Commercial Maho Bay

Travel discussion for St. John
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Exit Zero
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Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2008 4:50 pm
Location: virgin islands

Commercial Maho Bay

Post by Exit Zero »

Listed at $8 Million - a nice piece of STJ zoned commercial - many comments here and some nice drawings - would it be an improvement to have shopping, dining and parking adjacent to Maho Bay??

http://newsofstjohn.com/2017/07/07/huge ... /#comments
mrscherry2000
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Joined: Sun Apr 11, 2010 8:55 pm
Location: West River, MD

Re: Commercial Maho Bay

Post by mrscherry2000 »

Dear God...nooooo. That's our favorite beach and it's never been too crowded for us.
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Pia
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Location: St John

Re: Commercial Maho Bay

Post by Pia »

It has been on the market for about 5 years - this is not a new listing but I guess only now have some people figured it out (not meaning you Exit) and are publicizing it

Pia
Realtor - St John Properties
Exit Zero
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Joined: Mon Mar 10, 2008 4:50 pm
Location: virgin islands

Re: Commercial Maho Bay

Post by Exit Zero »

I had heard about it a while ago - actually thought it got sold - and I was watching for permitting applications.
Publicizing it is the function of a "News"website I guess.

My question is really do people think that having dining and parking at Maho would improve their experience - or maybe having villa rentals that close to the Bay would be better since there are so few beachfront rentals available and are always being sought after by visitors.
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pmk
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Location: Greater Boston

Re: Commercial Maho Bay

Post by pmk »

How do we lobby for the NPS to purchase the property?
jimg20
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Location: Fayetteville, AR

Re: Commercial Maho Bay

Post by jimg20 »

PIA, this site became news recently because the site was cleared and a "for sale" sign appeared. Clearly, the previous efforts over the last five years were not successful. That would help some people figure out that it is for sale. :)

JIM
Man it's like some dream we live down here....

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equineannie
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Location: Florida

Re: Commercial Maho Bay

Post by equineannie »

Why on earth would anyone buy this? The USVIs are practically bankrupt and they are raising taxes that will have a direct impact on pretty much everything tourist in the islands. Building costs are sky high, not to mention the island time mentality for permits and building. Having lived on St John & St Thomas, in the past, I saw the struggles of businesses to survive amidst the corruption of government officials and the mismanagement of the islands. The NPS idea would be great except they have no access to such funds, especially with the anticipated major federal budget cuts proposed. Take heart, Maho Beach lovers, this probably won't happen. BTW, I long for the days when development was hardly seen on St John...a true nature's paradise lost.
iheartsj
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Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2013 2:15 pm

Re: Commercial Maho Bay

Post by iheartsj »

This comment was posted by a realtor in a different comment thread. While the property is W-1 (waterfront pleasure) there are Covenants and Restrictions as follow:

“There shall not be created of subdivided from the Property any parcel or plot which is less than one half acre in size. The Property shall be restricted to residential use only. There shall not be constructed, erected or placed upon any plot in the Subdividion more than one single-family private dwelling house with attached or detached servants quarters and one guest house. Both principal one-family residence and such attached or detached quarters for guests, servants, or caretakers may be leased on a periodic basis as may be desired. However, neither the principal one-family residence nor any such quarters may be used as a commercial guests house, office or for any other commercial purposes whatsoever. There shall be no manufacturing, merchandising or conduct of any trade, or business within the subdivision. Nothing shall be maintained or conducted therein which shall be an annoyance or nuisance to the inhabitants of the subdivision. Structures much be constructed in conformity with all applicable laws and regulations”.

These two (2) parcels have been listed for sale for 5+ years.
PA Girl
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Re: Commercial Maho Bay

Post by PA Girl »

I have thoughts similar to equinneannie's, who would buy this?

Lets set aside the C & Rs for a second - I can't think of a business that could return enough profit to support the costs required to purchase, develop and construct anything permitted by zoning.

Back to the restrictions. I wonder if these can be lifted? Or how much of a deterrent they really are for someone who wanted it for a home (or two) site?

We have a cottage in a very popular recreation area and a recent sale down the road blew our minds. Someone bought a property 4x higher than anything else in recent memory and it came with what I viewed as very limiting restrictions. I suppose a very wealthy person that loved the location would buy it for a villa but at what price? Not the current list price, time has proven that.

To answer one of Zero's questions - yes, a villa rental on that site would be very appealing to me. Dining? Not so much. Although I will say, we enjoyed the beachfront bars/restaurants on Anguilla but I don't think STJ has the type of visitor that would support that style of "beaching it"
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