Destination Club News

Diamante Residences Suspends Launch
Date: October 1, 2008

This new destination club had just started its launch program this summer, but in the current financial market turmoil has decided not to move forwards.

This Calgary based clubs first home was planned to be in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic, with other homes following in Scottsdale, New York, Palm Springs and Naples.

While the club put out a press release this summer and had its website up and running, it had only one definite home listed. As the more established destination clubs start to mature, it becomes harder for newcomers to break into the circle. To start a club with only one home doesn’t help – since a large part of the appeal of joining any club is having access to multiple homes.

Having said all that, joining a new destination club can be attractive if it offers special benefits for early members – such as lower fees or increased vacation time – and if it has several homes to begin with. But before joining a brand new club make sure they are well capitalized. We know of some clubs in their early launch period – their friends and family stage – that put initial membership money into escrow. They didn’t open the escrow until they had reached a critical mass of members or investors and could therefore afford to buy an initial set of homes. This escrow process makes sense for all concerned.

Dave Udy, one of the founders of Diamante Residences, told us today that “In light of the ongoing financial difficulties in the markets, it was not the appropriate time to proceed with the launch of Diamante” and so they had “suspended launching Diamante at this time”. Dave added that he maintains, “the concept is still valid but right now the timing is not”.

Raising cash to start a new club in this financial environment is going to be tough. But we think Diamante jumped the gun somewhat, sending out a press release and putting up a website isn’t quite enough to call yourself a destination club, you really do need to have some homes and some funding in place before hitting the destination club track.