A super-yacht marina with a boutique hotel in St. George's could cost about $80 million to build. Yesterday, the Corporation of St. George's and Leading Edge Ltd. announced their "conceptual" plans to build the 100-boat marina and 60-room hotel around Ordnance Island.

Deputy Mayor Garth Rothwell said the two groups formed a partnership after LEL gave a presentation in July.

"The Corporation believes it is time to develop the concept and move towards implementation," Mr. Rothwell said.

"It is our belief that the boutique hotel will complement the marina and lead to a greater success for the operators and the town than either would have on their own.

"In itself the hotel will boost the tourism aspect for St George's increasing revenue to the local businesses with visitors becoming part of the town as they were 200 years ago.

"This development should result in much needed further employment in the town centre.

"Looking beyond the town centre this development should prove complementary and be of benefit to existing nearby local business such as the St George's Club, Grotto Bay, and Tucker's Point but also to the Park Hyatt on the hill."

Jeremy Spencer, President of LEL, said plans had not yet been submitted to the Department of Planning and financing was not in place, adding that they were in the early stages but hoped to have business plans in place in six months.

"This is a Bermudian project," he said. "This is a St. George's project, so we would like to give St. Georgians the opportunity to invest first and then Bermudians and then overseas investors.

"We have had interest from overseas investors."

The aim is to make St. George's a destination in the yachting circuit. Currently, Bermuda is mostly seen as a place where people pass through. The hope is that the marina, with its hotel, would encourage owners and their families to stay for longer periods pumping money into the Town of St. George's and creating a buzz similar to St. Tropez, a popular yachting destination.

Michael Howorth, of Super-yacht World Magazine, attended yesterday's press conference and was enthusiastic about the idea.

"The question isn't why is Bermuda doing this," he said. "The question is why they hell hasn't Bermuda done it!

"I have always stopped in Bermuda to break up the monotony of the sail from the Caribbean to New England (USA), but this will never be a destination without marinas like the one proposed today.

"There are a number of people who use Bermuda as a spot to stop in on the way to and from the Caribbean, they look forward to stocking up on their Dark-N-Stormies. With a facility like this they would stay longer and more may come.

"And then people will come to St. George's from hotels across the Island to see the yachts.

"I think Antigua have shown it time and again, yachts bring in money. A yacht passenger will spend ten times as much as a cruise passenger."

Mark Soares, owner of Bermuda Yacht Services, has long been a proponent of Bermuda becoming a yachting destination. He is working with the Corporation and LEL to get the plan off the ground.

"We have 1,000 yachts a year that pass through Bermuda, what we are now doing is trying to get them to stay in Bermuda for a period. We are trying to improve the facilities so they want to stay longer."