Business View Caribbean | July 2019

50 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN JULY 2019 JPK is currently building a large waterfront villa for a private owner that was planned before the hurricanes. They are also finishing roofing and repair projects for IGY, owner of the Yacht Haven Grande (marina and shopping center) and the American Yacht Harbor. JPK installed a total of 50,000 square feet of new galvanized roofing on five buildings at the American Yacht Harbor, alone. They also did repair work for the main branch of Scotia Bank. “We’d rather be doing a large new build,” says Knoepfel, “where you can have a structured plan from beginning to end, instead of a rushed scenario of fixing people’s windows and damaged walls. But you have to take what you can get in construction and make the best of it. We’re now looking to work with Lemartec– a Miami- based construction company that has been hired by the Government of the Virgin Islands to assess all the storm damages and start to collect bids and manage repairs of all the government buildings. We’ve met with the company and put up 50 bids, and it sounds like their storm-based repairs will go on for at least two to three years.” The VI has experienced a flurry of activity from investors purchasing real estate and planning new projects. Knoepfel believes the real estate market, which has been down for the last dozen years, is turning around. He notes, “That’s positive news. There’s a really good vibe about the economy. Even though the hurricane shut down the hotel industry for at least a year, and the cruise ships stopped coming for a short period, everything is bouncing back with vigor. Although, we’re a couple years away from some of the large hotels like Frenchman’s Reef and Sugar Bay being operational. They are still completely shut down.” One element that has gone off the charts is the short-term real estate market. With hotels closed, many homeowners are offering short term rental places at good rates, and others are considering building an addition onto their house. Word of mouth is the best type of advertising and JPK reaps just such benefits from its large slate of satisfied clients. “We’re a well-known company,” says Knoepfel, “so, if it’s a larger project, people might reach out to us for bids to do the East End LUMBER & DISCOUNT CENTER 6396 Annas Retreat Saint Thomas, VI 00802 www.eastendlumber.com (340) 775-3993 FOR ALL OF YOUR ISLAND LUMBER NEEDS.