The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor THE owners/developers of some 500 acres at Grand Bahama's West End are bringing potential investors to inspect the site at least "once a month", Tribune Business was told yesterday, and remain optimistic they can reach an agreement with the Old Bahama Bay Resort's 73 condo owners. Derek Gape, senior project manager for the portion of the former $4.9 billion Ginn sur mer project now controlled by its main financing partner, Lubert Adler, told Tribune Business that while "nothing was set in stone", the US-based private equity firm and its master planning partner, The Crave Group, still felt they could reach an agreement with the condo owners by the original March 31, 2012, target. Old Bahama Bay Resort, which is controlled by Lubert Adler/The Crave Group, announced in December 2011 that it was not renewing its rental management agreement with the 73 condo owners at the property, and was seeking to transfer responsibility for the hotel and the rental programme back to them. Old Bahama Bay Resort pledged that it would maintain responsibility for the hotel's marina, and food and beverage operations, but in the absence of an agreement with the condo owners some 29 employees at the resort were laid-off. "We are still talking. There's nothing confirmed," Mr Gape said yesterday of talks between Lubert Adler/The Crave Group on one side, and the condo owners on the other. "We are diligently trying to do it, but there's absolutely nothing that's finalised yet." Acknowledging that an agreement between both sides would remove a shadow over Old Bahama Bay, he added: "If that happens, it will certainly take away a cloud, and people will feel more comfortable about the running of the hotel and making bookings. "There's been proposals, a lot of give and take, a lot of different ideas but nothing is finalised yet. Nothing is concrete right now, but at least we're talking; that's positive." Asked whether negotiations were likely to be concluded by the March 31, 2012, deadline that Lubert Adler/The Crave Group had initially eyed, Mr Gape indicated they were still optimistic this could be achieved. Even if no deal was concluded, he hinted this was not a 'hard and fast' timeline. "Nothing is set in stone yet," Mr Gape added. "We'd like to think it could be [done by March 31]. If we have agreement, that would be the plan." Old Bahama Bay Resort and the surrounding 225 acres, plus another 294 acre parcel that contains the golf course in West End, are controlled by Lubert Adler, the main financier for the stalled $4.9 billion Ginn sur Mer project. The resort property also includes a 72-slip marina and two restaurants. Lubert Adler has partnered with The Crave Group, the Canadian-based developer, to masterplan those landholdings and move them forward. Mr Gape told Tribune Business that Lubert Adler and The Crave Group were regularly bringing potential investors/developer partners into West End every month, and were waiting for the market to "turn" and convert this interest into a 'hard' agreement. Indicating that there were further negotiations scheduled for this week to progress "some good discussions" with one potential investor, Mr Gape said: "We have them coming in all the time. We have potential investors coming in once a month, kicking the tyres. "We have visits, the [Credit Suisse] lender group have visits. We're faced with the same challenges, and have the same issues. There are good some positive signs in the market, and we are trying to do all we can to move forward." Mr Gape told Tribune Business that the $200 million invested in developing West End's infrastructure had left Lubert Adler/The Crave Group "in a good place" to attract other resort and real estate developers, since this gave them the ability to commence 'vertical construction' almost instantly. "We bring them in, take a good site tour, sit down with them and share as much as we can with them about what's in the ground," he explained. "I think we're in a great place because all the infrastructure is there, and the property is there, to go vertical. "We're in a good place with that. We're in a place where they can actually develop a project, and that's a good thing. All the difficult work - the infrastructure - is done."