Doug Riegels, President of Anegada Beach Club Limited, a belonger company, announced today that it just acquired from Mr. P. Watson White two freehold parcels of land in Anegada aggregating to 10.444 acres to develop these parcels into the first luxury resort development in Anegada.

Mr. Riegels, who is returning home from Arizona in June 2009, plans to develop several projects in the BVI beginning with Anegada Beach Club. He will be initially focusing on the 7.989 acres of beachfront land with approximately 700 feet of beach frontage including an existing 16-room hotel formerly known as the Sands Hotel at Keel Point  near the well-known Cow’s Wreck Beach Resort.

According to Mr. Riegels, Phase One of Anegada Beach Club will be to upgrade all the existing 16 rooms into an upscale luxury tourism product. “By adding what is most likely the first large freshwater  pool in Anegada in a newly landscaped setting together with a deck around the pool along with an honor bar we believe we will offer luxury amenities that will attract the high end tourists that the BVI is working hard to attract to the territory.”

Upon completion of Phase One, each hotel unit will have a fully equipped state of the art kitchen with refrigerator, stove, microwave and dishwasher so that guests have a choice of eating in or eating out at various restaurants in Anegada. In addition, each unit will have luxurious new furniture and lighting plus a tastefully appointed bathroom.  A large private deck will be added to each hotel unit with new all weather outdoor furniture and a barbeque gas grill. A large flat screen television, iPod docks, cable TV, high speed wireless internet, in-room safe and an all-in-one fax/printer will be standard features in each unit.   In addition to having two 56" Tommy Bahama designer ceiling fans, each hotel unit will also be fully air-conditioned.

Both Virgin Gorda Management Company Limited (VGMC) and Real Estate BVI Limited will market these luxury rental units for sale. Additionally Virgin Gorda Management Company (which currently operates Nail Bay Resort, a luxury 148-acre villa resort in Virgin Gorda) will exclusively manage Anegada Beach Club.
Mr. Riegels stated after Phase One is completed, a comprehensive Master Plan will be developed for the remainder of this property with a vision to create a series of luxury products on this beach front site in Anegada. He said that “this will be done after consulting with the people of Anegada, the elected members of the House of Assembly, the Cabinet and the Premier, the Hon. Ralph T. O’Neal who represents Anegada in addition to Virgin Gorda.”

Mr. Riegels, who is the son of Norma and Michael D. Riegels, Q.C went to St. George’s School in Tortola. After graduating from Arizona State University with two degrees (one in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design and the second in Urban Planning), he started off working in the plant nursery business as a horticulturalist and designer before taking a job with the Del Webb Corporation as their 'in house' landscape architect at their flagship property of Sun City Grand in Phoenix, Arizona. In 2001, Mr. Riegels joined the development team at Miller Holdings and Omega Construction initially as the company's landscape architect and then served as vice president of the construction division. Over the past eight years, he has been intimately involved in the processing, designing, planning and construction of over 7,500 acres of land owned by Miller Holdings in California and Arizona. About 11,500 houses have been built in these communities together with the related infrastructure (grading, drainage, sewer, water, electric, roads, landscape, etc).  Mr. Riegels wants to use all this experience that he has gained in developing real estate in the BVI and the Caribbean. On December 2008, he was elected by the members of Nail Bay Community Association Limited (“NBCA”) in Virgin Gorda to serve as one of the directors and recently the Directors of NBCA elected him as the President.

In addition to Mr. Doug Riegels, the two other directors of Anegada Beach Club Limited are Norma and Michael Riegels, Q.C. Mr. Michael D. Riegels who was appointed Queen’s Counsel by Her Majesty the Queen was a senior partner of Harney, Westwood & Riegels in Tortola, which is the oldest and largest law firm in the British Virgin Islands.

Mr. Michael Riegels was the inaugural chairman of the Financial Services Commission of the BVI. He has also served as President of the BVI Bar Association, Rotary Club of Tortola and the BVI Red Cross. He and Mrs. Riegels have been long time shareholders and directors of Virgin Gorda Investment Company Limited, which owns and controls Nail Bay Resort, a 148-acre luxury real estate development in Virgin Gorda. To date, over 42 million dollars worth of homes have been built at Nail Bay. They were also involved in Pond Bay Beach Villas Limited, which acquired, sub-divided and subsequently sold in its entirety a 7.68-acre development at Pond Bay, Virgin Gorda.

Ajit Mathew George, Managing Director of Nail Bay Resort has also been intimately involved in this project from its inception and will continue to be involved in the development of these two parcels of land.  According to Mr. George, stamp duty of $136,000 was already paid at the Closing to the Government of the British Virgin Islands on account of this transaction, which was valued at $3,400,000. Sheila George from Harneys represented Anegada Beach Club Limited and  0’Neal Webster represented the Seller.