Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Jul 26, 2025

Anomalies found in lease! Track owners seek 1500% rent increase

Anomalies found in lease! Track owners seek 1500% rent increase

A discovery of ‘anomalies’ in the lease agreement signed between the Virgin Islands government and the Thomas family back in 2012 is the main reason behind the family’s reported refusal to allow the government to continue using portions of the land at Ellis Thomas Downs.

Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley said the lease agreement is referred to as Ellis Holdings Limited. He noted the agreement was valid for 20 years with a regular five-year rent review during that period. The Minister for Finance said the government has been paying approximately $90,000 annually to the Thomas family for their portion of the property while the Forbes family was pocketing nearly $80,000 yearly for their portion.

“So, in combination, the government was spending about $170,000 for lease of the track. Now, the one lease with Ellis Holdings, there are provisions in there for five-year rent reviews. As I said, it was signed in 2012 so 2017 would have been the rent review. That rent review did not happen because of course we know what happened in 2017 with the storms,” Dr Wheatley said.

“So, we came up on another rent agreement in 2022. So, in negotiating on this rent review, there were some anomalies noted by the AG (Attorney General) Chambers. These anomalies were noticed by the AG Chambers and there was a discussion on these anomalies, and it caused a big problem. There were some anomalies with the agreement and based on those anomalies, there were discussions and of course some discontent on part of the Thomas’ based on what was being said in terms of these anomalies in the agreement,” the Premier added.

The Finance Minister explained that as a result of what was said about the anomalies, the Thomas family indicated the track could not be used.

Family seeking 15 times what is being paid now


However, he said negotiations are still active with the family at present.

“Certainly, the family has indicated that they want an increase in the rent. In fact, the increase, what was described to me in one instance would be about 15 times what we pay now. There are some questions on the sustainability of that. So, these are some of the challenges we have. The existing agreement would not allow for us to do parimutuel, things like that. That would make it more sustainable to have horse-racing in the territory,” the Premier said.

“The existing agreement made it difficult to have any kind of third parties, [and] made it difficult to have other events happen at the horse racing grounds, for instance, maybe a possibility of having cricket played there. All in all, we must have people negotiate in the best interest of the people of the Virgin Islands,” he added.

Dr Wheatley said he heard there have been threats of violence against members of the family and he condemns those threats.

“I would like to see everybody treated fairly. We want the government and the taxpayers treated fairly; the family treated fairly. Of course, it is a negotiation and unfortunately, we were not provided access to use the grounds even though of course we have already paid for the year. We paid $90,000 for the year. It is unfortunate but we are trying to manage the situation as best as we can in the best interest of everybody involved and certainly any threats of violence, we condemn that and let us get together as mature people and have some discussions about how we move forward in the best interest,” the Premier said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Deputy attorney general's second day of meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell has concluded
Controversial March in Switzerland Features Men Dressed in Nazi Uniforms
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
Thai Civilian Death Toll Rises to 12 in Cambodian Cross-Border Attacks
TSUNAMI: Trump Just Crossed the Rubicon—And There’s No Turning Back
Over 120 Criminal Cases Dismissed in Boston Amid Public Defender Shortage
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
Trump Announces $550 Billion Japanese Investment and New Trade Agreements with Indonesia and the Philippines
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
×