Start-Up Acquires Leasehold, Purchase Option for West Indies Hotel

BARBUDA, WEST INDIES-CCI Group has acquired a leasehold interest in and purchase option for the Palmetto Beach Hotel on the island of Barbuda, West Indies. The Palmetto Beach Hotel is a boutique resort consisting of 24 ocean front rooms. The resort property is located on 90 acres of land, of which the hotel premises occupies approximately 10 acres.

Traded on the OTC Bulletin Board and formerly known as Caribbean Clubs International Inc., the property is the first resort acquired by CCI, which plans to sell private memberships to boutique style resorts located in the Caribbean that are owned, leased or managed by the company. CCI expects to build a portfolio of boutique hotel properties and gradually convert the properties to private clubs for exclusive use by its members. The company says it expects to generate revenue from two sources–the operation of each resort and the sale of memberships. In the industry, operators are typically compensated by receiving 3% to 4% of gross revenues and 8% to 10% of net revenues of the managed resort.

The price of the leasehold acquisition and the purchase option was not revealed by the company in its SEC filing regarding the transaction and the company’s CEO Fred Jackson, one of two employees, did not return a phone call seeking comment. In another recent filing the company estimated its cash requirements for the next 12 months at $5 million, of which $4.3 million was the cash portion necessary for the acquisition of two resorts. “We expect to acquire resort properties through a combination of cash and debt payable to the seller,” states the filing. “The amount of seller financing will bear annual interest of rates between 8 to 12% and will be secured by the resort property.”