Staff Writer - The Timeshare Beat
November 9, 1999
Atlanta-based Grubb & Ellis Co.'s Investment Services Group has been hired to find a partner for a joint venture
development in the Dominican Republic that includes timeshare condominiums.
Miami businessman Vincent Don Moyer, who owns the property with two partners in the Dominican Republic, selected
the company to represent them. The property has 1,250 buildable acres on three miles of ocean frontage 35 miles
northwest of Puerto Plata.
The identity of the two partners in the Dominican Republic was not revealed.
Moyer and his partners are looking for a developer to partner with them in a mixed use project. The project
would include two hotel casinos with 800 to 1,000 rooms each, a residential community, an office building, two
golf courses, timeshare condominiums, and a shopping center. Buildout would occur over three to four years with
the value of the completed project estimated to be about $1.1 billion.
The Dominican Republic is a Caribbean destination located on the island of Hispaniola, which it shares with Haiti.
Located between Cuba and Puerto Rico, its capital city of Santo Domingo is the oldest European-style city in the
Americas. It is also where Columbus' tomb is located.
Timesharing in the Dominican Republic is big business. Allegro Resorts, the world's largest provider of all-inclusive vacations, is headquartered there and has four timeshare resorts on the island with many others throughout the world. In addition to their Diamond Resorts brand (now simply called Allegro Resorts or sometimes Allegro Diamond Resorts) and the Caribbean Village brand, the company owns Jack Tar Villages and the new luxury Royal Hideaway resorts.
Viva Resorts, which was started by former Allegro personnel, is also headquarted in the Dominican. In all, there are approximately 30 timeshare resorts in this small country, mostly utilized by Europeans, Canadians and South Americans.
The USA has yet to discover the Dominican Republic in any numbers, though the wealthy and the famous-- such
as Michael Jackson-- have long used it as a place to get away from throngs of fans and gawkers during vacations.
Grubb & Ellis added to its international portfolio in August with the acquisition of Landauer Associates Inc.,
a real estate consulting firm with extensive international experience. The Dominican Republic project is another
part of the company's increasing concentration on international markets.