25 March 2009 Sackman Enterprises Inc.

Sackman Enterprises Inc. was contacted by Dolores Vicioso, of DR1, to respond to an editorial press release issued by the Federation for Sustainable Cabarete regarding our project - The Fountains. We have welcomed this invitation and we thank Ms. Vicioso for the opportunity to address the misconceptions and falsities that have circulated about The Fountains at Cabarete. There has been some opposition to our development and those who oppose The Fountains use mistruths to induce fear of development. They claim that greed is the motivating factor behind The Fountains and that if constructed The Fountains will end the growth that Cabarete has enjoyed for the past 20 years. On the contrary, the Fountains aims to preserve Cabarete's core attraction- wind sports- and expand its appeal to a larger spectrum of visitors. The Fountains will accomplish this goal through the creation of a public retail center, a branded 4-star hotel offering, a community cultural center, and a job-training center. All of these factors will lead to the creation of hundreds of permanent jobs for the local community, increased safety and improved infrastructure for the people of Cabarete. Sackman Enterprises, with over 40 years of historic commercial and multifamily real estate development experience, is uniquely qualified to capture and preserve the essence of Cabarete in The Fountains. Sackman has developed projects in Manhattan, New Jersey, Colorado, North Carolina, and The Turks and Caicos Islands. With every undertaking Sackman prides itself on preserving and showcasing the physical and natural attributes that each site and location offer. In many cases such as the Lodge at Keyah Grande in Colorado, Sackman has worked diligently to preserve and compliment the natural surroundings. Sackman has approached The Fountains with the same level of respect and responsibility for the natural surroundings and community interests. Those who oppose the development of The Fountains are quick to claim The Fountains' design will negatively effect wind sports in Cabarete. These claims are based on opinion rather than fact. While we do not agree with the opposition's opinion we do fully agree that wind is paramount to the long term sustainable growth of Cabarete. Sackman's long term investment horizon in Cabarete has positioned the firm to promote this growth and make it the central focus to our development plan. Following the completion of the project Sackman will permanently own both the proposed Hotel and Retail portions of the project. With this economic incentive in mind Sackman is determined to preserve the Cabarete way of life and core tourist base. To ensure the proposed design does not negatively effect the wind Sackman designed a stepped building and retained Cermak, Peterka Petersen Wind Engineering and Air Quality Consultants ("CPP") to advise in the design of the project. From its inception The Fountains has been designed to compliment and enhance Cabarete. The stepped building design was envisioned to match the height of the buildings across the street and allow for greater height (seven stories), in the rear of the project away from the beach. (The seven story height is approximately 250 meters from the water's edge.) After extensively testing The Fountains' design and analyzing the results the CPP made the following conclusion: "The dominant winds come from the eastern sector and The Fountains do not influence those ambient flows along the beach. The rare southerly winds that pass over The Fountains site prior to arriving at the shore indicate no change in character due to the development. The sailing conditions are actually influenced by beachside structures and not The Fountains on the south side of the road. It is likely that the stepped and staggered massing of the design also assists in the lack of impact on sailing conditions. Thus, the impact of The Fountains is negligible to the offshore conditions." The Federation for Sustainable Cabarete's claims Sackman has been wining and dining public officials. It is assumed that The Federation is making reference to a breakfast meeting between Sackman Executives and the then Minister of Tourism that occurred in July of 2008 and was publically announced in a press release issued in August of 2008. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the project, the needs of the community and approval process. Since that meeting The Fountains has not received approvals for the change in height and density. To date the only communications received from the government have been requests for more documentation to assure the sound planning and construction of The Fountains. All such requests have been answered. The Federation asserts that, "[several organizations have sent opposition letters to the Ministry of Tourism] in hopes that New York greed will not kill the hen that lays golden eggs." The hen that the Federation refers to has until now only laid its golden eggs on the north side of the road. What they don't understand is that the south side of the road has been and will remain underdeveloped if density and height changes are not made. Much like the beach frontage provides economic value and incentive on the north side of the street, the increase in height provides the economic value and incentive on the south side of the street. The need for additional height is not motivated by greed; but rather, motivated by the need to provide visitors and homeowners with the view and experience befitting a 4-star location. The Fountains location has one drawback- it does not feature a beach front- and under the current law a three story project would not have a view of the ocean. In fact a three story building constructed on our site would feature a view of the four story structures across the street. The resulting views from the proposed height increase will provide The Fountains its greatest asset and usher in the next evolution in Cabarete's growth. Ari Barshi believes The Fountains will set a negative precedent for all other land owners to receive the same permit. The Fountains has been designed to set a precedent, a precedent of high quality design. Its goal is to create a tourist destination accessible to the populace and not hidden behind security gates and armed guards. It will provide the community with a town center and a performing arts center, and will alleviate a choking parking and traffic problem. It is designed to set a precedent for well engineered projects that promote job and economic growth. A project benefiting the community in so many ways should be supported and those who fill online blogs and press releases with false and unsubstantiated information with the intent of discrediting The Fountains have their own interests in mind- least of which is the betterment of the Cabarete community and economy. To those who aim to stop progress and hinder job creation, we ask that you substantiate your claims of wind disruption through a wind study performed by an independent third party engineering firm that is pre-approved by the Ministry of Tourism. Until you are able to provide such facts we ask that you do not muddy the waters with conjecture and misrepresentations. We have done our part and have submitted the executive summary of the wind study performed by CPP to DR1.