Enviro suit targets St. Barts hotel plans
THE wife of an ex-Domino’s Pizza CEO faces accusations that her company is threatening the environment at posh St. Barts island resort as it pushes for construction of a swanky hotel.
Denise Dupré — whose husband is the billionaire privateequity mogul Mark Nunnelly, who managed Domino’s for six years beginning in 1998 — is head of developer SAS Saint Jean Beach Real Estate, which is looking to spend $170 million to replace a now-destroyed hotel on the island’s exclusive Bay of Saint Jean.
But opponents claim the planned L’Etoile Hotel, which will double the size of the old development with 16 buildings and add multiple swimming pools, poses a threat to the bay’s delicate ecosystem.
St. Barths Essentiel, a nonprofit environmental group that’s backed by some of the biggest homeowners on the island, alleges in a suit reviewed by The Post that SAS Saint Jean Beach Real Estate already has been cited for building a football field-size, cement underground garage under St. Jean Beach, which two sworn experts conducting two independent studies have established will irreversibly damage the bay.
In addition to changing the shape of the bay, the massive garage threatens to create instability in the event of flooding, as was caused by Hurricane Irma a few years ago, a St. Barths Essentiel spokeswoman said.
So far, SAS Saint Jean has been building the foundation for the hotel, including the parking lot, and has not progressed with much else, St. Barths Essentiel claims.
The suit was first filed in Saint Barthelemy Court almost two years ago with both sides posting legal wins.
A local administrative court is expected to hear arguments on Tuesday and rule within a few weeks whether Dupré’s company can continue construction.
Nunnelly and Dupré did not respond to requests for comment left with their family.