The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A former Bahamian Cabinet Minister has partnered with international investors in a bid to either acquire the South Ocean Resort or its casino licence, Tribune Business can reveal.

Ex-Attorney General Tennyson Wells was yesterday said by sources close to developments at South Ocean to have teamed with an Atlanta-based developer/investor to acquire the southwestern New Providence-based property, which has been closed for almost a full decade.

Mr Wells’s involvement was revealed as a Cabinet Minister confirmed that numerous groups had “expressed interest” in purchasing the well-known resort property, which was “a major priority” for the Christie administration.

And, in what is likely to be interpreted as a coded warning to South Ocean’s current owner, the Canadian Commercial Workers Industry Pension Plan (CCWIPP), Khaalis Rolle told Tribune Business that if existing developers proved “unable or unwilling” to take stalled developments forward, the Government would find others capable of doing so.

And he added that “someone else can use” South Ocean’s casino licence.

While the Minister of State for Investments made no comment on Mr Wells’s interest in South Ocean, one source close to the Christie administration told Tribune Business: “I can confirm that Tennyson has been speaking to the Government on a number of things, not just South Ocean.”

When contacted by this newspaper yesterday, after a short pause when told the inquiry concerned his interest in South Ocean, Mr Wells replied: “I have no comments.”

Tribune Business, though, was told by other sources that Mr Wells had been looking to partner with an international developer/financier with deep pockets, and forged an alliance with an entity believed to be based in Atlanta.

“He was in to see if they could take the casino licence from South Ocean and switch it to Coral Harbour, or buy South Ocean itself for a reasonable price,” one source told Tribune Business.

“His primary goal is to acquire the casino licence, and that part of the land.”

The source said a meeting on Mr Wells’s interest in South Ocean was scheduled for later this month.

The reference to Coral Harbour was unexplained, but the source was likely referring to the former Attorney General’s considerable business and real estate interests in the immediate area.

Apart from the South Seas residential community development, and Lyford Hills, Mr Wells also led the 40-strong Bahamian investor group, the Source River, which acquired the former 62-acre Bacardi plant.

Apart from a $90 million waste-to-energy plant, the group’s plans involve leasing out 380,000 square feet of warehouse and office space at the site, plus a 65-lot residential subdivision development.

The South Ocean resort, meanwhile, was closed in 2004 by CCWIPP, with the property enduring several failed efforts to subsequently revive it. While the golf course was remodelled under a Greg Norman design, all attempts to re-open it under new investors/owners to-date have not born fruit.

Yet South Ocean has potentially huge untapped value. The property holds the third, and final, casino licence for New Providence, which kicks in once the property reaches a certain size in terms of rooms.

Casinos are huge revenue generators and attractions for visitors, making the resort much more valuable than its current appearance would indicate.

Tribune Business revealed last year how a $45 million deal to acquire South Ocean, submitted by a $30 billion New York-based asset manager, fell through.

David Johnson, the Ministry of Tourism’s director-general, said of South Ocean: 
“I know that a deal was practically reached, and understand it didn’t quite materialise recently.”

Sources close to the transaction confirmed Mr Johnson’s version of events, noting that the New York asset manager had “made a pretty good offer to pick up South Ocean” that was rejected by CCWIPP.

The Canadian pension fund, which administers the retirement savings of that country’s supermarket workers, instead altered course by hiring Australian professional golfer, Greg Norman’s, real estate company to “package” or masterplan the property, then seek out a buyer.

This exercise is currently being undertaken in conjunction with EDSA, a Florida-based planning company, but the Government is clearly looking for more concrete moves to re-open South Ocean, and create jobs and economic activity.

Mr Rolle told Tribune Business yesterday: “There have been a number of people expressing interest in South Ocean, and the Government is very keen on finding a suitable partner [for the resort].”

And, in what many are likely to interpret as a hint that CCWIPP needs to either get a move on with re-opening South Ocean or exiting, Mr Rolle added: “The pension fund, they understand exactly where the Government stands on this particular issue, and we are in a position where we have to get these stalled projects running, with current or new partners.

“If the current partners are unable or unwilling, we will find the right partner to do it. That’s what we’ve been doing; finding the right partners, and some of the ones looking at this project are local [Bahamian] and foreign investors,” the Minister added.

“We want to see initiatives that will lead to revenue and employment, generating economic activity, and obviously all the options we look at should fit into that model if the Government is to be pleased.”

Mr Rolle acknowledged that the presence ‘next door’ of the high-end Albany residential development could aid South Ocean’s re-opening, as the resort would have ‘critical mass’ to build-off.

The property is also in close proximity to the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA), and Mr Rolle added: “The beauty of South Ocean is the infrastructure is already there.

“It is a major priority for a number of reasons. One, the resort has tremendous potential to create economic activity.

“Two, it has a casino licence that someone else can use.”