Construction on the Brando has begun on Tetiaroa, a French Polynesian atoll formerly owned by the late actor Marlon Brando. The luxury resort is scheduled for completion in late 2011.
The Brando will be the only resort on Tetiaroa. It will have 47 bungalow villas with private plunge pools, a spa, a fitness center and a community pool. The Brando will offer island activities such as scuba diving and archaeological tours of royal Tahitian sites.
Tetiaroa's airstrip is being lengthened and renovated to meet the government's safety standards, said the resort.
Purchased by Brando in 1965, Tetiaroa is a 13-island chain circled by a coral reef. It is 35 miles from Tahiti.
In 2005, executors of the Brando estate sold development rights to Richard Bailey, owner of four InterContinental resorts in French Polynesia.
Bailey said he plans to use a seawater air conditioning system, in which seawater from the ocean depths is pumped to a cooling station, then pumped through a closed, freshwater circuit. After the cold seawater is used to cool the system, it is returned to the ocean.
The method is currently in use at the InterContinental Bora Bora.