Tucker's Point Club has taken deposits for ten of the 26 multi-million dollar homes it is selling on the luxury development, The Royal Gazette has learned.

Prospective buyers include a dot.com millionaire from the US, American investment bankers, one long-term Bermuda resident, and one of the Island's leading reinsurance companies.

Developers Bermuda Properties also report strong interest in the private residence club a variation on timeshare where wealthy clients can buy a share in one of 38 residential units.

The homes, which all have swimming pools, will be built on the same complex as a 108 -suite hotel to be managed by Rosewood. The $250 million development will also include a golf and tennis club, and a beach club on the site of the former Marriott Castle Harbour Hotel. Bermuda Properties president Ed Trippe said he had received five $50,000 deposits for town houses, which range in price from $1.6 million to $2 million, and five $50,000 deposits for the family homes, which will sell for $2.5 million to $3.2 million. The first of the homes is set to be completed by the end of this year, with the remainder built by early 2003.

Mr. Trippe told The Royal Gazette the company had received around 200 responses from people interested in buying into the private residence club."It has been extremely well received. We have put information and a brochure out to a mailing list and this element of the development has received the highest response,'' he said. "The home sales are going exceptionally well. With the exception of one, all of them are long-time visitors to Bermuda from around New York, Boston, Philadelphia and the Baltimore area."Many of them knew of the project and when they were alerted by the local real estate community that the project was going to go ahead, they immediately wanted to take up the best sites.'' The overseas buyers will use their properties as a second home, he said.

Mr. Trippe revealed that one leading reinsurance company is to purchase a family home for one of its executives and a townhouse which will be used for clients and occasionally on-Island executives.

Bermuda Properties is using the money from selling real estate on the site to finance the building of the hotel, which is scheduled to open in Spring 2004.

"The hotel is being subsidised by every other element in the resort. We are trying to generate sufficient cash and capital to quickly move ahead with the hotel,'' he said.

"We are proceeding, but we are only able to proceed as fast as the real estate sells. If we stopped selling real estate tomorrow, we would be indefinitely delayed, but we are way ahead in real estate sales.

"We're on track. We have a budget of $257 million which is a huge budget for any place in the world. Last year, Bermuda's total construction budget was under $100 million, so we are going to test any limit.''