Park Hyatt will become an equity stakeholder in a $300 million resort in Bermuda set to break ground in November 2011. Construction is expected to take between 24 and 30 months.
Park Hyatt had agreed in 2009 to manage the resort, which has been in the works since 2007, according to the Bermuda Department of Tourism. The process slowed due to the economic recession, but now is moving forward.
Bermuda Premier Ewart Brown, who also serves as minister of tourism, said the investment by Park Hyatt is a vote of confidence in Bermuda's tourism business.
"The addition of a management company as an investor is rare," Brown said. "Park Hyatt's action is evidence that they believe in Bermuda's commitment to the enhancement of our tourism product."
The new Park Hyatt Bermuda's seafront location is on the island's northeast coast in St. George's, a town on UNESCO's World Heritage list.
The storied site was occupied by a Holiday Inn, followed by a Loews hotel and finally by Club Med, which closed in 1988. The buildings were imploded in August 2008 by 70 tons of dynamite to make way for the Park Hyatt resort.
Facilities will include a 100-room hotel, 71 hotel condominiums, 39 villas and 12 homes. Also on the 125-acre site will be an 18-hole golf course, a spa, tennis courts, meeting space, pools, two restaurants, two cafes and a beach club.
Two 19th-century forts on the site will be preserved and incorporated into the resort.
St. George's was the first permanent settlement on Bermuda and is the oldest continuously inhabited English settlement in the New World.