The legendary John Legend takes the Cayman Island by storm

The Grammy award wining singer touches down in the heart of the Caribbean the magical, Cayman Islands Grand Cayman. Singing the award winning Adele’s Rolling in the Deep;

US$58 Million Dollar Investment Located near to Royal Residence Grand Cayman East End

Oasis Land Development knew purchasing a development on the East End of Grand Cayman was the best decision for the long run, as well as the new Dr. Shetty medical town companies such as the world renowned Morritt’s Grand Resort Grand Cayman are investing US$58 Million expanding there premises:

(CNS Business): The developers of Morritt’s Tortuga Club and Morritt’s Grand Resort have announced a major expansion of the East End timeshare and resort with an anticipated investment of some CI $58 million over the next 5 to 10 years, with construction starting on the first phase no later than June of this year. Morritt Properties said in a release yesterday that the two existing resorts have consistent levels of high occupancy, often over 80% year round, and over 12,000 owners worldwide. With the new developments, the goal is to double their timeshare ownership in the next 10 years to 30,000+ club members. “I’m so excited about the future,” said David Morritt, owner and developer of the Morritts resorts.

Claiming a bumper year with an increase in timeshare sales in 2011, he said, “We’ve had a brilliant year, and it’s only going to get better.”

The first building planned is The Londoner, a 5-storey apartment building commemorating the Olympic Games in London 2012 with 35 units, located on the seafront, adjacent to the existing reception building. The developers say they intend to start construction of ‘The Londoner’ no later than June 2012.

The Grand Tower is to be located behind the existing Morritt Grand Buildings. This will also be a 5-storey building with 25 units. The Eco-Village, which will be located inland behind the shopping centre, will comprise three buildings with 3-storeys, providing a total of 45 units. The Residence building, to be located inland on the road, will be a 4-storey building with 32 units.

The main reception building will be demolished and replaced with a 7-storey mixed use facility including restaurant, bar, conference facilities and luxury accommodation. Three-bedroom luxury apartments are to be constructed as an extension to the new main reception building in a 4-storey building with 4 units.  ‘5000’ Building, located adjacent to the existing cluster of ‘5000’ buildings, will be a 3-storey building providing 10 units.

According to the release, the resorts have a predominantly Caymanian workforce with approximately 20% work permit holders and are responsible for more than 18% of Grand Cayman’s stay over tourism.

The developers aim to double their timeshare ownership in the next 10 years to have over 30,000 international members, which they say will be achieved by increasing their international exposure with a new marketing campaign to be rolled out in the new year.

David Morritt purchased the old “Tortuga Club” in 1989 and, seeing the opportunity for a luxury resort development on the “quiet side” of Grand Cayman, developed it into Morritt’s Tortuga Club & Resort. Morritt’s Grand Resort was added some ten years later.

Looking ahead to the next decade, Morritt said, “We’ve got a great team here and I’m very proud of what we have achieved together. I’m not going to stop – we’re going to keep on building.”

Top 10 property safe havens abroad – Cayman Islands No.10 – Daily Telegraph

As an economic hurricane rages through traditional destinations in Europe and the US, buyers must look abroad to these top 10 property safe havens.

The euro is in crisis. Stock markets are in freefall. Two prime ministers have been sacked. Italian debt is at record levels, and Spain faces an early election tomorrow. Across the pond, America’s annual budget deficit is measured in trillions.

One by one the traditional destinations for British house-hunters are becoming badlands. Rather than stay in the quagmire, it’s time for buyers to seek new pastures. There are always safe havens if you look hard enough.

Even when buying outside the eurozone and the United States, the best tactic is still to purchase more expensive homes in prime locations. This means you will see the best the country has to offer, and your investment stands a better chance of securing good returns.

Even at the top end, though, you have to be selective. Here is our guide to where, what and why to buy overseas to minimise your risk.

10 The Cayman Islands

The Caymans are home to more than 200 banks and expats from 100 countries. They also boast the world’s 14th highest GDP per capita, and the highest standard of living in the Caribbean. The country has the confidence of many from around the globe.

Little Cayman (10 miles by one mile, population 150) and Cayman Brac (11 miles by two miles, population 1,800) are relatively untouched. Grand Cayman is bigger and blingier, attracting tax haven lovers as well as those who want sandy beaches and sun.

Flights are plentiful, and it’s easy to hop over to neighbouring Jamaica and Cuba.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/overseasproperty/8898858/Top-10-property-safe-havens-abroad.html

 

Dr. Shetty buys 200 acres for East End Grand Cayman development !

Dr. Shetty buys land for Cayman Islands mass hospital development.

