The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

MORE than $50 million will have been invested into an eastern New Providence real estate development by year-end, its chief executive telling Tribune Business yesterday that within two weeks it would launch an initiative targeting the international market "a bit stronger".

Emphasising that no project could "survive on the local market" alone, Richard Browning said the 400-unit Palm Cay project was drawing down $1 million per month from its largely UK-based investor funding, with property sales - currently averaging just over one per month - enough to help him "break even".

However, with Palm Cay only likely to sell out after 30 years at the current sales rate, Mr Browning said the development was now set to target international buyers - particularly Canada and the Florida boating market - after getting its "house in order".

"We're going to venture out into the international market, which is something we've kept away from until we got our house in order," Mr Browning told Tribune Business.

"We now have our house very much under control. The marina is going to show more activity. We have cleaned and tidied what we've got, and people will be able to see what we've got.

"We're going out to the international market a bit stronger. Over the next couple of weeks, we will be putting something in place."

Florida, due to its proximity and the boating market's 'fit' with Palm Cay's 196-slip marina, was a natural target, together with Canada. Mr Browning said the project had already made several sales to Canadians, whose economy had weathered the global recession better than most, and it offered them a chance to base their boats in the Bahamas just a short journey from Exuma and other Family Island destinations.

Acknowledging that many potential Bahamas-based buyers were in 'wait and see' mode when it came to real estate purchases, especially in the aftermath of a general election, Mr Browning said the challenge facing Palm Cay and other ongoing developments lay in creating "urgency" that would make people buy today.

"We've got about 80 sales showing on the books, and are making sales at just over one a month for the last few months," he told Tribune Business. "I break even, but there's 400 units, offshore investors and at this rate I will be here for the next 30 years and it's not going to work.

"We need to find a product, and a mix, to satisfy a bigger market, and that's what we're working on..... I feel the Bahamas, as a whole, has got to crack this promotion of what we have to offer as a whole. We're not going to survive on the local market; none of us are."

Several sales at Palm Cay, which is sandwiched between the established communities of Port New Providence and Treasure Cove, are in the process of closing, Mr Browning said, adding that the developers were "putting a lot of people through the development".

He acknowledged, though, that due to the global recession and continuing concerns over the US and Europe, there would be no quick turnaround, and Palm Cay and its investors were in for "the long haul".

Emphasising that the project's backers were committed to the planned $20 million investment in Palm Cay for 2012, Mr Browning told Tribune Business they and management were "ploughing on".

"The monthly drawdown on the UK funding is about $1 million with all the maintenance and operational costs," he explained. "The investors are in for the long haul, and see this as being strong for the long-term."

Mr Browning told Tribune Business that "with this year's investment, in excess of $50 million" will have been invested in Palm Cay's development by end-December 2012. Some 150 construction workers were currently employed on-site, with a 30-strong permanent staff working in areas such as security, landscaping and marina maintenance/ operations.

Negotiations were taking place with two different chefs in a bid to get Palm Cay's clubhouse restaurant open, with Mr Browning disclosing that the 196-slip marina was "almost there" as a full service facility.

"We're putting the power in, the fuel service is being put in, and the tanks are under construction. As soon as we are able we will offer full service, and get more activity coming in from the coastal entrance than the road entrance," Mr Browning told this newspaper. "In the next couple of weeks I'd like to think we'd be there. We want a proper, full service marina."

Construction on Palm Cay's 31 oceanfront units is set to be completed within the next four-six weeks, Mr Browning revealing that five had been sold, with the owners expecting to move in by the end of July or beginning of August 2012.

A further 12 garden homes have been constructed, with three individual homes now complete and another three under construction.

"We're just positioning ourselves, cleaning and tidying up, and getting sustainable, and feel we will be well placed for the future," Mr Browning said. "When the economy shows signs of an uptick, we will be in the right place. We will see an uptick, and as the fish increase we will have the biggest net and catch as many as we can.'