{"id":80060,"date":"2019-10-30T08:28:50","date_gmt":"2019-10-30T08:28:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/viconsortium.com\/?p=80060"},"modified":"2019-10-30T08:46:13","modified_gmt":"2019-10-30T08:46:13","slug":"g-e-r-s-takes-control-of-havensight-mall-from-wico-so-mall-could-reach-its-full-potential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/?p=80060","title":{"rendered":"G.E.R.S. Takes Control of Havensight Mall From WICO So Mall &#8216;Could Reach its Full Potential&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>ST. THOMAS &#8212; The Virgin Islands Government Employees Retirement System (G.E.R.S.) has ended its 26-year relationship with the West Indian Co. Ltd. (WICO) for management of the sprawling Havensight Shopping Mall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In what the territory\u2019s near-insolvent government pension system calls a $2 million-per-year savings, it will assume management of the waterfront mall, one of the Virgin Islands\u2019 premiere port and retail centers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>G.E.R.S. owns the 8.9-acre Havensight Mall. The mall borders the West Indian Co. cruise ship dock, which brings hundreds of thousands of cruise travelers annually. With its high-end jewelers, souvenir shops, and popular open-air bars and restaurants, Havensight Mall is the red carpet to the Virgin Islands for thousands of visitors each week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/viconsortium.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG-20191030-WA0000.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-80067\" srcset=\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG-20191030-WA0000.jpg 768w, http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG-20191030-WA0000-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption>Tourists shop at Havensight Mall in St. Thomas. The Mall was under WICO management for 26 years, but GERS during an Oct. 17 meeting did not renew a 5-year contract that expired in Sept. (Credit: Robert Moore, VIC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe (G.E.R.S.) Board has decided to manage the mall themselves,\u201d said pension system Administrator Austin Nibbs. \u201cThe G.E.R.S. will manage the mall and find a suitable management (company) at a later date.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Several calls were placed to W.I.C.O. Interim President and Chief Executive Office Anthony Ottley seeking comment on Tuesday. The Consortium did not hear back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An October 28<sup>th<\/sup>&nbsp;memo from Mr. Ottley to W.I.C.O. employees confirmed \u201c \u2026 a smooth transition period over the coming months,\u201d Mr. Ottley said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the meantime, Mr. Nibbs said the retirement system will save \u201cin excess of $2 million annually\u201d by managing Havensight Mall itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/viconsortium.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG-20191030-WA0001-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-80069\" srcset=\"http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG-20191030-WA0001-225x300.jpg 225w, http:\/\/wp.viconsortium.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/IMG-20191030-WA0001.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><figcaption>WICO building in the Havensight area. The port receives the most visitors annually and is a critical part of the territory&#8217;s tourism product. (Robert Moore, VIC)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The government pension system bought Havensight Mall in 1993 and, since that time, WICO has managed the mall on behalf of the retirement system.\u00a0The latest five-year contract between the parties ended in September, and during its Oct. 17 meeting, G.E.R.S. did. not renew the contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The mall borders the West Indian Co. cruise ship dock, which brings hundreds of thousands of cruise travelers annually. In a release found on the G.E.R.S. website, the pension system said, &#8220;This decision was made in the best interest of the GERS members, not only as a cost saving measure to increase the revenues generated by the mall, but also for the implementation of the GERS\u2019 vision, so that the mall can finally reach its full potential.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ST. THOMAS &#8212; The Virgin Islands Government Employees Retirement System (G.E.R.S.) has ended its 26-year relationship with the West Indian Co. Ltd. (WICO) for management of the sprawling Havensight Shopping Mall. In what the territory\u2019s near-insolvent government pension system calls a $2 million-per-year savings, it will assume management of the waterfront mall, one of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25342,"featured_media":80066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[228,3,11,191,2474,147],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>G.E.R.S. Takes Control of Havensight Mall From WICO So Mall &#039;Could Reach its Full Potential&#039; - V.I. 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