A former campaign adviser for President Barack Obama is part owner of a company to break ground on 66 villas at Coco Reef Resorts next year.

Paul Bucha, who was a foreign policy advisor to the US President during the 2008 election, is the majority ultimate shareholder of Terra Mark Bermuda LCC.

Coco Reef Resorts Ltd. owner John Jefferis is also a partner in the development company that will build and lease the villas.

Mr. Bucha, who was awarded a Medal of Honor for service in the Vietnam War, is a former president of America’s Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

A six-storey hotel will ultimately be built. The first phase of the project will cost upwards of $94 million — Mr. Jefferis said financing has already been secured.

“I have always thought a recession is a good time,” he said. “Some of the best developments have been built during a period when the economy is in distressed mode.

“I am very positive about Bermuda’s tourism future.”

The hotelier said the villas would be completed in two years. And he said the Island had to work to compete with top destinations.

“We do need to focus on improving our guest service and, of course, gaming would be of great assistance in attracting visitors, particularly in the winter months.”

The villas on the Paget property will have views of South Shore. Amenities include full butler service, a private beach and golf club membership.

The purchase agreement demands the villas are leased back to the hotel by owners for a minimum of six months of every year, for the first five years.

Mr. Jefferis said: “It is expected that these arrangements will continue subsequent to the obligatory term. Most purchasers are expected to use their units for an average of three-and-a-half months.”

Phase two includes construction of the six-storey hotel. Work will begin when the company receives building permits, Mr. Jefferis said.

A terrace and restaurant and an Oriental-style spa facility will be built with the villas.

“At the edge of the terrace a large infinity pool will cascade into a river that meanders through woodland bringing badly needed moisture to the undergrowth,” said a Terra Mark Bermuda LCC spokesperson.

“At the end of the woodland, the river will drop another six feet into a second infinity pool to be built among the spectacular coral rocks at the ocean side. The water would then be pumped to the top of the pool and continue its circulation. Additionally owners will have the exclusive use of a private beach.”

The project has not been without its controversy.

In January 2003 it was publicly announced that Mr. Jefferis had been selected to lease the hotel from Government “with final terms and conditions to be negotiated”. The final contract was signed in June 2003.

In 2004 former Auditor General Larry Dennis filed a special report and said the lease should be re-tendered because it was “considerably more beneficial” to Mr Jefferis than the tender document specified.

The new document more than doubled the length of the lease from the agreed 21 years to 50 years and reduced the amount of rent the property previously paid to Government. It also enabled an extra 1.9-acre plot of oceanfront land — with two cottages that were not on the table — and permission to build condominiums for sale.

In 2008 Premier Ewart Brown called a halt to a Parliamentary debate amid calls from the United Bermuda Party that Government table the lease.

“Every time there is the implication or insinuation of something dishonest or corrupt mentioned by members of the other side, we will shut down the debate and move with the numbers,” he said.