Consul General McChesney Emanuel and tennis star Serena Williams View photo »

The transfer of lands, paving the way for a multi-million dollar development at Hatton Bay in Antigua was completed last week in Washington D.C with members of US development consortium of the Federal Owens Group.

Mr. McChesney Emanuel, Honorary Consul General for Antigua and Barbuda in New York, attended the ceremony at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington DC.

The land transfer ceremony and reception featured, tennis players, Venus and Serena Williams who were brought on board to brand the Ocean Grand Resort at Hatton Bay development in Antigua which will commence construction by June 2006. The first phase of the project includes a resort hotel, convention center, casino and international entertainment venue.

According to Honorary Consul General Emanuel, the Federal/Owens Group is the partnership of two real estate firms- Federal Development LLC and Owens Development Inc. "This group specializes in the master development of publicly-owned real estate assets. The Williams sisters were brought on board to brand their exclusive resort development," he said.

According to Consul General Emanuel, "meeting the Williams sisters was great, but what is even more exciting is to have them as partners in this project, which will be a huge boost for Antigua and Barbuda's tourism product."

"My commitment is to continue working hard to bring more celebrities on board to brand other projects [that are] currently in the pipeline. This is one of several projects I have been working on for the last fifteen months [and] there will definitely be other announcements in the coming months," he said.

Consul General Emanuel was instrumental in creating the synergy and lead negotiations between the Federal/Owens Group in Washington DC and local Antiguan businessman, Mr. George Martin Jr. who are collaborating on the Hatton Bay project.