Construction Halted on Dellis Cay Project in Turks and Caicos

The multi-million-dollar Dellis Cay development project in the Turks and Caicos, which includes a 120-room Mandarin Oriental hotel, has been placed on hold while the development company attempts a restructuring plan with investors.

The first phase of Dellis Cay, a private island resort 20 minutes by boat from Providenciales, Turks and Caicos, had been on schedule for a mid-2010 opening. However, construction has now stopped, foreign workers have been sent home and local workers are on hold, according the Sun TCI newspaper.

Cem Kinay, the head of the Vienna-based developer O Property Collection, claimed that allegations linking him to government corruption in the Turks and Caicos hurt sales and forced him to stop construction.

Kinay said he is seeking new funding for Dellis Cay, which covers part of the 560-acre island that he purchased from the local government in 2005.

The resort island, which Mandarin Oriental Hotels Group will manage, will feature a spa, a tennis center, a jogging trail and diving options. In addition to the hotel, facilities at Dellis Cay are to include residential units and 17 stand-alone villas.

More than 80 percent of the beach villas and over-the-water villas had been sold by last June. The units are to be placed in a rental pool when not owner-occupied.

In a statement, Mandarin Oriental said that “the matter is under the direct control of the project owner/developer, the O Property Collection, and not the hotel operating group. Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group does not have a comment regarding construction on the Dellis Cay property.”