High Time for High Rises in Turks and Caicos?
It’s not Barbuda, an island so flat you might just miss it, but the Turks and Caicos are very much vertically challenged. The high point among the 100 or so TCI islands: a most modest 161 feet. You’ll find that “tallest” point in the Blue Hills section of Providenciales. Just a few minutes to the east lies Grace Bay and its collection of low-rise resorts. Long-standing construction laws here have prevented developers from building high rises in Turks and Caicos. Anything higher than seven stories has traditionally been forbidden. Even that is too high for some, but at least the restriction has prevented Provo from turning into Miami Beach… for now.
The Ritz-Carlton Residences Turks and Caicos
The Provo skyline, such as it is, will undergo a dramatic change in the not too distant future. Just over a year ago, Desarrollos Hotelco broke ground on The Ritz-Carlton Residences Turks and Caicos.
Just another in the long string of Provo luxury hotel developments? Hardly.
The full development extends over 10.9 acres and consists of nearly 320 rooms. Some are hotel rooms, others are condo units, and still others are residences. Either way, though, we’re talking a lot of rooms.
The depth and breadth of the sprawling project is one thing. Its height, though, is.. well… take a look for yourself…
If these animated renderings give you the sense that The Ritz-Carlton will tower over everything else on Grace Bay, well, you’re not wrong. The project will stretch 12 stories from the sand, qualifying it as TCI’s first high rise development, at least by Emporis standards.
Not sure whatever happened to the old seven-story regulation. I am sure, though, that more than a few people we ran into last summer in Provo weren’t too happy about the advent of high rises in Turks and Caicos.
Bigger is not always better from our point of view either, of course. In the special case of the Turks and Caicos, though, taller might even be worse.
What do you think..?
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