The design retains much of the existing lodge. Villas are rebuilt on their original footprints, sound coral walls stay where their condition allows, and stone and timber are recovered for reuse elsewhere in the works. The former reception becomes a family villa, whilst established vegetation, pathways and garden walls remain part of the layout. For owners, the completed property will therefore include gardens that have matured around the lodge and buildings whose materials and positions preserve much of its original character.
The residential development pays for that work through its profit, with financing allowing the lodge and residences to be built together. Buyers’ payments remain allocated to the residences, and the lodge funding is repaid from residential development profit at completion. Seasons Lodge Ltd retains ownership of the lodge and its amenities, with residence owners’ access to the shared facilities documented through the Amenity Sharing Agreement.
Once the property opens, its income comes from the accommodation and the hospitality operation. Owners using their residences, their families and guests booked through the rental pool will contribute trade to the restaurant, beach club and spa, helping sustain facilities that would be difficult to support from the lodge accommodation alone. Those facilities, in turn, form part of what rental guests are booking when they choose to stay in a residence at Seasons. It is also why residence owners have the use of the restaurant, beach club, spa and gym: the facilities were planned around the residences from the start, and that use is written into ownership through the Amenity Sharing Agreement.
Running the property together is therefore part of the development plan. Seasons Management Company, jointly owned by Seasons Lodge Ltd and Ubunifu, will manage the lodge, the residences’ rental pool and the shared amenities, with the existing owners remaining involved and staff continuing into a business with greater management depth, new systems and reporting.
For a residence owner, that coordination extends beyond the letting of the accommodation. Housekeeping, maintenance, guest services, the condition of the gardens and the running of the shared facilities all affect a guest’s stay, and the operating company will be responsible across those parts of the property. The residences are being developed for use within that managed hospitality setting, with the lodge’s renewal and the additional accommodation planned together from the outset.
The ambition is to compete with the standard of hospitality developing around Pongwe, using the existing buildings where they remain useful and a broader accommodation base to support the operation. Retaining and restoring the lodge reduces the extent of new construction required, whilst the residences provide both the development profit for its renewal and guests for the larger business.
As construction progresses, the Journal will document how the residential buildings fit into the property alongside the rebuilt villas, the retained gardens and the renewed facilities that owners and guests will use.
Read the companion article: Seasons Change.
