Above, from left: Pinkley Francis, Chairman Invest St Lucia; Kamal Shehada, development director, Range Developments; Mohammed Asaria, vice chairman Range Developments; Allen Chastanet, Prime Minister of Saint Lucia; Bradley Felix, Minister of Commerce; the Honorable Dominic Fedee, Minister of Tourism.

Range Developments, the Dubai-based developer that is spearheading several hospitality projects in the Caribbean, is planning a new resort in St. Lucia.

The company has signed an agreement with the government of St. Lucia to develop the Black Bay project, a hotel and villa development on 180 acres on the southern tip of the island.

The luxury hotel will be developed under St. Lucia’s Citizenship by Investment program and will include 180 rooms.

Range is also developing the Park Hyatt St. Kitts and the Cabrits Kempinski hotel in Dominica.

“This will be our third major luxury development in the Caribbean and we are delighted to be working with the Government of Saint Lucia,” says Mohammed Asaria, Vice Chairman of Range Developments. “Range is aggressively expanding in the Caribbean. The Park Hyatt St Kitts will be completed in the coming months and Kempinski Dominica is advancing with pace.”

The planned hotel operator will soon be announced, and the project could create 500 jobs on construction and a “similar amount” on operation, according to the company.

“We have been working with the developer and are grateful for their patience in working with us on getting to this point of such a project which will benefit everyone,” says Allen Chastanet, prime minister of Saint Lucia. “I am looking forward to the commencement of construction of this project which coincides with our overall development plans for Saint Lucia.”