By Alexander Britell

Palace Resorts has broken ground on a significant new project in the heart of Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.

Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina was on hand to lay the first stone on the new Moon Palace Punta Cana, a project whose investment will exceed $600 million.

A room at a Palace property in Cancun.

The new luxury all-inclusive is the first-ever Palace Resorts project in the Dominican Republic; Palace already has 11 resorts across the Mexican Caribbean and in Jamaica.

It will create more than 4,000 jobs, 95 percent of which will be held by Dominicans, according to Palace executive vice president Gibran Chapur.

Palace has been expanding of late, with new resorts like the Moon Palace Jamaica Grande in Ocho Rios, above.

The massive project will feature 2,149 rooms across 18 floors, with 70 percent of the rooms boasting sea views.

It will also include an 18-hole golf course designed by Greg Norman.

Dominican Republic Tourism Minister Francisco Javier Garcia.

That’s along with a broad collection of amenities including 17 restaurants, a disco, eight pools, a spa, a casino, a water park, a beach club and convention space.

“All this is the product of the confidence that we as a country generate among investors,” said Dominican Republic Tourism Minister Francisco Javier Garcia, who was on hand for the ceremony. “That has made us the undisputed leader of tourists that visit the Caribbean.”

And the project is expected to help the country as it looks to draw 10 million annual stayover tourists by 2023, with an expected annual total of around 250,000 guests per year, officials said.