The site of the former Treasure Island and Margaritaville resorts on Seven Mile Beach has been sold for $8.6 million, which included $1.6 million for chattels.

The transaction for the 5.43-acre property, which was subject to a court-ordered sale, was registered at the Cayman Islands Land Registry on 6 Dec. in the name of 269 West Bay Road Limited.

Jeremy Beck, one of several creditors who forced the developer MV Advisory Ltd. into a court-appointed liquidation, said he was relieved and that there appeared to be a resolution to this long-running saga.

“A deal is in place, but there are still a lot of moving parts and until those are ironed out, I hesitate to say too much,” explained Beck, who added, “They plan to knock it down and replace it with a four-star hotel.

“Suite owners are being offered a credit towards a unit in the new development, but it won’t be until the middle of next month until we can really nail things down, and then we will know what is going to happen.”

Kim Lund of RE/MAX has been involved in the ongoing negotiations on the sale, but he has signed a non-disclosure agreement and didn’t wish to compromise or jeopardise the talks.

However, he did say, “The plan for the new property at the location is definitely an improvement on what is there right now.”

One of the suite owners, who did not wish to be named, said, “This has been a very long and disappointing road, and now we just want to get out of this endless fiasco. This new deal seems promising, but until everything is signed, sealed and delivered, the journey continues. At this stage, we just want to be done and put this behind us.”

Years of troubles

The property faced years of lawsuits brought by suite and room owners, like Beck, frustrated with unmet agreements on part of the developer, MV Advisory Ltd., the company that previously owned the rights to the Margaritaville resort in Cayman.

In March 2020, Beck and 11 other people who purchased rooms from MV Cayman Ltd. sued the developers for unpaid rent. The petitioners claimed MV Advisory Ltd. owed them a combined total of more than $1.06 million in unpaid debts from the rooms, intended for rental by hotel guests.

According to the original writ, 55% of the gross rental income from those rentals was to go to the developer and 45% of the gross rental income to the petitioners.

In October 2020, the petitioners were successful in claiming their dues, as the Grand Court’s Financial Services Division ruled in their favour.

In the decision, Justice Raj Parker ordered MV Advisory Ltd. “be wound up in accordance with the Cayman Island Companies Law” and liquidators appointed to assist in the process.

In a separate ruling in 2022, the Grand Court also ordered MV Advisory Ltd., to pay Beck US$2 million.

The civil suit, as Compass reported, stemmed from a 2016 business venture between Beck and MV Cayman, in which Beck purchased 10 hotel rooms from MV Cayman that were to then be rented out to hotel guests.

Changing hands again

The Treasure Island site has gone through many different owners over the decades, and the 2020 order was not the first liquidation in its history.

In May 2005, the Cayman Islands Chief Justice placed Treasure Island Resort (Cayman) Limited into compulsory liquidation following the application of Cayman Imports Limited, which was owed CI$54,034.

Supporting applications for the liquidation were received from Vigoro Nursery Ltd, Blackbeard’s Liquors, Bodden Beverages Ltd, A. L. Thompson’s Home Depot, International Travel, and Lions Community Centre.

At the time of the hearing, local businessman Harry Lalli, his brother and brother’s wife, Amrit and Amy Gill, were already in the process of purchasing the property.

Lalli later sold the resort prior to it being acquired by MV Advisory.

Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the total purchase price, which has been corrected.