Dr. Devi Shetty’s plans to build a health city in the Cayman Islands, Grand Cayman is under way as the internationally renowned surgeon has completed the purchase of 200 acres of land, according to his local project director, signally the project is still on track. Gene Thompson said the documents have been signed and the Indian doctor has bought 200 acres of land at High Rock in East End from land owner Joseph Imparato for the future Narayana hospital.

The East End project will also include the development of Hotels, residential accommodation and support facilities.  This will make land in the East End sought after and in demand. Oasis Land Development currently only have 1 plot of land left in the east end, which means the current investors of Royal Residence can plan to be the owners of some of the most sought after land in  Grand Cayman.

Shetty’s plans to kick start medical tourism in the Cayman Islands have been in the drawings board for more than 2 years. The doctor signed an official MOU with the Cayman Islands government in April 2010 requiring a number of legislative changes in order to facilitate his vision for the health city in exchange for the investment.

The first phase is expected to be a small hospital but over the next 10 – 15 years Shetty has said he plans to roll out to other elements, including a tertiary-care hospital, an educational facility, an assisted-care community and biotech research centre.

BEYOND LUXURY CAYMAN – NEW EXCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT IN THE CAYMAN ISLANDS

BEYOND LUXURY CAYMAN – NEW EXCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT IN THE CAYMAN ISLANDS

Oasis Land Development Ltd are pleased to welcome our new ocean front development Beyond Luxury Cayman. A 9 plot development in the heart of the Caribbean, land plots are all provided with a 10 year interest free payment plan and prices start as little as £109,000 for a minimum of 18,246sqft (1695sqmt). Reserve your dream building plot for just £2,000

Beyond Luxury Cayman is a tax free development in the British overseas Territory, the Cayman Islands. All plots are provided with a choice of 4 complimentary architectural drawings, roads, electrics and full planning permission.

The Cayman Islands are one of the No. 1 destination in the Caribbean for more information about our new development and the Cayman Islands email info@oasis-land.com.

Shetty medical centre set to have 1,200 visitors a day !

The end vision for the Dr. Shetty medical tourism development in the Cayman Islands involves the massive creation of a care city on 600 acres of land on the East End of Grand Cayman. The care city is proposed to have 2,000 beds, a medical educational facility and assisted living homes for elderly seniors.  To accommodate the project the Cayman Islands will need to improve areas including transport, housing and public sector, making property investors in the Cayman Islands excited and preparing for such a rush.

The project is a 15 year project and is expected to cater for 120 patients per day in its first year and eventually expecting 1,400 patients per day when fully operational, it is thought patients will stay on island an average of nine and a half days.

In April 2010, Premier McKeeva Bush said in 2013 some 87,600 patients and visitors (accompanying family) would arrive on Grand Cayman because of the medical cantre, and by 2025 the number of stay-over medical tourists would increase to approx 1.051 million per year. This is set to fire the local rental market through the roof.

In 2010 about 288,000 tourists arrive in the Cayman Islands by air, in 2009 the Cayman air arrival was 272,000 the medical centre will lead to a 30 per cent increase in Cayman Islands air arrivals compared to 2010 and by 2025 it will increase by approx 365 percent.

Mr. Bush also said the completed medical centre would need an additional 10,000 new hotel rooms, in 2010 the Cayman Islands where home to 2,000 hotel rooms and just under 2,600 rooms in smaller developments such as apartments and guest houses. That means the medical centre would lead to a 500 percent increase in the number of hotel rooms and a 220 percent increase in the total number of rooms needed for tourists.

Now is the time to invest in the Cayman Islands to gain from the massive potential in the rental market soon to be created in the Cayman Islands.

 

 

 

 

Cayman Islands tech zone talks to Virgin

Source:(CNS): Cayman Enterprise City has conducted “preliminary meetings” with Virgin Produced to discuss ways in which the company could become involved in Cayman’s new Special Economic Zone due to open next month. Virgin Produced is the film and TV development, packaging and production company within Richard Branson’s Virgin group and was formed in 2010. Its first movie Limitless, starring Bradley Cooper was released earlier this year. Cayman Enterprise City’s CEO Jason Blick said that Virgin Produced was looking at ways to build a media studio possibly within Cayman Media Park, one of the parks that will make up the new zone.

Blick said CEC met with the company’s creative director, Justin Berfield, and CEO Jason Felts about a month ago and CEC was currently “actively working on a proposal” to present to Virgin Produced.

“We presented CEC as a whole with a particular focus on Cayman Media Park,” Blick told CNS. “The conclusion of the meeting was CEC addresses many of the requirements of the international production and licensing community. We have agreed to issue a proposal to Virgin Produced later this month.”

According to Blick, the company seen Cayman as a base from which to establish an arm of its business for some time because individuals within the management of the company had already built up an affinity with the island through personal visits. Up until this point, the set-up had not been conducive for the media company to establish a presence but the advent of CEC would, Blick said, for the first time make Cayman accessible.

