to sell 39 planned luxury "villa'' condominiums to non-Bermudians, The Royal Gazette has learned.

The three- and four-bedroom condominiums, which will each have a swimming pool, start at $1.5 million, Elbow Beach Development Company manager Mr. John Jefferis said yesterday.

"They will be furnished in the finest of materials and be very Bermudian in architecture, featuring shutters and a lot of Bermuda cedar inside,'' Mr.

Jefferis said.

He said the "villas'' have been designed to cater to a market of people wanting to get away for the weekend or a few months with their friends or children.

"They will create a lot of jobs for Bermudians, especially in housekeeping and maintenance,'' Mr. Jefferis added.

The company plans to build them on the Fritholme estate property it recently bought. That property is next to the Elbow Beach Hotel on South Shore, Paget.

But selling the condominiums hinges on getting planning approval to build them.

They are part of the hotel's new owners' multi-million dollar expansion plans, which also include building 120 new guest rooms atop a 20,000-square-foot conference centre and 11 "Palace Suites'' in a six-storey mini-hotel overlooking Elbow Beach.

The plans were submitted to the Development Applications Board late last month for approval and a number of letters of protest were filed before the deadline last Friday.

Among the objectors are the National Trust, Horizons Limited which owns Horizons and Cottages and the Coral Beach Hotel and several residents of the area.

Horizons Limited's main complaint is that the proposed developments would block the ocean views of guest cottages at both hotels. The company is also concerned about noise pollution from an increase in traffic in the area and that the planned palace suites would create an eyesore to beachgoers.

The hotel's Saudi Arabian and American owners have a five-year goal to ensure the Elbow Beach Hotel is "Bermuda's best beach resort''. They recently gave the 300-room hotel a $25 million facelift.

Mr. Jefferis said the impact on the environment of the planned developments was "far smaller'' than the proposed Ritz-Carlton Hotel which has been put on hold although the DAB approved it.

He said the new buildings would not be as visible as the Ritz-Carlton because they would be much farther from South Shore Road.

"You won't see the new developments as much as you would the Ritz-Carlton because they are much farther away from the road,'' he said.