The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The owners/developers of some 500 acres at Grand Bahama’s West End are “right at the point” of concluding an agreement with the Old Bahama Bay resort’s 73 condominium owners, Tribune Business was told yesterday, with the deal said to involve a former executive at the property.

Sources familiar with the negotiations told this newspaper that the agreement involves Al Tenenbroek, a former Old Bahama Bay executive, taking over management of the property and running it on behalf of the condo owners.

Tribune Business was told that the agreement could be concluded, and announced, as early as today, having been anticipated from Friday last week.

It is thought that the agreement between Lubert Adler, the US private equity firm that was the financier for the former $4.9 billion Ginn sur mer project, and its master planning partner, The Crave Group, is effectively agreed in principle with the condo owners. Some of the latter are understood to be seeking clarification over several parts of the agreement, but sources said that it was essentially done.

“It’s been a long process, but they’re right there. They are right at that point,” said one source familiar with developments, speaking to Tribune Business on condition of anonymity.

“It was that close on Friday, but a couple of questions came up about the document. Those questions are being clarified. It’s been difficult to get consensus from 73 people who all live thousands of miles apart.”

The talks have been ongoing since Lubert Adler and Crave announced in December 2011 that they were not seeking a renewal of their Old Bahama Bay management agreements, largely because they were losing what is understood to have been several million dollars a year on them.

Lubert Adler and the Crave Group, in the shape of Old Bahama Bay, have retained responsibility for the resort’s marina, and food and beverage operations.

Failure to reach an agreement earlier resulted in some 29 Old Bahama Bay employees being laid-off earlier this year.

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.

The remaining 1,476 acres at the former Ginn project are owned by a Credit Suisse-led lending syndicate, which has hired Replay Resorts to masterpaln their separate portion of the West End landholdings.