42 August 2016 - Business View Caribbean
apartments and one-, two-, and three-bedroom suites.
“There are more rooms in that building than in any ho-
tel on that strip in Puerto Rico,” he says enthusiasti-
cally. Out of the 450 total rooms, 170 are timeshared
among the property’s 5,000 timeshare members.
But putting the finishing touches on the ESJ Azul will
hardly be the end of St. Clair’s hotel projects. “We
have plans to develop two more ESJs,” he says. “We’re
building a new hotel next door – the ESJ Verde and,
on the point (Punta El Medio), next to the hotel, which
is a magnificent piece of property, we’re building a
third ESJ hotel, the ESJ Noir. What we’re creating is an
ESJ collection resort with approximately 700 rooms in
three properties. It will be the first of its kind in Puerto
Rico. We’ll be breaking ground on the first property in
October and we’re hoping to break ground on the sec-
ond in January or February, next year, with both prop-
erties in delivery in 2018.”
When all three ESJ properties are up and running, St.
Clair will oversee half the exclusive real estate on Isla
Verde beachfront’s Hotel Row. “There are only four
at the moment and there will be six,” he says, “The
Intercontinental, The El San Juan, my first hotel, the
next two, and The Ritz-Carleton. The El San Juan, next
door, is having a $50 million face lift at the moment,
so at the end of the day, it’s a great neighborhood with
pretty high-end neighbors. We’re four stars - the first
two - but the one we’re building on the point will be a
five- or six-star hotel - a unique landmark property. It’s
going to be very, very interesting.”
