65 An Island of One’s Own Surrounded by nothing but water and spectacularly untethered from the rest of the world, the prospect of owning a private island can be more than just a fantasy. By Mark Ellwood Illustration by Paul Sirand Chris Krolow has built his entire career on private islands: the Canadian businessman established the first online marketplace for them in the late 1990s, and even hosted the hit HGTV show Island Hunters for several years. But Krolow says he’s never seen such a surge in demand as the uptick over the last four years, thanks to the pandemic; it’s not just new buyers, either, but also existing owners reinvesting. “Sometimes, someone wants to buy an island because it’s in the way of their current one, and building a cottage on it would obstruct their view,” he laughs. “I’ve seen that several times.” Krolow himself owns and operates several islands, as well as offering consulting for those keen to join his clique. Their ranks are certainly swelling. Precise data on the number of private islands worldwide is hard to verify, although one recent study found 160 such properties for sale. Last year, for example, the only private island in San Francisco Bay was put on the market for m, while a developer offered the .91ha Tarpon Island in Palm Beach for 8m. Jeffrey Epstein’s notorious pair of islands in the British Virgin Islands sold for m while Sea Shell Key, just off Marathon in the Florida Keys, was offered as a relative bargain – just .5m, though it’s a fixer-upper, as the home there was ruined by Hurricane Irma. For anyone keen to snap up one such property, what are the factors to consider – and who can help? There’s no set formula for the ideal private island, of course, but there are certainly factors that the best among them share: the most sought-after, for instance, all sit in a Goldilocks Zone, not too far from the nearby mainland to make, say, hopping over for a supper in a speedboat a long journey, but isolated enough to stand apart and keep prying eyes at bay. It’s one reason that the BVIs are such a hotspot, since the smaller islands cluster close to Tortola and Virgin Gorda; the Bahamas have the same geographic layout. The latter’s lure is even stronger, thanks to proximity to Miami, according to Edward de Mallet Morgan, who specialises in sourcing properties for ultra-high-net-worthers worldwide at Knight Frank. “You can be sitting around at breakfast, and say, ‘Let’s go to Joe’s Stone Crab for lunch’ and you can just jump on a plane and do that. It’s much easier to do things on a whim.” Many of the newer island buyers are seasoned superyachters snapping up land in the areas they once sailed around, according to the BVI-based Edward Childs, from Smiths Gore; he’s lived and worked there for more than three decades. “The rule of thumb operating a megayacht is that annual costs are 10 per cent of the value of the boat,” he notes. “But owners of yachts like that have suddenly realised that it costs a lot less to run an island, and the value of a megayacht depreciates while an island is real estate, so it’s appreciating.” Yachties are also well versed in local marine routes, and so better briefed to avoid islands that might, say, sit on a stretch of water that’s particularly trafficky at weekends. The Caribbean is also a mainstay for other reasons, of course: most countries there are tax havens – or rather low-tax-threshold jurisdictions – which adds a financial fillip to any purchase that confers residency; they’re also much easier legally. In Asia, for example, warns de Mallet Morgan, the evidence of title can be harder to establish: “You could spend m on an incredible property then find in 10 years’ time, someone else turns
