Winter Gulch locations?
We have discussed some possibilities for a future Gulch location. For starters, let's assume we will buy an island, rather than build one on "stilts" from a underground reef. Because of the list of islands in a web site listed below ranks islands in reverse order of quality, to make it easier to scroll through options, I have used their numbering system (and added to it).
Freedomforall makes the following recommendation:
14) An option is Guanaja in the Honduras Bay Islands. He has good friends who own a diving resort there. Great people from Texas. See:
http://www.clearwaterparadise.com/
Freedomforall also discussed Bonaire and Curacao down in the far southeastern
First, the EBay possibilities:
13. 55 acre private with several condos and amenities already developed $4 million, Abaco, Bahamas
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Private-Island-F...
12. 5 acre private island off of Nicaraguan coast $100 K with one home, but reserve not met
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BEAUTIFUL-5-ACRE...
11. 3 acres undeveloped private island 10 miles from Daytona Beach, FL $10 K opening bid for down payment
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-Acre-Private-I...
http://www.islands.com/gallery/top-10-pr...
10. Kastawei Island, Vanuatu: $199,000 - too small for the Gulch
9. Tahifehifa Island, Tonga: $370,205 - too small for the Gulch
8. Pink Pearl Island, Nicaragua: $500,000 - too small for the Gulch
7. Motu Opuou, French Polynesia: $742,886 - too small for the Gulch
6. Pelican Cay, Bahamas: $2,500,000
5. Bannister Caye, Belize: $2,500,000
4. Dumunpalit, Philippines: $3,400,000
3. Portofino Caye, Belize: $4,500,000
2. Manuhangi Atoll, French Polynesia: $8,667,003
1. Saddle Back Cay, Bahamas: $12,995,000
Personally, out of all these I like Option 13 in Abaco on the Bahamas best.
None of the above is an option.
If interested, rank your three favorite choices, with best first.
Brenner example: 13, 3, 12
Write-in votes will be considered.
A summer Gulch will be considered in a thread at some point in the future.
Freedomforall makes the following recommendation:
14) An option is Guanaja in the Honduras Bay Islands. He has good friends who own a diving resort there. Great people from Texas. See:
http://www.clearwaterparadise.com/
Freedomforall also discussed Bonaire and Curacao down in the far southeastern
First, the EBay possibilities:
13. 55 acre private with several condos and amenities already developed $4 million, Abaco, Bahamas
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Private-Island-F...
12. 5 acre private island off of Nicaraguan coast $100 K with one home, but reserve not met
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BEAUTIFUL-5-ACRE...
11. 3 acres undeveloped private island 10 miles from Daytona Beach, FL $10 K opening bid for down payment
http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-Acre-Private-I...
http://www.islands.com/gallery/top-10-pr...
10. Kastawei Island, Vanuatu: $199,000 - too small for the Gulch
9. Tahifehifa Island, Tonga: $370,205 - too small for the Gulch
8. Pink Pearl Island, Nicaragua: $500,000 - too small for the Gulch
7. Motu Opuou, French Polynesia: $742,886 - too small for the Gulch
6. Pelican Cay, Bahamas: $2,500,000
5. Bannister Caye, Belize: $2,500,000
4. Dumunpalit, Philippines: $3,400,000
3. Portofino Caye, Belize: $4,500,000
2. Manuhangi Atoll, French Polynesia: $8,667,003
1. Saddle Back Cay, Bahamas: $12,995,000
Personally, out of all these I like Option 13 in Abaco on the Bahamas best.
None of the above is an option.
If interested, rank your three favorite choices, with best first.
Brenner example: 13, 3, 12
Write-in votes will be considered.
A summer Gulch will be considered in a thread at some point in the future.
Reasons:
- This would be jbrenners PT (near FT) job at the outset. It HAS to be close to him.
- It is close to the space coast industries of Titusville.
- It is somewhat close to two major universities with a lot of high-tech: Florida Tech and UF.
- It's located near the so-called I-4 corridor, and not so far from Jacksonville and Orlando.
- The same people who like St. Augustine might like to visit this island.
- FL has a lot of weirdness, so if critics latch on to some unsavory behavior that happened once there (e.g. someone sneaked MDMA onto the island and had a bad reaction), you can just compare it to Miami, Jax, Orlando, etc. which all have high rates of risky behavior.
- It is inexpensive, following the model of the Lean Startup. (Read that book.) Jbrenner runs the thing in his spare time and learns what people want and don't want from it. He tests value propositions BEFORE spending significant money. When it's time to buy a bigger island, he's got real #s, not just PowerPoint pictures.
