98 up and says, ‘I own it’ or the government might take it off you.” Prices have risen in Belize recently, notes Chris Krolow, thanks to a debt-for-nature swap brokered with the IMF: debt was reduced by 10 per cent of GDP in exchange for enhanced marine-protection programmes, almost doubling the amount of coastal land protected from development to 30 per cent, effectively removing many undeveloped islands from the market overnight. Bigger isn’t always better, either, de Mallet Morgan adds: much as trading up to a yacht of 30 metres or larger is unwieldy – no excursions to charming little harbours in the Med any more – anything larger than 20 hectares is a logistical and financial drag. Edward Childs agrees: he’s steered a client who wanted to create a three-acre compound to trade down from a 120ha island to one just a tenth of the size. This is the reason, he adds, that appealing spots like the 64ha Caille Island in the Grenadines have lingered on the market. “When people look at the cost of developing it, they don’t know what that will be,” he explains. “It takes a special person to take on that challenge.” Ryan West is just the man. The founder of Island Development Group is the go-to consultant for anyone mulling over an island investment; he trained as a marine engineer in his native UK and worked on yachts before he was poached to staff up Richard Branson’s Necker Island in its earliest iterations. West went on to become the development director of Branson’s Moskito Island project, as well as working on projects for other wealthy would-be island magnates. “A lot of what I do is word of mouth,” he says. It’s West who corrals the army of engineers, architects and sustainability consultants required on any such project; he has particular expertise in tropical construction, noting that the harsh weather – salty air, baking sun and more – is brutal on many traditional materials, including concrete. Utilities need to be close to the main home, but remain undisruptive: where should the generator be placed, for example, or the golf-cart repair facility? Think about the lifestyle of the owner, too: if there’s a sunset-facing beach, where events are likely to happen, it’s vital to have facilities close by to make catering and the like more seamless. “Often architects don’t have that vision,” admits West. West also liaises with local governments on an owner’s behalf, noting the need for diplomacy as well as deep pockets among island buyers: “Communities might feel disenfranchised when there’s a huge amount of wealth coming in, and that they have the right to the island – it’s the idea that if you’re going to lease it to a billionaire, why not lease it to us?” Beyond the purchase price, make sure to budget at least US,000 per square foot for construction, he recommends – that’s around four times what many brokers will suggest. “It’s cheap to buy an island but bloody expensive to build, and even more expensive to operate it,” he laughs. “Even billionaires get sticker shock.” Why, then, do such projects retain an elusive allure? Security concerns are one factor, for sure, whether Covid-spurred or concerns over kidnapping, but there’s more to island life than anxiety. Lucille Turner is a novelist who has written extensively about island mentalities. “High-income people might barricade themselves inside their homes elsewhere, but an island enables them to almost buy their own freedom back,” she says of the difference between a gated community and a private fiefdom surrounded by water. Islands have a particular power over us, Turner continues, as they’re persistently romanticised or glamorised in books and films. The Swiss Family Robinson might have been shipwrecked, but a pioneer gumption kicked in as a result; every wealthy person, evil or otherwise, in James Bond’s universe must own an island or two. “It’s that romantic idea of being able to survive on your own,” she says, pointing to the rise of so-called “seasteading”, where an individual might establish a man-made island beyond the jurisdictions of neighbouring countries. “We’ll eventually run out of islands to buy, but the sea is the final frontier – it’s a Waterworld kind of scenario.” Still, such operations aren’t without issues today: the family who created their own seastead off the coast of Phuket five years ago were forced to abandon it by the Thai navy, citing security concerns. Most buyers now, though, are more interested in a classic tropical template, all palm trees and beaches. “The trifecta is somewhere natural, beautiful and accessible, that’s what people want in an island package,” says de Mallet Morgan, “There’s nothing about it that feels like normal life.” Perhaps, though, that’s exactly the point. Need-to-Know Names Private Islands Online is Chris Krolow’s firm; he still operates it while juggling his TV career, privateislandsonline.com. London-based Edward de Mallet Morgan is partner and head of international super-prime sales worldwide for Knight Frank, knightfrank.com. Farhad Vladi runs Vladi Private Islands, a broker with a spelt-out mission. Its listings include both islands for sale and for rent, vladi-private-islands.de. Caribbean specialist Edward Childs of Smiths Gore/Luxury Portfolio International specialises in the entire Caribbean region from his BVI base, smithsgore.com. Anyone mulling a renovation or construction project on an island can tap Ryan West of the Island Development Group for everything from feasibility study to project management in the construction phase, islanddevelopment.group. CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM
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