Blick said he was sure the company would be a good fit within the Special Economic Zone: “We feel that CEC’s vision is very much in line with Virgin’s entrepreneurial spirit.”
CEC has plans to bring in around 40 companies, the CEO has stated, and says that half a dozen have already signed up but he has not yet revealed who these potential tenants are. He said one interested group was a company with 18,000 hi tech patents, which he believed was exciting for Cayman.

CEC wants to work with the group to bring the research and development arm of its work to Cayman Enterprise City and that once this particular client was established it would mean a “massive stimulus to the economy” with a substantial amount of job creation for local people in the form of service providers, such as lawyers and accountants, Blick said. The firm’s general counsel and management team were flying into Cayman next week for further discussions, he added.

Current legislative changes, set to take place in November, within Cayman’s immigration and companies laws would need to be in place before such companies would sign on the dotted line, Blick said. If these changes take place as planned, he anticipated having CEC’s first tenants take up residence on the 1 December.

As the actual site of the new development has yet to be officially confirmed, let alone constructed, the first tenants will be taking up residence in rented premises. Blick said that CEC is currently looking at about six different locations.

The two sites currently under consideration for the final CEC location itself are “east of George Town but not as far east as East End,” CEC’s Vice President of Marketing & Business Development Hilary McKenzie-Cahill confirmed.

Architect Cindy O’Hara of Design Cayman has already completed the master plan for the project, which would be the same whichever location CEC finally chooses, she said.
“It needs handling appropriately, which means making house to house calls,” Blick confirmed, suggesting that both sites under contemplation were near to existing built up sites.

Cayman Enterprise City will be comprised of Cayman Commodities Park, Cayman Internet Park, Cayman Biotech Park, Cayman International Academic Park, as well as Cayman Media Park. The five campuses are being developed in three phases and international businesses which establish themselves within the SEZ will benefit from 100% exemption from income, corporate and capital gains taxes, as well as no foreign ownership restrictions, reduced, flat-rate work permit fees and efficient registration and licensing, with protection of intellectual property.

Finance sector prefers ‘bankers’ over tax activists – Cayman Islands

(CNS): Industry professionals have claimed that Cayman’s recent placing as the world’s top Specialised Financial Centre in The Banker’s 2011 Ranking of Financial Centres for the third year in a row shows Cayman’s true stance in the global financial arena. This top ranking falls against a different high ranking on the Tax Justice Network’s financial secrecy index where Cayman came in as the second most secret jurisdiction in the world. “The Tax Justice Network thinks we are a loser and the international banking community thinks we are a winner – I think we all know whose opinion matters the most,” Don Seymour, managing director with dms Management Ltd said.

In the industry magazine’s list, the Cayman Islands beat its second place competitor Guernsey by a clear 8 points, while Cyprus was in third place, Jersey fourth and the Bahamas fifth.

Cayman Finance Chairman Richard Coles congratulated Cayman’s financial services industry for the achievement.

“This is yet again excellent news and a testament to the hard work and efforts on the part of both the financial services industry for delivering excellence in service and to the regulatory authorities for maintaining high international standards,” Coles said.
The ranking of international financial centres is based on data from a range of sources, including financial markets indicators, economic potential and business environment factors. The ranking focuses on the level of international business and the value offered to international institutions seeking to

Cayman’s score was lower than that of 2010, possibly due to the more in-depth questionnaire which was used which impacted other jurisdictions as well, the Survey said.

Coles said this was a sign of the jurisdiction’s strength.

“The fact that The Banker improved its assessment with a more detailed questionnaire in 2011 and the Cayman Islands remain at top with a wide margin is proof that this jurisdiction can hold its own against international standards relating to service or regulation, and I am confident that we will continue to do so,” he stated.

The survey also stated that while New York and London had held on to their previous rankings as the top and second international financial centres overall respectively, smaller jurisdictions were quickly moving up in the rankings. International regulatory pressure was bearing down on the traditional financial centres, making way for smaller, more nimble centres to take up higher positioning, the Survey said.

“As the world’s leading financial centres continue to suffer from the consequences of the financial crisis, and the economies of many emerging markets show impressive growth, it is only natural to wonder if the appeal of New York and London is fading,” one article in The Banker stated.

The Banker said that the regional disparity of the new regulations means that there may be some movement, as banks and other financial institutions look to carry out different operations in different regions, basing departments where regulations best suit that area of the business.

While smaller jurisdictions were likely to come under pressure to implement these rules once they were finalised, there would be an interim period of a few years where certain centres could benefit from regulatory arbitrage, the article said.
“Whether they will be able to capitalise on this temporary advantage remains to be seen,” it continued.

The survey also stated that changing regulations in the world’s leading financial centres may temporarily shift some international business towards smaller jurisdictions, but a permanent shift could only occur if these developing centres “offer fertile ground for innovation too.”

