Thatch Cay

Is Thatch Cay for sale, and how much does it cost?

Thatch Cay is a 230 acres undeveloped private island in US Virgin Islands, United States (US Virgin Islands). It is currently offered for sale: US$19,500,000. Tenure is freehold. Foreign ownership is permitted subject to local approvals. This is an editorial profile drawn from public record, clearly attributed, not our listing.

Summary

Thatch Cay is the US-flag entry in this report: 230 acres half a mile off St. Thomas, the largest remaining privately held undeveloped island in the US Virgin Islands. It has been marketed for years — asking $27.5 million before a well-publicised cut to $19.5 million in May 2019, with later coverage drifting toward $25 million — and the nearby sale of 160-acre Great St. James for $22.5 million in 2016 remains the operative comparable. What the cay uniquely offers a US buyer is jurisdiction: American title, title insurance, US courts, no foreign-ownership question for anyone, and 1031-adjacent familiarity — an entire category of legal risk present elsewhere in the Caribbean simply absent here.

Land & Waterfront

The island is dramatic rather than gentle: it climbs to roughly 500 feet at its eastern end — among the highest ground of any island profiled here — over about five miles of coastline of coves, rock and pocket beaches facing the channel between St. Thomas and the BVI. The views run from St. John across Drake's Channel to Tortola and Virgin Gorda. The surrounding water is prime USVI diving and sailing territory, with the cay positioned right on the cruising route between the American and British Virgins. Elevation gives the eventual houses their theatre and their breeze, but it also means switchback access roads and engineered foundations; this is a St. Barth-style build, not a sand-cay one. A dock exists; everything else is topography.

Access & Utilities

Practical access is among the best in this report: the cay sits 800 metres off St. Thomas's East End, minutes by boat from Red Hook's marinas, with Cyril E. King Airport offering direct mainland service — a New York owner can be on the island the same afternoon, domestically, without a passport. St. Thomas provides US-standard contractors, materials and healthcare across the channel. The island itself has no utilities; prior owners began permitting works that never completed, stalled in the territory's Coastal Zone Management process, which is the central execution risk. Solar and desalinationMaking fresh water from seawater — the standard supply on dry islands, priced in energy. are straightforward at R-1 residential scale. The zoning allows up to six dwellings across three parcels — a compound or a three-family syndicate, not a resort.

Ownership & Use

As US soil, the cay carries no ownership restriction for any nationality, and the machinery of American real estate — title insurance, escrow, conventional financing, familiar tax treatment — applies in full, which materially widens the buyer pool versus licence jurisdictions. The R-1 zoning shapes the use case: an ultra-private family compound of up to six dwellings, or a small syndicate splitting the three parcels among aligned families. The permitting history is the discount's source — CZM has already frustrated one development cycle, and a buyer should review those files before pricing. The price path ($27.5 million, $19.5 million, mid-twenties chatter) against the Great St. James comp suggests the high teens is where this ultimately clears. Long-marketed assets reward prepared, patient bidders.

Provenance

Danish colonists (the Reyck family) ran the Hope Plantation on Thatch Cay from 1804 until ownership lapsed toward the US government around the 1917 transfer of the Danish West Indies; developer Scott McIntyre (Idealight VI LLC) then contracted to buy the island from the USVI Territorial Court in 2000 and unsuccessfully auctioned it on eBay in 2003. Thatch Cay LLC (principal Paul Lange, later reported as owned by Isaac and Mateo Levy) controlled the island for roughly two decades afterward, winning CZM and USVI Senate approval in 2008-2009 for a 101-unit resort that was never built, before listing the undeveloped 230 acres for sale from December 2018 onward.

Specification

Status	Available
Offering	For sale
Region	Caribbean · US Virgin Islands
Country	United States (US Virgin Islands)
Size	230 acres · 93 ha
Tenure	Freehold
Development	Undeveloped
Holding-cost band	Low — land only
Access	boat
Nearest airport	Short boat run to St. Thomas; Cyril E. King Airport (STT) with direct US mainland service
Power	none
Water	none
Communications	US mobile networks from St. Thomas
Structures	dock
Foreign ownership	Permitted (see notes)
Publicly marketed	since 2003

Price record

Documented public figures over time — asking prices, reported sales and reductions, each attributed. This record is maintained editorially and may lag the market.

The full traced record — ownership lineage and every dated event back to the earliest public mention — is in The Ledger, for members.

Legal & Ownership Notes

US territory — no foreign ownership restriction of any kind; US title insurance and financing available

Zoning: Zoned R-1 residential: up to six dwellings across three parcels (one main house plus one guesthouse per parcel); prior development attempts stalled in Coastal Zone Management permitting

• listing presence has shifted between portals — confirm current representation
• price coverage drifts between ~$19.5M and ~$25M across years
• CZM permitting history — review prior applications and refusals

Satellite reference: ESRI World Imagery / Google Earth — Thatch Cay, off St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands.

Common questions

How much does Thatch Cay cost?

Thatch Cay is profiled at: US$19,500,000. Figures reflect public record at time of writing and may change; the profile keeps a dated price record.

What tenure does Thatch Cay have?

Thatch Cay is held on freehold tenure. Always confirm the exact instrument and any remaining term on the title.

Can a foreigner buy Thatch Cay?

Foreign buyers may own property here subject to local approvals. US territory — no foreign ownership restriction of any kind; US title insurance and financing available

How do you get to Thatch Cay?

Access is by boat. Nearest airport: Short boat run to St. Thomas; Cyril E. King Airport (STT) with direct US mainland service.

How big is Thatch Cay?

Thatch Cay is approximately 230 acres (93 hectares).