-CircuitGuy's parents live in FL, so if he served on the Board, he could write off the trips. J/K.
Before all that happens, jbrenner and friends need to scape together about 1 million dollars for buying the land and developing it. Your partner who has worked in the hospitality industry does all the talking to the banks about a high-end resort, but you're really thinking in ten years some biotech startup that wants to hire people from around the world w/o immigration hassles is going to locate that and potentially be more profitable than the resort, which is just there to pay the bills.
Another must is a friendly host gov't. It seems like the deal would have to be you would buy the island develop it and get some tax and regulatory abatement in exchange for developing it.
When I think of doing this, I always think of sub-arctic locations that don't have a large gov't presence nearby. I'm not sure this is the right approach, just what comes to mind. I think of places like Antarctica, which is controlled by an international coalition.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Utopia
I think you should write a document (not to be shown to the people financing the hotel) saying which things a) you want the gov't of the Gulch never to do and b) you want the gov't of the Gulch always to do. This is a statement of principle, not necessarily something you can ever get the host nation to agree to. At first you have just a hotel in some Central American country, and the principles are something between goals and dreams. Assuming you could get some autonomy from the host country, how would the Gulch gov't work?
http://www.privateislandsonline.com/isla...
Australian islands appear to have the best value per acre. After that, Vanuatu, Honduras, Fiji, French Polynesia, Panama, and Nicaragua are all pretty close. Some Bahamian islands, particularly in the Abacos, are also worth considering.
I have some friends who vacationed on Vanuatu. extremely limited goods, iffy services (internet) people aren't that friendly. just giving info
If I had my druthers - I'd want it on something like 20-40+ square -miles- of something like forestry land, with power nearby (or generate-able) and water as well. . There was a reason that the Gulch was originally in a large-ish (yet secluded) valley in Colorado - natural resources, room to build and grow, and space for a few hundred to live comfortably and produce what they needed - physically and mentally - to survive.
To do a true *gulch* in the AR sense, you can't live in a world where you need to rely on outside (non-gulch) resources. To me - that's paramount. And that would be the prime consideration of a "gulch". while I haven't done the research on the sites (yet), none of these seem to fit that bill.
Where are you from, freedomforall?
I live only ten miles from Cocoa. Personal message me about that.
Hurricane shutters at a minimum would be necessary, as would the plastic film that resists winds up to 180 mph. A dome is not a bad idea. Once you have protected windows sufficiently, the most serious consideration is your roof.
(Email from freedom)
Apologies for seeming negative on this topic, I am not negative, but I guess it's my nature to look for 'complications.'
SECURITY
(1)If choosing an island that is remote, security should be the highest initial priority. Control of access will be crucial until a sizable armed resident population is present all the time. Piracy is a fact of existance in remote areas.
(2)If located in the US the gulch will be subject to the full power of the corrupt federal government and to all the unconstitutional legal looting that impiles. The US fedgov has an incentive to destroy any gulch anywhere in the world, but placing it in the US is begging for "imperial entanglements."
(3) Other large countries have the same interests as the US, and unfortunately small countries often can't withstand meddling by the US, UK, etc. (Remember Grenada and the Falklands.) The Bahamas caved rather quickly to fedgov and IRS meddling in their offshore banking 'industry.'
(4) Transportation of goods will be a big economic negative if choosing a site that does not already have regular service. Finding and providing shelter for a labor force will also be a large economic drawback. Perhaps better to select a larger island/area with a relatively small existing population in need of more jobs, and having regular freight/mail service. Access to medical care facility will also be an issue until a settlement is built on site, and existing rapid transportation to such a facility is more likely in an area that is already inhabited.
What if it were a "concierge Gulch", in the sense of concierge from the Lean Startup. The foundation would agree to pay to taxes and do tax prep and regulatory mitigation for firms approved to locate there. Eventually they thrive so much the foundation can't afford to pay. It goes to the US gov't and shows what it has accomplished and how it could scale up if only they'd offer some tax abatement deals.
I rule out Belize and Phillipines due to corruption of the govt in one and terrorism hotbed in the other. I would not support the US. The Bahamas are very expensive. Islands in general are difficult to import to. I know nothing about french polynesia but I 'll look into it.
I do know someone in the Marshall Islands and in Guam if interested.
Suggest also that closer to North America may be more practical for many people who have ties there.
Some of us are accustomed to living on the far side of the date line, but most probably not.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/171407721682#ht_...
Make sure to look at the whole EBay ad before rejecting it out of hand. One of the earlier questions was about ownership or long term lease. This one would be a 199 year lease on Abaco Island in the northeastern Bahamas.