Real Estate
A historical perspective of the development of St. Croix after 1917 shows a pattern of an island that gets discovered, goes through a period of growth, and then seems to go to sleep only to be rediscovered again. This pattern dates back to the late 1930's and 40's with the migration of people from Vieques and Puerto Rico. The island then went quiet until the late 1950's when the Grapetree Bay Hotel was built and the tourism market was born. Thru the 1960's hotels and condos were being built from East to West like Grapetree Beach, St. Croix by the Sea, Queens Quarter, Mill Harbor, Sugar Beach, The Reef, Gentle Winds, Sunset Beach and Granada Del Mar. By the early 1970's, St. Croix started suffering from growing pains and, with the US economy on a downturn, the island seemed forgotten by the travel industry. Fortunately, during the 1960's, the Harvey Aluminum Plant and the Hess Oil Refinery were built adding to the existing Cruzan Rum Plant giving the island some diversity in its economy.
Then in the mid 1980's, Carambola Beach Resort was built and the island was again rediscovered. Over the next four years, developers flocked in and purchased most of the development land that was available and several projects seemed imminent. From condo projects on the West End to hotel developments on the South Shore, St. Croix was the hot spot in the Caribbean. Tourists were buying land for future building, retirees were buying their dream home, and investors gobbled up the condos. Then in September 1989, Hurricane Hugo made a direct hit on the island and it took two years to rebuild and recover. But again, the US economy had gone flat and St. Croix became the forgotten island once again. In 1995 St. Croix got a boost in exposure when Hurricane Marilyn hit St. Thomas and St. Martin and cruise ships were forced to call on St. Croix. Even with this exposure, the real estate market was slow.
Then in the late 1990's and early 2000's the cruise ship industry stopped calling on St. Croix but a tax benefit program brought new blood to the island. From1998 thru 2005 the market continued to grow and hit new heights. The US economy was booming and buyers were taking advantage of low interest rates. By 2006, things began to slow down and the market started to drop but as has happened time and time again, the cruise ships started to come back to the island and a whole new group of tourists are rediscovering St. Croix. Once the US economy improves, St. Croix will again see another boom of real estate activity.
-- Hamilton Real Estate
