Premier Dr the Honourable Natalio Wheatley has revealed that one of the major areas of disagreement in the Ellis Thomas Downs Racetrack saga is a request by the Thomas family for a rent increase for the use of the facility, which, in some instances, would cost the Unity Government 15 times more than the existing agreement.
Premier Wheatley spoke on the matter while he shared new information on the nature of discussions taking place for the lease of the Ellis Thomas Downs Racetrack between his government and the Thomas family
“We are still in active negotiation with the family. Certainly, the family has indicated that they want an increase in the rent for the track. In fact, the increase is in some instances, what was described to me in one instance, it would’ve been about 15 times what we pay now”, he said.
The Premier did not go further to explain how this pay increase would have reflected on the annual rent paid to the Thomas Family by the government, which stood at $90,000 at the last payment.
Dr. Wheatley went on to provide more context on the nature of, and the reason for the ongoing negotiations, which he said have resulted from a routine rent review which is provided for within the original agreement signed between the Government of the Virgin Islands and Ellis Holdings Limited in 2012.
“The lease with Ellis Holdings, there are some provisions in there for 5-year rent reviews. Because of the hurricanes in 2017, that review did not happen because we know what happened in 2017 with the storms. So we came up on another rent review now in 2022. In negotiating on this rent review, there were some anomalies that were noticed by the AG’s Chambers…Based on these anomalies there were discussions and of course some discontent on part of the Thomas family base on what was being said in terms of these anomalies in the agreement and they indicated that as a result of what was said to them about these anomalies that the track could not be used”, the Premier explained.
The finance minister briefly described some of the issues with the agreement, which included the absence of provisions for necessary adjustments including the introduction of pari-mutuel and the inclusion of third parties to extend the use of the facility beyond horse racing.
The Premier lamented that the developments have come despite the government having already paid the full annual rent for the use of the facility during this period.
“Unfortunately, we were not provided access to use the grounds even though of course we’ve already paid for the year, the $90,000. It’s unfortunate but we’re trying to manage the situation as best we can in the best interest of everybody involved”, he said.
Dr. Wheatley has condemned all threats of violence against the Thomas family.