Case Study: Porto Cupecoy
Location: Sint Maarten
Developer: Orient Express Hotels and Resorts
Scope: 184 Whole Ownership Marina Residences
SITUATION: Developed by Orient-Express, Cupecoy Yacht Club (re-named Porto Cupecoy) is a residential resort being built on one of the best sites on the island of Sint Maarten in the Caribbean. Plans for the gated community include 184 condominium suites, a 48-slip white-glove marina, and a European-inspired village with shops, restaurants, and galleries.
After three years on the market, however, fewer than 40 percent of the residences had been sold. Sales were sluggish and it became a challenge to keep buyers committed. Still under construction, the developer continued to run up accumulating deficits. This project had stalled and some perceived it to have failed.
SOLUTION: Arnie Seitel coordinated a full, on-the-ground analysis of the resort and received approval from the company's board to move forward with a strategic sales and marketing strategy. Arnie and his team reinvigorated the project by clearly defining the resort's services & amenities, the privileges of ownership, and a customer’s reason to buy. In addition, Cupecoy Yacht Club, previously referred to as a marina community, was rebranded Porto Cupecoy, a Euro-Mediterranean white-glove marina village.
RESULTS: Today Porto Cupecoy is a new place with new energy. A new sales team and a buyer liaison, all trained by Seitel, have reinvigorated the project and its profile in the market- on and off the island. New pricing and rewards for participation by on-island brokers has jumpstarted the project even as market conditions around the world have worsened.