Caneel Bay

The RUE (retained use estate) agreement (which Rockefeller himself drafted language for) enables the resort to operate with a unique tax-free, rent-free status since 2004.

"Caneel Bay is a very special site of outstanding scenic beauty which we believe should be protected and made available to the public as part of Virgin Islands National Park.

We have been working together with the Park Service for over thirty years to achieve this end, but ultimately, your successors will determine whether and when the public will have the opportunity to enjoy the site as we intended.

Caneel Bay, prior to Hurricane Irma in 2017, was open 10 months a year (annual closure in September and October), and provided a variety of activities such as snorkeling and scuba diving.

The resort has not been cleaned-up or rebuilt after the hurricane's extensive damage, due to the high cost of rebuilding and an uncertain outcome of lease negotiations with the US National Park Service.

[5] CBI has conditioned any re-building on the guarantee that a new lease on the property be negotiated in order to substantiate the significant investment in rebuilding the resort.

[8] In 2020, a Colorado-based attorney with a home on St. John, USVI filed a lawsuit against CBI Acquisitions (the firm running the resort since 2004) and the US Department of Interior (under which the National Park Service operates) -- claiming environmental contamination at Caneel Bay from the use of DDT and asbestos that may have been buried on the property.

[8] David Giacomo, the suing attorney, suggests that Caneel Bay should be a designated World Heritage site, based on the claims of slave quarters rumored to be on the property.