By NAN Staff Writer
News Americas, Gustavia, St. Barths, Weds. Dec. 15, 2021: A new plan to build a hotel resort in the celebrity attractive St. Barths by the wife of an ex-Domino’s Pizza CEO is facing a legal challenge by a local environmental group.
The New York Post reports that St. Barths Essentiele, a nonprofit environmental group that’s backed by some of the biggest homeowners on the island, alleges in a suit that SAS Saint Jean Beach Real estate, owned by Denise Dupré, whose husband is the billionaire private-equity mogul Mark Nunnelly, company, will irreversibly damage the bay.
Dupré’s company is looking to spend $170 million to replace a now-destroyed hotel on the island’s exclusive Bay of Saint Jean and double the size of the old development with 16 buildings and add multiple swimming pools.
St. Barths Essentiele says this poses a threat to the bay’s delicate ecosystem.
The suit was first filed in Saint Barthelmy Court almost two years ago with both sides posting legal wins. A local administrative court heard arguments recently and is set to rule within a few weeks whether Dupré’s company can continue construction.
