While many visitors and residents long hoped that the Florida-based Trust for Public Land would be able to negotiate the sale of the land on which Maho Bay Camps sits, talks with the owners have “stalled,” Trust Area Director John Garrison said Monday.
“It’s never over until the bulldozers clear the place down and start building condos, but I don’t hold out hope,” Garrison said.
Maho Bay, owned by Stanley Selengut, has a lease on the 14 waterfront acres where the campground sits. Selengut owns another acre adjacent to that property that is home to Harmony Studios.
If the trust was successful in its negotiations, it would hold the land—which sits within the boundaries of V.I. National Park—until the federal government came up with the money to purchase it.
The 36-year lease was set to run out Jan. 31, 2012, but Selengut got a six-month extension so he wouldn’t have to close up shop in the middle of the busy winter season.
The lease now expires July 31, 2012. Even if Maho Bay got another extension, Maho Bay spokesman Melody Smith said the campground wouldn’t be notified until April 2012, making it too late for people who want to book early for next summer.
“We’re not taking reservations for after May 31, 2012,” Smith said.
According to Garrison, the trust had the property appraised and offered the full value indicated by the appraisers. He won’t say how much the appraisers said the property is worth, but Garrison said it’s less than the $23 million the owners, the Giri Giri Corp., are now asking for the property.
“They believe there’s somebody out there that will pay $23 million,” Garrison said.
Giri Giri’s New York-based attorney, Michael Wexelbaum, did not return a phone call requesting comment.
It’s unlikely the new owners would continue to operate a campground at that location. Instead condos, upscale residences or a hotel would probably be built.
The land is zoned W-1, waterfront, which allows for construction of those developments.
However, the developer would have to get a full range of permits, including a Coastal Zone Management permit from the local Planning and Natural Resources Department. Opposition would probably be strong.
Meanwhile, visitors and people interested in keeping the campground open have mounted an internet campaign through the Save Maho Bay page on Facebook and travel forums.
Some suggestions included having readers raise the money to buy the land.
“I hope to see you all at the victory party instead of the funeral for a place whose whole is far greater than the sum of its parts,” Rob Rogerson wrote on www.vinow.com.
However, Smith said Maho Bay cannot accept donations because it does not have nonprofit status.
Garrison said that raising that amount of money is a huge undertaking and not likely to happen through small donations.
Selengut said in a 2009 interview that Maho Bay holds an Economic Development Commission package that exempts it from real estate taxes on the campground improvements. That exemption will not carry over if Selengut closes Maho Bay, so Giri Giri will have to start paying taxes on the improvements even if they don’t run it as a campground.
Selengut also spoke about the loss to the Virgin Islands if Maho Bay closes. He said Maho Bay puts about $20 million into the territory’s economy.
According to Selengut, Maho Bay spends about $5 million to $6 million a year locally on food alone. Then there’s the money guests spend on taxi fares, ferry fares and more.
Selengut will continue to operate his other St. John property, the eco-tents and studios at Estate Concordia Preserve located near Salt Pond.
