For Coradin and Faustin, both natives of Haiti, it is hard to talk about their planned Belle Rive Residences, Hotel & Club at a time when tens of thousands of Haitians have died. But they hope that once reconstruction efforts begin in earnest, their tourist destination can play a small role in boosting the devastated economy.

SIMACT planned to start construction on the first Belle Rive residences this week. Now it is not clear how soon they will break ground. Many of the consultants and contractors in Haiti hired to work on the project are now focused on their families and properties, says New York City architect Rodney Leon.

None of the SIMACT investors contacted for this story would disclose how much they have put into the project individually and how much is at risk if the project becomes a victim of the catastrophe. The 23-acre project would include a 120-room boutique hotel, 120 condos in 20 mid-rise buildings overlooking the ocean, a 150-seat performing arts theater and a full-service, 20-slip marina.

"Belle Rive is an important step forward in opening Jacmel as a town to international tourism," Coradin says. He adds that the mixed-use aspect of the resort, with a theater and an amphitheater, would "help promote and preserve the Haitian culture."

The Belle Rive site is about 15 minutes from central Jacmel, where more than 60% of the buildings were severely damaged or destroyed, says Leon, the architect and project manager, citing reports from associates in Haiti.

SIMACT has a deal with Silver Spring, MD-based Choice Hotels International to turn the hotel into part of the hospitality company's Ascent Collection brand of boutique upscale inns. Choice Hotels will also make SIMACT's Cap Lamandou Hotel in Downtown Jacmel a Comfort Inn. The existing 32-room hotel has no apparent damage from the earthquake, Coradin says.

SIMACT bought the Belle Rive site in 2006, and Haiti's Ministry of Tourism approved the project in 2008.

"It was a complex project to put together for the simple fact that it is in Haiti," Coradin says. "For example, there is no condominium law in Haiti; there is a very generally vague law allowing for vertical co-ownership of properties. It makes it more complicated because we still have to be mindful of US laws because we are selling to Haitian-Americans."

About 900,000 visitors a year had visited the impoverished country before the earthquake, tourism officials estimated. Its tourist industry was just beginning to gain the attention of international investors. Former President Bill Clinton, the United Nations special envoy to Haiti, visited the country last October to promote tourism and told investors it was the right time to make Haiti "an alluring tourist destination."

Miami-based Royal Caribbean International was investing nearly $50 million to upgrade its private beach resort in Labadee, about 100 miles north of Port-au-Prince. The cruise line's resort was untouched by the earthquake.

Also, Best Western International planned a hotel in Port-au-Prince before the disaster. Company spokesman Troy Rutman says construction had not started yet "and it is too early to tell when that will be possible."