CHARLOTTE AMALIE — The Virgin Islands Port Authority and Royal Caribbean have big plans for the development of Crown Bay Marina and the surrounding Sub Base areas.
But the development means that small businesses already there will be ushered out to make room for new tourist attractions.
Building 10 in Sub Base, owned by the Port Authority, currently houses industrial businesses, including an auto mechanic shop, generator repair shop and a tire shop. The owners, however, will soon have to vacate. According to Port Authority property management records, tenants in the building received “notices to quit” their leased property in 2019.
VIPA Executive Director Carlton Dowe last month confirmed the displacement of the business noting “we are still trying to figure out how we could assist them, to try and relocate.”
Dowe said his agency gave tenants ample notice, and that those renting spaces remain on a month-to-month basis. Despite their uncertain futures, businesses have continued to operate in the building, but Dowe said it’s just a matter of time before they must leave.
“There will come a time when they definitely have to move,” he said.
Business owners contacted for comment were tight-lipped, fearing repercussions from government officials.
Meanwhile, Dowe acknowledged that Royal Caribbean has expressed a renewed interest in developing an area in Sub Base behind the Crown Bay Marina.
Plans call for a cultural marketplace and a park area able to accommodate 3,000 people.
“The sky is also the limit. Some of the asks are what we want, but Royal Caribbean is also free to suggest to us any development they might choose,” Dowe said.
In late October, Port Authority officials met with Royal Caribbean Group Destination Development and Deployment Vice President Joshua Carroll, Business Development Director for the Americas and Caribbean Jayne Halcomb and Construction Destination Development Director Jonathan Ruiz for a walking tour of Sub Base to identify areas for development.
Plans date back to 2016
Plans to move forward with the expansion came after Dowe and Carroll signed a Memorandum of Understanding to extend Royal Caribbean’s existing 10-year, pier-use agreement for preferential berthing in September. The existing agreement was executed in June 2016.