Crocus Hill, in the historic Lower Valley, long known as the highest elevation in Anguilla, is the site of a ten million US-dollar real estate development now rising majestically with a sweeping view of the beautiful fishing bay and beach below. The villa project is being built on land made available by Michael Basden, an Anguillian residing in Brooklyn, New York, whose late mother, Cecile Gumbs, served there as a Nurse before returning to Anguilla and taking up residence at the upper end of the property.

Rendering of villa complex

Mr. Basden is one of four partners involved in the ownership of the project. The others, Montvel-Cohen, Charlie Cara and Dominic Vitucci, who are from Brooklyn, knew the Anguillian national for a long time. They have been in the real estate business for 20 years or more, engaged in residential development.

“Everybody knows something about Anguilla. It is a very, very popular destination for people from New York,” Mr. Montvel-Cohen told The Anguillian. “When Michael told us about the property, saying it is an incredible and magical place, and you will have to see it, Charlie’s father and I came down here to visit him and the property while he was on the island. He took us from Blowing Point to the site and we stood at the eastern point and watched the sunset and it was a wonderful experience. This is about six years ago.”

Magnificent Crocus Bay

He said that he and the other principals undertook to design a project that was fitting to the natural environment, respected the history of the Anguillian site rather than looking “like it came out of the sky from the Mediterranean.” Montvel-Cohen went on: “The concept is modern Caribbean architecture with the basic forms being similar to those of the oldest [wooden] buildings in Anguilla. The materials are different, but a board house has the same shape as the shapes in our project. The gabled roofs and the rectangular rooms are all visible in this project.” He stressed that the architecture was an evolved version of buildings that were in Anguilla many years ago.

“Modern buildings require that the materials are different, but what I am talking about are the architectural forms,” he explained. “It was very important for us that somebody looking at [the design of] the buildings see something that is from Anguilla and the Caribbean. That was the number one goal in designing the project.”

He also stated that another feature of the project was for it to be very environmentally friendly. “We are going to use a lot of recycled materials, recycled water, solar panels, reduce the carbon… and do all the green things that people are very concerned about these days. It is also part of being respectful to our surrounding pristine environment here. Mankind hasn’t done too much damage and we don’t want to add to that damage.”

Concept of lounge area

The co-investor in the project said that there were now eight 5-bedroom villas under construction and another five 2-bedroom villas were being designed in consultation with the Government’s Planning Department. There will obviously be a total of 50 rooms on completion of the project. In putting a price tag of US$10 million on the development, Mr. Montvel-Cohen stated: “The completion of this project is not dependent on external finance…We are very, very fortunate that we are not in a situation where the plug can be pulled by some outside banker. This thing is going to get built. We are looking to have the first model unit available to be shown to the public by the end of this year and hopefully to have the next seven [built] by the opening of the next season.

“The units are going to be for sale, but our intention is to do it as a Home Owners’ Association. Our company is hoping to be here for the long haul. It is not a hit and run thing. We believe that most of the owners would want to do some renting to help to pay their expenses on an ongoing basis, so we are looking to do a rental pool or some similar arrangement to maintain the integrity of the property as a unit. So much like a Home Owners’ Association, or Condominium Association, there will be common property management and landscaping so that the entire property is kept up well and evenly by one entity that is going to be responsible for it. The home owners would be part of the concept to contribute to the common area and the upkeep of the site, and of course they would have the right to rent to guests on a weekly or monthly basis or however they would want to do that.”

He noted that the majority of persons who own villas in Anguilla normally stay on the island for a period, and rent to other visitors throughout the year. “I expect that to continue and then, of course, one never knows what the market will bear,” he observed. “Our best laid plans are always subject to the market so we are going to adapt to what the market tells us. It looks like the world’s economy is getting better, although we can only be hopeful that it continues to improve and that the visitor volumes recover with more and more people discovering Anguilla and wanting to come here, thus creating more economic activity, more jobs, and increased revenue and business for everybody.”

The Brooklyn, New York developer pointed out: “We have not been inspired yet to have the perfect name for the villas. We need to be inspired soon and we will. Crocus Bay Development is the name of the company, but the villas have to have a nice name.”

Section of the project now under construction

He reported that he and his colleagues were working closely with David Lloyd and his sister, Vida Lloyd-Richardson, owners of the newly-established DaVida Restaurant at Crocus Bay. “I really believe that with this project, and how the Lloyd’s designed DaVida, that we are going to set a new standard for architecture in Anguilla. I think it is natural and makes good business sense,” he went on. “I think we are very fortunate that the family decided to do that and it is a great amenity for us and very good for them. They are very aggressive and smart people and we are working very, very closely together towards a really good future for everybody. We want to create Crocus Bay as a new destination for people coming to Anguilla who never had the chance to experience it before. This is a place that has really been undiscovered by visitors.”

He continued: “We are working with the Lloyds to create a whole environment down here that is respectful of what has gone on there and for the people who use Crocus Bay. I want to stress that. Everybody who hangs out here and fishes, and does whatever else here, has the right to do so and stay here and not to be pushed around. We must have their input, inclusion and wisdom about what is going to happen here. At the same time, the Government would like to see us do some improvements at the bottom of the hill where the pavement is broken up, and the old shower facility doesn’t function anymore, and it really doesn’t present Crocus Bay to the world in a way that it deserves.

“This is a magnificent natural site but what man has done down there is not really nice and we need to upgrade the man-made part of it to match what God has made. We want to do that in a way that is intelligent, respectful and inclusive. We need to do this for ourselves, the patrons of the restaurant, the fishermen, the people that go to the beach, those who service the water plant and everybody else who owns property down there.”

There are forty construction workers on the site. The majority of them are Anguillians and other persons living on the island. The Construction Manager is Deallejo Julio, an American with ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic and the only outsider on the site.

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