The Morgan Residences will feature 120 luxury condominiums and a 150-metre-long infinity pool.
PHILIPSBURG--Minister of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Patrice Gumbs, representing the Party for Progress (PFP), has approved Civil Works permits for The Morgan Residences, a luxury condominium development next to The Morgan Resort. The late publication of permit BP#066/2025 on Friday leaves stakeholders less than two weeks to file an appeal.
According to a video published on the website of architectural firm DAM Caribbean, architect Wouter Schipper designed the project to reflect the style of high-end developments in Dubai and Miami.
The Morgan Residences will feature 120 luxury condominiums and a 150-metre-long infinity pool, forming part of a broader redevelopment of the former Alegria complex on Beacon Hill Road.
The Morgan Resort project forms part of a multi-phase master plan, with the first phase involving hotel renovations, seawall upgrades, the addition of a swimming pool and the creation of a new hotel entrance.
Future phases include the construction of a breakwater and lagoon, expansion of the hotel with condominiums, development of a central village with a parking garage, and improvements to surrounding infrastructure and landscaping.
On August 20, 2019, the project engineer submitted a master plan to VROMI, which was approved on March 19, 2020, subject to conditions. Notably, the central village could not proceed until a parking garage was constructed, which would require a separate permit. The building permit for the first phase of renovations was granted by then-Minister Egbert Doran on June 26, 2020.
However, on December 15, 2022, the developer applied for a permit to build and expand the resort with The Morgan Residences. That application was denied on January 22, 2024, after Minister Doran cited non-compliance with the Building and Housing Ordinance BWV. The denial centred on two issues: insufficient parking spaces and failure to meet the conditions of the initial permit requiring the construction of a parking garage.
The permit dispute reached the courts. At a hearing on June 27, 2024, attorney Richard Gibson Jr., representing current VROMI Minister Gumbs, explained that the proposed development included only 279 parking spaces, short of the 426 spaces required under the policy. This shortfall, he argued, would exacerbate congestion in the surrounding area.
Conversely, lawyer Charles Rutte, representing the developer, stated that the project provided 284 parking spaces, exceeding the 257 spaces required under the Ministry’s Parking Standards. Rutte emphasised that each phase should be considered independently and that linking the new permit application to earlier phases was inappropriate.
The Court of First Instance ultimately ruled in favour of the developer, finding that the Ministry’s denial was based on a misinterpretation of the parking requirements. The court determined that the permit application must be evaluated on its own merits, independent of other phases, and that the former minister had improperly cited unmet conditions from earlier permits as justification for refusal.
A central issue in the dispute was the interpretation of the parking policy. The Ministry classified the project as a residential development, requiring one parking space per condominium plus additional spaces per bedroom. The developer argued that it should fall under the hospitality standard, which mandates 1.2 parking spaces for every two rooms.
The court found that The Morgan Residences combined characteristics of both categories, effectively making it a condo-hotel, and concluded that neither standard perfectly applied. The court held that the Ministry should have developed a specific parking standard for such mixed-use projects.
As a result, the court annulled the former minister’s decision, citing inadequate justification and insufficient preparation. The ruling directed Minister Gumbs to make a new decision on the permit within four months, based on updated information from the developer regarding the number of condominiums, gross floor area, and intended sales and rental arrangements.
The approval of the Civil Works permits on January 30, 2026, marks a significant milestone for the project, allowing excavation and other preparatory works to begin by mid-March.
https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/court-ruling-pushes-vromi-min-gumbs-to-approve-civil-works-for-morgan-residences-2
