I apologize for being a few days late to the party regarding today’s story. Dalton had school vacation last week, and we were up at 3:30 a.m. traveling today… hence why I am posting a story at night. š That being said, I have more news regarding the Caneel Bay situation to share with you all. Better late than never!
Just as many of us expected, EHI Acquisitions – the private equity firm that operated the Caneel Bay Resort until the 2017 hurricanes – has asked the judge to reconsider her decision to award the Caneel Bay property to the National Park. This isn’t an appeal, but rather a “Motion for Reconsideration.” According to the filing, the motion “isĀ based on the need to correct clear error or to prevent manifest injustice.”
Manifest injustice is defined as an outcome in a case that is plainly and obviously unjust.
EHI believes that the judge erred in her decision and stated that the RUE (type of lease) that the Caneel Bay Resort had been operating under actually did not expire last September. A good chunk of the court case revolved around the fact that the RUE had expired, and, as a result, EHI no longer had an interest in the property. EHI clearly disagrees with that and stated in their filing that “the RUE cannot lapse or expire so long as a mortgage is in effect on the Property, and there are mortgages on the Property. This was one of the rare points that both EHI and the United States agreed upon.”
EHI believes that because the RUE did not expire (in their opinion due to the mortgage), that the “title to the improvements should not be transferred to the United States because mortgages remain recorded against the Property and therefore the RUE has not expired.”
On the flip side, the superintendent of the Virgin Islands National Park stated publicly last month that the Park intends to “work immediately toward transitioning the property to the National Park Service management, in keeping with the courtās decision and Laurance Rockefellerās vision for Caneel Bay.”
The United States has yet to respond to this motion, nor has the judge issued a ruling on it.
Click here to read the Motion for Reconsideration in its entirety.Ā
I have a feeling this is going to be a very long road, folks. I will keep you posted.
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