Sept. 6, 2006 – It's official. The Trust for Public Land announced Tuesday that it signed the contract with the Marsh family heirs to buy 415 acres of undeveloped land at Maho Bay, thereby preserving a large piece of V.I. National Park.
"We have a lot of hurdles to go, and we have to raise millions of dollars to make this happen, but we're confident that Estate Maho Bay will be protected," Greg Chelius, the trust's program director in Florida and the Caribbean, said in a news release issued Tuesday.
He said the land will be added to the park when federal funding becomes available.
On Aug. 28, the Source reported the deal was about to close (See Maho Bay land to Be Protected).
According to the press release, the heirs of Harvey Monroe Marsh each retain a six-acre lot, which gives them the ability to build up to two homes each.
An unnamed Marsh family spokesman said in the press release that it was important to the family to retain ancestral home sites and, at the same time, preserve the natural beauty of the estate for future generations to enjoy.
The land has been in the Marsh family for 100 years.
"A lot of credit goes to the heirs, who were willing to work with us and gave us a significant bargain on the sale; as well as to the Friends group for their continued support," John Garrison, director of the trust's Florida office, said.
The property has more than one-quarter mile of beachfront property as well as significant ruins from the Danish colonial era that date from 1700 to 1860. It also may have pre-Columbian cultural resources from the Taino Indians.
Just offshore sit sea grass beds, green turtles and coral reef systems.
"The preservation of Estate Maho Bay, one of the most popular and cherished areas within the V.I. National Park, is a significant accomplishment that will benefit the people of St. John and all those who will be able to visit and enjoy this magnificent area," Friends president Joe Kessler said.
The property was threatened with development a year ago when New York businessman James Simon began negotiating for the land so he could build a "think tank." That deal fell through.
Simons is the New York-based president of Renaissance Technologies Corp., a private investment firm he founded.
The 415-acres has complex ownership, with the property divided into 11 undivided shares. The Marsh family heirs own seven shares, but this deal is with only six of them.
The trust already owns one share and the National Park, three shares.
Garrison said previously that if a deal can't be made with the seventh heir, the court would decide where the seventh heir's land would sit within the 415 acres.
He said he's worked on the deal since 1999 when he was president of the Friends of the Park group.
The Trust for Public Land also owns a total of four acres on either side of the 415 acres, creating bookends on the larger property. These pieces include the one-acre parcel on the inland side at the southern end of Great Maho Bay and another three acres where the North Shore Road bends sharply to the east. A trailer currently sits on that property.
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