The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Downtown Nassau Partnership’s (DNP) co-chair has hailed the government’s five-year tax break extension for giving investors certainty and helping to “distinguish” Nassau’s city from other areas.

Charles Klonaris told Tribune Business that the extension of the City of Nassau Revitalisation Act for five years to end-June 2026, together with its import duty, Excise Tax, VAT and real property tax incentives, was “such a huge benefit” to reducing the payback period for when entrepreneurs will see a return on their property upgrades.

“We’ve been working on that for some time, and it’s key they [the government] keep extending it,” he argued. “The government has been very accommodating with the revitalisation of the city. It’s so critical. It encourages investment. We welcome that. It’s such a huge benefit.

“When we do something, whether we get the traffic or not, it’s still a very expensive proposition to renovate, upgrade or do any building. You need a minimum of five years to at least see the benefits of your investment. It [the Act] shortens the return period, which is really so critical. If you don’t have that, you will be looking at a minimum of ten to 12 years depending on how successful the traffic flow is.”

Mr Klonaris said himself and his brothers would not have constructed their multi-million dollar plaza, Elizabeth on Bay, at the corner of Elizabeth and Bay Streets, without the various tax breaks offered by an Act that was intended to incentivise property owners to enhance, repair and upgrade their properties to improve the appearance of downtown Bay Street and surrounding areas.

Some observers will argue that, especially east of East Street, the provision of tax breaks has not had the desired effect, but Mr Klonaris told this newspaper. “We have to distinguish downtown vis a vis other areas for development.

“The real encouragement in this is giving us an advantage over other areas such as Cable Beach, out east and Lyford Cay. If someone wants to open a law firm or high-tech office space, it makes more sense to pay $20 per square foot rather than $40-$50 per square foot. Downtown can offer that; no one else can offer that rate. Why pay $40-$50 per square foot, especially if they are just starting out?”

Mr Klonaris called for talks between downtown merchants and the cruise lines over how Nassau can be better promoted to the latter’s passengers with that sector set to resume sailing within weeks following a 15-month COVID-imposed halt.

“Neither they nor we have done a proper job in marketing the city of Nassau,” he said. “There’s quite a lot to offer. If you are ready to open a business there’s no better place than downtown because of the logistics as well as the cost of doing business. We’re talking huge advantages for those businesses that want to start-up downtown.”

The DNP co-chair added that it was also critical to solve downtown Nassau’s long-standing parking woes if locals and residents are to be enticed back to Bay Street, especially as the city starts to re-open with the return of the cruise ships.