What regulatory filings or permit records exist for proposed development projects on Great St. James and Little St. James since their 2023 sale?
Executive summary
Reporting establishes that financier Stephen Deckoff bought Great St. James and Little St. James in 2023 for roughly $60 million and announced plans to convert the islands into a resort by 2025 [1], but the available reporting does not cite or reproduce any regulatory filings, building permits, environmental reviews, zoning approvals, or other formal permit records tied to those proposed development plans [1]. The only additional planning-office link provided in the reporting points to a St. James Parish, Louisiana planning and permitting webpage, which is a different jurisdiction and not evidence of filings for the U.S. Virgin Islands islands [2].
1. Purchase and public development intent: what is on the record
The sourced coverage confirms the 2023 sale and the new owner’s public intention to develop the former Epstein-owned properties into a resort destination, with a public timeline expectation of opening "by sometime in 2025" [1]; that reporting also notes the broader legal and financial context tied to prior settlements involving the U.S. Virgin Islands government [1]. Those are statements of ownership and intent reported by journalists; they are not, in the provided reporting, copies or summaries of planning applications, permit numbers, approved site plans, or environmental-review records [1].
2. Missing: no permits or filings produced in the reporting
The reviewed article does not cite any specific permit applications, development plan submissions, building permits, coastal or environmental impact reviews, variances, or other regulatory documents typically required for resort development in island jurisdictions [1]. There is therefore no documentary trail in the provided reporting that confirms whether formal regulatory processes have been initiated, are pending, or have been completed for Great St. James or Little St. James [1].
3. Jurisdictional mismatch in the supplied planning link
A separate source included in the material points to a "Planning & Permitting Office" page for St. James Parish in Louisiana [2], which is not the U.S. Virgin Islands and thus is not a relevant repository for permitting records concerning Great St. James or Little St. James [2]. The presence of that link in the search results highlights a common research pitfall—similarly named jurisdictions—and underscores that the available source set does not contain the local USVI permitting authorities’ records.
4. What would normally exist — and what the sources do not confirm
Public records that would normally document a bona fide resort project include planning applications, building-permit records, environmental-impact assessments or coastal zone management reviews, utility and septic permits, dock and marina approvals, and local zoning determinations; none of these specific records are provided or cited in the available reporting [1]. Because the sources supplied do not reproduce or reference those documents, it is not possible on the basis of this reporting to confirm whether any such filings have been submitted, approved, or denied.
5. How to follow the regulatory paper trail (research steps given the reporting gaps)
To resolve whether formal regulatory filings exist, the next practical steps—beyond the scope of the provided reporting—would be to check the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and Natural Resources, the local permitting and building departments for St. Thomas/St. John district, coastal-zone and environmental agencies, and county/municipal records for docking and maritime permits; the provided reporting does not supply those contacts or records, so the presence or absence of such filings cannot be asserted from these sources [1] [2]. The supplied material simply establishes the sale and stated resort plans but lacks documentary permit evidence [1].