The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The original developer of an $11 million Eleuthera resort project yesterday said he was “as passionate as I was eight years ago” when he signed its Heads of Agreement, after construction work on its Marina Village component finally broke ground last week.

Eddie Lauth, who has teamed up with resort developer/operator, the Shaner Corporation, to get the French Leave Marina Village project off the ground, told Tribune Business the difficulties and delays he had encountered had left him feeling like “the Don Quixote of the Bahamas”.

Expressing hope that the project, situated on a 270-acre near Governor’s Harbour, would now “cross the finish line”, Mr Lauth said French Leave’s reduced scale would be “so important” to its success.

Mr Lauth, who is now chief executive of Shaner Capital, the developer’s financing arm, told this newspaper: “We broke ground for the first time.

“We broke ground on the Marina Village site, and are doing the underground utilities right now, the marina slips and the first hotel cottage.”

French Leave, which will be branded by Marriott’s high-end Autograph Collection, is aiming to complete construction of a total 37 cottages, spread over a seven-and-a-half acre site, within 18 months.

Mr Lauth said that plans for the project’s ‘commercial area’, including a bar and grill, pool and poolbar, restaurant and fitness centre ‘are being finalised now”.

“I’m hoping about 18 months on the outside,” he replied, when asked how long construction would take. “That’s sort of what our goal is. It depends on how quickly we get these plans approved for the commercial area, but we’re cautiously optimistic we’ll be in really good shape in 18 months.”

Recalling the frustration he had felt after being unable to get the French Leave project going earlier, having signed a Heads of Agreement for it in 2004, Mr Lauth said: “I felt like I was the Don Quixote of the Bahamas.

“Fighting title defects for three-four years was really challenging. The people on the island have been so patient, and the big challenge is to get the project completed. Getting this project completed won’t be as difficult as starting this project.

“I think I was one of the first horses on the track and came up lame with title defects. Hopefully we will now get over the finishing line; it wasn’t for lack of trying.

“It remains one of the best resort sites in the Bahamas, and I remain as passionate about it as I was eight years ago.”

Describing the 37 hotel cottages and commercial area as a “first step”, Mr Lauth said he had become convinced that “bit size projects” such as boutique hotels were the right, sustainable product for the Family Islands.

“The scale of it is so important, and when you look around the Bahamas very large projects are so hard to sustain,” he told Tribune Business.

“A plan of 37 cottages is the right scale for the first step to take. We’re going to take the time to do it the right way. We’d like this to be a small but suitable extension to the community.”

And Mr Lauth added: “Like many other people in this business, I drank the Kool Aid a long time ago. I started thinking large projects, but that is not the way to go.

“Small scale, boutique properties are so much better, not only for Eleuthera but the other islands as well. Keep It Simple Stupid.”

Mr Lauth said French Leave’s marina was designed to accommodate only two-three mega yachts brought in by guests. He explained this was in keeping with the property’s design, as it was not intended to compete with Harbour Island or Exuma.

Tribune Business previously reported that French Leave would likely create 30 construction jobs at “full swing”, with Eleuthera-based Brads United acting as general contractor.

The development is projected to generate 30 full-time jobs.