Discovery Land Company has entered into a partnership with Third Point to further develop Playa Grande Club & Reserve, an exclusive 2,200-acre private club and resort community in the Dominican Republic.
Dolphin Capital, a real estate investment firm based in the British Virgin Islands, sold Playa Grande for $150.5 million in November to Third Point, a New York-based hedge fund.
The community already includes the Amanera Resort, an award-winning resort that opened in 2015. Discovery’s plans call for a variety of developer-built luxury villas and custom homesites located along the beaches, golf course, cliffside and Mountain Reserve.
Discovery Land operates 20 high-end resort communities throughout North America and the Caribbean with 20 golf courses.
The Playa Grande Golf Course was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. and opened in 1997. It was recently renovated by his son, Rees Jones. The property features seven miles of coastline with ramatic cliffsides overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The course has 10 holes that play along the cliffs, directly on the ocean.
“Playa Grande is a special place and we are proud and grateful for the opportunity to be involved with it,” said Michael Meldman, Chairman and CEO of Discovery Land Company. “The golf course is amazing with the perfect interaction between golf and ocean. The beautiful Amanera resort is a great complement to the Discovery private residential community. I am excited to be in partnership with Aman and Third Point and I believe the collective project sponsorship will result in the creation of one of the best resorts in the Caribbean.”
Dolphin Capital acquired land for Playa Grande starting in 2008 and was working on selling luxury villas for $4 million to $8 million at the time of the sale. It had planned to build 400 homes at some point.
The $150 million investment in Playa Grande included about $50 million of debt.