Angsana, the sister brand of Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts, was introduced in 2000 and now includes resorts in Australia, India, Thailand, Indonesia and the Maldives. Its first foray into the Caribbean will be this project on the northeast coast of the Dominican Republic in Santa Bárbara de Samaná, the largest city on the burgeoning Samaná Peninsula.

Plans call for a hotel with 250 suites and villas, a 284-slip marina and around 470 various full-ownership residences. The majority of these residences will be condominiums, both in low-rise buildings at the marina and in larger buildings inland; 31 villas and town houses will be built on hills at the site’s highest point.

The villas and town houses will feature decks with private infinity pools. There will be terraces off all the condos, and those at the marina will include whirlpools. A casino, a spa, restaurants and shops will fill a village at the marina, and gondolas will transport owners and guests from the marina to an island with another spa and a restaurant.

There will be multiple communal infinity pools, including one at the beach club, a yacht club, a fitness center, tennis courts and a kids club. A new airport at the base of the peninsula, where flights arrive from San Juan, P.R., and elsewhere, opened in 2006.

Popularity: 51% [?]

The Caribbean playground of the rich and famous, has been getting more affordable. The depreciation of the US dollar against major currencies such as the British pound and the euro, has made Caribbean properties more attractive.

More affordable but still not cheap! Property prices in more popular and developed islands can easily reach over one million US dollars for a house and lot near the beach.

In its latest survey of Caribbean property prices (March 2008), the Global Property Guide finds that in Bermuda, the average price of a three bedroom house and lot is around US$1.5 million.

In Grand Bahama, Bahamas, a similar property costs around US$1.4 million, according to Global Property Guide figures.

Property prices in highly-developed areas such as Bermuda and Bahamas exceed US$7,000 per sq. m.

Coastal properties in Barbados are also expensive, at around US$6,700 per sq. m. In the British Virgin Islands (BVI), the US Virgin Islands (USVI), real estate prices are around US$5,000 per sq. m. Sint Maarten also has expensive properties at around US$5,300 per sq. m.

Property prices in St. Kitts and Nevis, Puerto Rico, Martinique, St. Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda range from US$3,170 per sq. m. to US$4,500 per sq. m.

The cheapest Caribbean properties are found in Jamaica, Aruba and Dominican Republic, with prices ranging from US$1,300 per sq. m to US$1,500 per sq. m for houses near the beach.

For apartment buyers, Bermuda and Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) are among the most expensive with prices at around US$5,000 to US$8,000 per sq. m. A two bedroom apartment costs around US$841,000 in Bermuda and US$670,000 in TCI.

Despite these high prices, Caribbean properties are now considerably cheaper than coastal properties in Mediterranean Europe. For instance, apartment prices in Barcelona are around US$10,000 per sq. m., more than twice the price of apartments in Bahamas or Cayman Islands.

Apartments in Jamaica and Aruba are among the least expensive in the Caribbean at around US$1,500 per sq. m. Apartments and condominiums are relatively new features in the Caribbean property market. Most of the properties are new and come complete with amenities.

Source: www.menafn.com/

Popularity: 28% [?]

In a special visit to Cap Cana, Punta Cana’s premier luxury resort and real estate community, Donald J. Trump held a press conference to highlight the many recent developments in his Trump at Cap Cana project, announcing a new condo hotel, beach club and world-class golf courses on site.

Accompanied by Dr. Ricardo Hazoury, President of Cap Cana’s Board of Directors, and Fernando Hazoury, Vice President of the Cap Cana Board, Trump expressed his passionate belief that “Cap Cana is one of the most wonderful places in the world, known world wide for its highest level of luxury and exclusivity - with beautiful natural surroundings as well as a solid plan for its development.”

Dr. Hazoury expressed his pride in the Dominican Republic and its recognition as a prime destination for luxury real estate tourism development, attracting great brands and foreign investment that make significant contributions to the national economy. “This is the future of our country.”

Trump has invested an important sum into this project which will increase over the maturity of its development. He emphasized the country’s stability and safe climate, as well as Cap Cana’s solid reputation as his main reasons for making this ongoing investment.

“The present real estate crisis in the United States has not affected Cap Cana, as its property owners do not come from one single country, but rather from all over the world. My perception is that within the next 12 months, the situation in the United States will resolve and will stabilize.”

Trump also announced that Hanse Golf Course Design Inc., one of the leading international golf course design companies, will be designing the first of Trump at Cap Cana’s new golf courses, Farallón and Dolinas, perched well above sea level on the project’s stunning bluff.

The team at Hanse Design firmly believes that the world’s best golf courses begin with the quality and foundation of the land. The supervision of this construction process is constant and committed through all its personnel in each international project, as is the case for Trump at Cap Cana.

The bluff’s courses will have strategically placed challenging sand traps, greens, and will be close one another without interfering in the development and design of the other course. Farallón, which consists of 7,215 yards of championship golf, is set amongst natural flora and a landscape dominated by the sand and sea, with three fabulous holes bordering the cliff face. Dolinas, boasting 7,290 yards of championship golf, will have a clean and clear native landscape, bordered by the abundance of trees, flowers, and spectacular dolinas.

About Cap Cana

Cap Cana is the most important tourism and real-estate project of the Caribbean. With a master plan investment projected at $1.5 billion, the first stage of the project will be developed in a span of 12-15 years and comprises an area of 35 million square meters (8,680 acres) of a total of over 120 million square meters (30,000 acres); 5.5 kilometers (3.5 miles) of virgin beaches and privy to a privileged climate. In its initial phase, the project will have more than four 5-star hotels, five golf courses, three of them being Jack Nicklaus Signature Courses, one of the most complete and modern marinas in the Caribbean and a total of 5,000 residential units and 500 hotel rooms.

http://dr1.com/realestate/developments/capcana/

Popularity: 68% [?]