By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Dominican Republic’s northern coast is about to get a transformative hotel investment.

Marriott International is planning to partner on a $350 million project in Puerto Plata that would add three new luxury resorts to the area.

That would likely include a Ritz-Carlton, a W and a Luxury Collection property, according to Herve Humler, president and CEO of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company.

Marriott is partnering with the Ocean Club Group on the new Dominican Republic resorts.

The Ocean Club Group is best known as the developer of the recently-rebranded Ocean Club on Playa Imbert, also on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. That property was originally known as the Gansevoort Playa Imbert.

The Ocean Club, formerly the Gansevoort Playa Imbert.

And the new Dominican Republic resorts will forward the group’s aims of establishing the north coast as one of the premier luxury tourism destinations, said Ian Schembri-Saint, CEO of the Ocean Club Group.

Marriott International and the Ocean Club Group are set to partner on the project, which is expected to create 2,000 direct jobs in the area, according to Dominican officials.

According to Ritz-Carlton President and CEO Herve Humler , the plan is to target upper-echelon luxury travelers — and “bring them back to the Dominican Republic.”

A press conference in Santo Domingo following a meeting between project executives and Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina earlier this month.

Bojan Kumer, vice president for hotel development in the Caribbean and Latin America, said the project would help “completely transform the north coast as a luxury destination.”

“This is formidable news to close the year in Puerto Plata,” said Dominican Republic Tourism Minister Francisco Javier Garcia.

The northern coast of the Dominican Republic has already seen a wave of luxury development in recent years, most notably with Aman’s Amanera luxury property on Playa Grande and the recent relaunch of the Playa Grande Golf and Ocean Club.

It’s also home to the Casa Colonial, arguably the Dominican Republic’s premier boutique resort.

The developers have not yet given a timeframe on the project.

— CJ