The owner and developer of Tucker's Point Club is poised to put an additional 140 fractional ownership interests up for sale at the new $350-million, 200-acre resort.

Originally Castle Harbour Ltd. - which has also been selling multi-million dollar residential properties to individuals and is in the midst of building a hotel on the site of the old Castle Harbour Hotel - planned to sell just 200 fractional interests in just 20 properties at the resort.

Yesterday however chief operating officer Eric Brooks said the company had embarked on a “new plan driven by the market”. They are going to add an additional 140 fractional interests in 14 beachfront condos which were originally going to be sold to single residential owners.

John Bush, executive vice president of residential development at the Bermuda resort, said that the reason for adding more fractional interest properties is that they have already sold 150 of the first 200 fractional interests that they offered.

“This is an additional tourism component above and beyond what we originally contemplated out of the residential units because the fractional or residences club component up on the top of the hill has been so successful,” he said.

The men announced the move yesterday while unveiling new plans for The Tucker's Point Club Hotel and Cottages which they submitted to the Department of Planning last week.

The $90-million, 138,000 square foot hotel is fashioned after a Bermudian cottage colony and offers up 104 hotel rooms housed within a five-storey manor building as well as in individual cottages. The number of rooms is down by four from the original plans submitted in 2001, but Mr. Brooks said that under the new design typical standard rooms run up to 650 square feet - a size that he said is much larger than those in the original plan and also much larger than those offered by competitors. On average, hotel rooms in Bermuda measure around 450 square feet.

Mr. Brooks said: “It is quite generous but that speaks to the quality level we are developing and it is really meant to position us at the top of the market, not just in terms of Bermuda, but for the competitive destination resorts whether in North America or the Caribbean resorts.”

Tucker's Point Club Hotel and Cottages will also offer cottages housing 1,650 square foot, two-bedroom suites complete with fireplaces, a parlour and terraces.

In 2004 dollars, Mr. Brooks said the hotel would charge guests $625 per night for a standard room in the hotel. By the time it actually opens in late 2007 however the charge per room will be even higher.

The company said that the new plans for the hotel take advantage of the views of Castle Harbour and Harrington Sound with French doors, large terraces and private gardens.

The property features an outdoor dining terrace as well as a main restaurant which Mr. Brooks said “looks due west”.

“You can see Commissioner's House from the terrace of the restaurant which is really quite spectacular,” he said.

The hotel will be independently managed and affiliated with the five-star Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. It will also include a 5,000 square foot executive conference centre and a 12,000 square foot free-standing Greenbrier European spa with 16 treatment rooms.

It has a separate health club and fitness centre and two swimming pools. One will be located on the Castle Harbour side of the property while another will be located on the Harrington Sound side of the resort. The company also plans to rebuild Harbour Beach where it will offer its water sports area.

Tucker's Point Club has been opening in phases over the last three years. Its redesigned golf course debuted in 2002 followed by a new Beach Club in 2003 and a new Golf Clubhouse in late 2004.

Residential communities consisting of both town homes and estate homes have already been built and sold and are significant contributors to the hotel financing.

The first phase of the fractional ownership Residence Club is now under construction and due to open this summer.

The anticipated opening for the new hotel is late 2007.