A major new hotel project is coming to the island of St Lucia.

In a landmark agreement, the country’s government led by Prime Minister Allen Chastanet has signed a deal with a Chinese developer on the southern portion of the island.

It’s called Pearl of the Caribbean, and it’s valued at $2.6 billion USD, according to estimates.

The Vieux Fort-area project will be the island’s first and only “international standard integrated development,” the government said in a statement.

That will include a hotel, a marina, a racecourse, a casino, a real estate component with villas and apartments, extensive” entertainment and leisure facilities and even a Free Trade Zone.

The complex, developed by Hong Kong-based firm called Desert Star Holdings, will also include horse racing component, one that will include housing for more than 1,000 racehorses “establishing Saint Lucia as a racing and entertainment centre in the Caribbean and leveraging off the international appeal of the sport to promote Saint Lucia to a diverse audience base,” the government said.

The 700-acre project is designed to have open space make up about 50 percent of the development.

Construction is slated to begin next year, with between 500 and 800 jobs projected during the construction phase.