Grand Cayman $300 million cruise dock

The Cayman Islands have completed a deal with a Chinese firm to build a $300 million dock to accommodate modern megaships.

Famed for its coral reefs and duty-free shopping, Grand Cayman Island is alone among the top 10 Caribbean destinations without a cruise ship berth, industry experts said.

Tourism is the second biggest driver of the Cayman economy after the financial industry and a big source of income and jobs for small businesses.

During the busy winter cruise season, some four to ten ships will anchor daily off the British territory’s capital of George Town.

As the ships have grown much larger to carry more passengers, tendering has grown more unwieldy. Some cruise lines have been sending their biggest ships to other ports, where they can dock and allow passengers to walk ashore at their leisure.

Earlier this year, Royal Caribbean left the Cayman Islands off the itineraries for its two megaships, Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas, which can carry more than 6,000 passengers each, and reduced the number of port calls to the islands for its other ships.

“Twenty years ago with significantly smaller ships, tendering may have been charming, but it is not charming anymore,” said cruise industry expert Hugh Treadwell.

“The worst part of an often great overall cruise vacation is usually getting on and off the ship. Getting 4,000-plus people off a ship and then back on just isn’t fun.”

FINANCING IS CRUCIAL

The situation will only worsen as more big, new cruise ships come on line in the Caribbean and smaller ships get redeployed to the Mediterranean and Pacific.

At a cruise industry conference last week, Cayman Premier McKeeva Bush said a pending deal with a Chinese developer could be finalized next month, allowing construction of a dock facility to begin by the end of the year.

Under the proposal, China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd, a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company Ltd, would pay to develop a dock and retail complex, estimated to cost up to $300 million. The state-owned Chinese company would manage it for 49 years to recoup its investment.

“China Harbour is doing billions of dollars of business throughout the region,” he said.

Some 1.6 million cruise passengers called in the Cayman Islands in 2010. Retail shops, restaurants,

(Additional reporting by Pascal Fletcher in Miami, Editing by Jane Sutton and Philip Barbara)

Market Update September 2011

Source – Caycompass.com

Sales volumes for 2011 continue to improve on the same period (year to 30th September) last year. 110 residential properties sold this year to 30 September, up from a figure of 79 from last year.

Likewise, sales of condominiums increased, from 206 in the year to 30 September 2010 to 225 for the same period this year. The market has also seen an increase in the overall average list price at which residential properties sold: US$943,928 for the year to 30 September 2011, versus US$846,250 for the same period last year.

Condominium sales followed the same trend, with the average list price at which condominiums sold at for the year to September 2011 reaching US$555,088 versus US$526,636 for the same period in 2010.

 

Rollover suspension is great news  

The Cayman Islands has received a tremendous boost by the recent announcement that the controversial immigration term limit policy known as ‘rollover’ has been suspended for two years. This is great news indeed because it means dialogue has begun on altering certain policies that I believe have been detrimental to the island’s economy.

As I’ve discussed before, preventing someone from having the security of tenure after seven years of input into the economy does an injustice to the worker and has created a false economy for property because it forced those who were to be rolled over and thus leave the island to sell their property. It also stopped people from buying who would have liked to invest but did not want to take the risk, should they be required to leave.

The suspension means that employers who have workers coming up to their term limit at the end of this year may now apply for a two-year term limit exemption work permit, buying the employee another two years on-island. It is hoped that this two-year breathing space will allow immigration experts looking into the Immigration Law to make changes for the good of Cayman and its economy as a whole.

As we have seen over the years, every time the government changes the immigration policy whereby more residents have the ability to stay here in Cayman, the real estate market has moved upwards in both activity and price. This in particular will help with keeping owners and encouraging other to invest in the Cayman’s property market.

 

West Bay Corridor enhancements 

The West Bay Corridor project that is now under way by the FORCayman Alliance is one such project aimed at boosting Cayman’s economy. Here it is anticipated that a brand new West Bay community area will be developed, creating economic stimulus and job creation, both badly needed in Cayman right now.

The project will expand Public Beach and facilities there will be enhanced, while the Cayman community will also be able to enjoy an additional new public beach, which will be provided south of the intersection at Yacht Drive, as a result of combining the 6-foot public rights of way required under the Development and Planning Regulations. This land, currently owned by Dart, will be given to Government.

Hotel redevelopment and an extension of the Esterley Tibbetts highway will also be job creating enhancements to Cayman’s tourism offerings and infrastructure.

An additional benefit to this road move is that the increase in beach depth means the land has much more potential for appreciation and development as it was extremely limited and always had a ceiling that now has no boundaries and will bring in much-needed stamp duties in the years to come as the property turns over with each sale of each property on this site.

 

James Bovell is broker/owner, RE/MAX Cayman Islands