.35 million visitors to the destination for 2014, including cruise visits.
“With the Providenciales International Airport nearing completion, we hope to improve our visitor’s experience from the point of entry until their return; ensuring that the Turks and Caicos remains top of mind, strengthening positive visitor’s reviews and referrals, thus continuing to grow our land-based arrivals in the future,” he said.
By Caribbean Journal Staff
Let’s face it…it ain’t summertime without at least spending a few days at the beach soaking up the rays and relaxing with family and friends. In the spirit of summer, we’ve gone to the travelers community at minube.net travel community to find the best beaches from around the world, those drops of white sand paradise that we yearn for all year round. From South Pacific desert islands to the coasts of Europe and Africa, here are the 40 best beaches on Earth.
1.) Grace Bay, Turks & Caicos
Everyone who sets foot on the white sands of Grace Bay comes to the same conclusion: this is paradise. Not only is the beach incredibly long and relatively crowd-free, it’s also surrounded by reefs that’ll make any avid snorkeler drool. (Photo by Daniel E. Castaño)
By Huffingtonpost minube Travel planning website and community
Single Family Home/Villa sales continue to lead the market with a sustained increase during the first half of this year. The 115% $ Volume increase was led by the significant sales in the luxury villa market. Link to complete report.
by
Turks & Caicos Sotheby’s International Realty
World-class luxury hotel brand Ritz-Carlton is in advanced negotiations to operate a multi-storey hotel and condominium project in Turks and Caicos Islands, (#turksandcaicos) replacing the much-vaunted JW Marriott hotel and casino development which was earmarked for Grace Bay, on the island of Providenciales.
Impeccable sources told The SUN that the Desarrollos Hotelco Turks and Caicos already has indicated to Government officials that they intend to switch from the JW Marriott brand to Ritz-Carlton, in a move that will delay construction of what will be the most significant and expensive hotel development in the history of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
When the SUN contacted Ms. Parool K. Shah, Ritz-Carlton Regional Director of Public Relations for the Americas for more details about the project, she stated: “I am delighted to confirm that The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company will indeed open a resort in beautiful Turks and Caicos’ Grace Bay as part of the global development pipeline, sometime after 2016.”
According to sources, the new owners of West Caicos have ditched plans to have Ritz-Carlton manage and operate their property, thus paving the way for the Venezuela-based Desarrollos group to capitalise on the high-end brand.
“It is true to say that there will be a delay in what was supposed to be a JW Marriott Hotel and Casino in Grace Bay, but I also have to stress that it will be a very positive delay because the entire scope, scale and cost of the project will increase and this will be of tremendous benefit to the entire Turks and Caicos Islands,” said the source who requested anonymity.
The official revealed that architects are in the process of re-designing plans for the high-end tourism development to bring the project in line with Ritz-Carlton standards.
“Let me put it like this. JW Marriott would have been a huge deal for the Turks and Caicos Islands, but Ritz-Carlton is definitely bigger and better,” the official added. “It will require much more detailed drawings and a whole new redesign. It will be one of the finest hotels in the world.”
Meantime, the source told The SUN that the Desarrollos Hotelco Turks and Caicos Ltd “would hardly want to build a 14-storey hotel”, although Government is about to have a public consultation on this contentious topic.
“I think it’s safe to say that they will stick with the nine-storey concept to avoid any further delays,” the source added.
Earlier this year, Walter Stipa, the majority investor of Desarrollos Hotelco Turks and Caicos Ltd., announced plans to open a new 380-room JW Marriott Hotel and Casino which will include 16 residential condos.
The nine-story hotel which will be built on a11-acre site, was scheduled to open in early 2016.
The billionaire Stipa is also the majority shareholder of the 269-room JW Marriott Hotel Caracas, the 207-room Venezuela Marriott Hotel Playa Grande and the 212-room Renaissance La Castellana Caracas. Additionally, he owns the 320-room Ritz-Carlton Aruba.
In the Caribbean, Ritz-Carlton has hotels in the Cayman Islands, Puerto Rico, and St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands.
In addition to 380 guest rooms and suites, the original plan for the JW Marriott was to feature a gourmet specialty restaurant, a three-meal-a-day restaurant, a lobby bar and lounge and a pool bar & grill, some 1,300 square meters of meeting space, including a ballroom; as well as a 962 square meter spa and fitness center, a kids/teen club, three swimming pools and a 901 square meter casino.
The primary architect for the project is Robert M. Coleman & Partners, whose also designed the Ritz-Carlton New Orleans, the Marriott’s Aruba Surf Club timeshare resort, the recently-opened Renaissance Curaçao Resort & Casino and the Ritz-Carlton Aruba.
The Turks & Caicos Real Estate Market continues to be led by the strong performance of the luxury sector. Condominium sales were up 82% over Q1 of last year in $ volume and Single Family Home sales were up a whopping 279% in $ volume.
by Turks & Caicos Sotheby’s International Realty
As we ring in 2014, Turks & Caicos Sotheby’s International Realty (TCSIR) celebrates another record year, and our fourth consecutive year in the number one market share position, on the strength of the production of a great team. Link to complete report.
by Turks & Caicos Sotheby’s International Realty
Turks & Caicos Real Estate | Caribbean 