Caneel Bay Redevelopment

Virgin Islands National Park » Caneel Bay Redevelopment » Document List

Caneel Bay is located on a 150-acre peninsula on the northwest side of the island and was originally developed by Laurance Rockefeller beginning in 1956. Initially, Rockefeller donated over 5,000 acres of land to the National Park Service (NPS) and reserved the 150 acres, what has been Caneel Bay Resort, for the Jackson Hole Preserve, a Rockefeller family land trust. In 1983 Jackson Hole Preserve donated the 150 acres of land to the U.S. government for inclusion within the Virgin Islands National Park. The preserved land was transferred to the NPS with a 40-year retained use estate (RUE).

Since 1983, the resort under the RUE has been owned and/or managed by different companies. Since 1992, Caneel Bay Resort has been operated by Rosewood Hotels on behalf of the owners, CBI Acquisitions. The RUE is scheduled to expire on September 30, 2023.

With the expiration of the Rockefeller RUE in sight, the NPS announced the launch of a new formal planning process to plan for the redevelopment of Caneel Bay at Virgin Islands National Park on St. John. An NPS planning team is focusing its early priorities on framing the stewardship, community and operational objectives for redevelopment. NPS will then work to define the project scope more completely, conduct a comprehensive environmental assessment and outline the site's commercial, recreational and preservation areas.

We welcome broad participation in our long-term commitment to preserving and commemorating the area's natural and cultural heritage. Information about planning for the future of Caneel Bay will be posted on this Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) site. Also, look for notices and updates on the park's web page and on Facebook at the Links tab on the left.

Contact Information

Penelope Del Bene, viis_interpretation@nps.gov