The Marquis Estate
The Marquis Estate - Why Invest?
St Lucia is an established and increasingly popular holiday destination that is also one of the most accessible - three major airlines from the UK provide a direct service to St. Lucia (9 hours), and a direct service is available from the following US airports - New York (5 hours), Miami (3 hours), Charlotte (4 hours), Philadelphia (5 hours) and Atlanta (4.5 hours).
- St Lucia has a stable economic and political environment with a high probability of price appreciation over the next ten years. St Lucia has many of the same advantages as Barbados but property prices are currently 60% lower.
- The World Bank has recently placed St Lucia in the top 30 countries in the world to invest, making St Lucia the only Caricom country to make the top 30, ahead of Barbados and Antigua.
- The island is still unspoilt and undeveloped, although several new developments have recently been started. The government sees expansion of tourism as a key objective and the growing popularity of the island for holidays mean that there is excellent rental potential for properties.
- The real estate sector in St Lucia is booming. St Lucia is still one of the most reasonably priced islands in the Caribbean for property acquisition with prices 60% lower than on Barbados. Property prices have increased by around 40% per annum for the last 2 years, and are projected to continue to rise for the next 5 years.
This all points to a fast maturing property market in St. Lucia with increasing prices, making an early commitment to a home a sound investment in lifestyle and real estate
The Marquis Estate is situated amongst some of the Caribbean’s most attractive landscape on the stunning northeast coast of St Lucia and occupies a breathtaking 500 acre site in a wide lush, tropical valley that sweeps majestically down to one of the most beautiful beaches in St Lucia, the Marquis Bay, where with pristine white sands meet clear, turquoise waters that are perfect for scuba diving and snorkelling. Originally the site of an 18th century sugar mill and more recently a banana plantation, the estate is resplendent with native fruit trees including mango, papaya, coconut, avocado, breadfruit, star fruit, plum and coffee. Tall flame flowers, orchids, jasmine, bougainvillea, oleander and hibiscus explode with colour and the bright red flamboyant tree attracts tiny iridescent humming birds. An estate of this individuality requires considerable care to leave this piece of land better than it is. Harlequin plans to do this by ensuring the indigenous population’s involvement and the protection of the wildlife and existing ecosystems to create a new legacy.
We have already released hotel suites and apartments for early investment at off plan prices of more than 50% below market value.
The Resort
The developer intends that The Marquis Estate will be the finest resort in the Caribbean, bringing together some of the best brands and names from around the world to deliver a truly exceptional resort. The Marquis Estate is situated amongst some of the Caribbean’s most attractive landscape on the stunning northeast coast of St Lucia and occupies a breathtaking 500 acre site in a wide lush, tropical valley that sweeps majestically down to one of the most beautiful beaches in St Lucia, the Marquis Bay, where with pristine white sands meet clear, turquoise waters that are perfect for scuba diving and snorkelling. Originally the site of an 18th century sugar mill and more recently a banana plantation, the estate is resplendent with native fruit trees including mango, papaya, coconut, avocado, breadfruit, star fruit, plum and coffee. Tall flame flowers, orchids, jasmine, bougainvillea, oleander and hibiscus explode with colour and the bright red flamboyant tree attracts tiny iridescent humming birds. An estate of this individuality requires considerable care to leave this piece of land better than it is. The developer plans to do this by ensuring the indigenous population’s involvement and the protection of the wildlife and existing ecosystems to create a new legacy.
Villas and Apartments
Inspired by a vision of luxury and elegance and intelligently designed by highly acclaimed architects to ensure environmental sustainability with uncompromising quality, The Marquis Estate will comprise a distinctive collection of bespoke estate villas uniquely positioned to take advantage of the natural beauty and scenic vistas afforded by this wonderful setting, luxury apartments and penthouses at the marina and hotel suites providing exclusivity and sophistication within a setting of natural beauty. Surrounded by lush tropical greenery, the properties will be meticulously designed and built using the very finest natural materials sourced from around the world. The properties will not only look stunning but will be beautifully furnished and equipped with luxuriously appointed bathrooms and a state-of-the-art interactive entertainment system. The gardens will be carefully landscaped to create a resort that embraces its exotic natural environment and is in harmony with nature, complementing the island's natural beauty and creating a gem within a gem. The Marquis Estate will also include The Island Sanctuary, an exotic, tropical paradise surrounded by fresh water channels and reached only by private bridge. Each of the villas on The Island is secluded from the outside world by a living boundary of lush greenery. Each of the luxurious villas has its own private grounds and is surrounded by channels of fresh water and tropical planting. Designed and built to the highest specification the villa offers elegant and spacious accommodation.
Purchasing using a SIPP
A Self Invested Personal Pension, known as a SIPP, is a personal pension for which the person investing for retirement decides what their pension fund is invested in. Traditionally pensions are managed by a pension fund manager who may invest in volatile stocks and shares or boring old cash and the investor has no control or influence on this decision. Any type of pension can be transferred into a SIPP, for instance many people have several 'frozen' pensions from previous employment or businesses and/or personal pensions that they can transfer. This is a complex area and it does need professional advice. The developer has teamed up with one of the UK’s leading independent wealth management companies which specializes in pensions and investments. They will carry out an initial review completely free of charge for potential investors to assess whether their existing pension plans may be transferred into a SIPP.
If an investor already has a SIPP, or once the SIPP has been set up, the investor selects the property they wish the SIPP Trustees to invest in. It is also possible to increase the amount of funds available in a SIPP by borrowing up to a further 50% of the value of the SIPP. For example if a SIPP has funds of £200,000, it can borrow another £100,000 making available £300,000 to invest. An investor using a SIPP can make further contributions ongoing into their SIPP and is entitled to full tax relief which means that if a 40% tax payer paid in £100,000 it could only cost him £60,000.