The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Government is “very anxious” for the South Ocean property to be developed to its full potential, a Cabinet Minister telling Tribune Business: “We want to see something done.”

Khaalis Rolle, minister of state for investments, said the Christie administration was “very concerned” about the prospects for revitalising the southwestern New Providence property, which has been closed for almost a decade.

And, while stating that the Government has made “no final decision” to release the third New Providence casino licence that has been vested in South Ocean for the past 40 years, Mr Rolle added that it would ensure the property is redeveloped in “a reasonable timeframe”.

“We are very anxious,” he said of South Ocean. “It’s a major asset that has tremendous economic potential, and obviously the issues that existed which prevented it from developing to its full potential, we’re concerned about that.

“We’re still evaluating all the options, and I suspect the Prime Minister will drive this to a conclusion in a reasonable timeframe. We want to see something done.

“The Government wants to see development in the south-west quadrant of the island, and whatever decisions have to be made to ensure development takes place in a reasonable time will be made.”

South Ocean was originally intended to be the third resort/tourism/gaming mecca for New Providence, alongside Paradise Island and Cable Beach, hence the move to grant it a casino licence that would kick-in once the resort reached a certain size and otherconditions were fulfilled.

But the largely loss-making property has never come close to meetingthose tems, having gone through a succession of owners and operators. Its current owner, the Canadian Commercial Workers Industry Pension Plan (CCWIPP), took over South Ocean and the British Colonial Hilton after their Canadian developer, Ron Kelly, defaulted on his loan repayments more than a decade ago.

CCWIPP closed South Ocean in 2004, making over 100 staff redundant. Several attempts to revive the property since have failed, the most recent involving New York-based developer Roger Stein and his RHS Ventures outfit, who had proposed an ambitious $867 million redevelopment.

That effort failed, though, amid an acrimonious New York legal battle between Mr Stein and his financing partner, hedge fund Plainfield Asset Management. South Ocean has since reverted back to CCWIPP’s control, and it has engaged golfer Greg Norman’s Southern Cross real estate firm to produce a recently-completed masterplan and marketing strategy for the property.

Mr Rolle indicated that the Government would not wait for CCWIPP to come up with a redevelopment strategy for ever, although he denied that the casino licence currently vested in South Ocean had been unlocked.

“The current position still exists that there are only three [casino] licences, and these licences are in the possession of the same parties that they have been for years,” he told this newspaper.

“There have been discussions with a number of developers about that [South Ocean] licence, individuals who have alternative projects elsewhere who need a casino to make them work. We’ve had discussions as to whether the licence should continue to exist for the exclusivity of South Ocean, but no decision has been made.”

Tribune Business, though, has seen evidence to suggest the Government has modified its policy to the extent that the third New Providence casino licence will be awarded on a ‘first come, first served basis’ to the most deserving - and credible - project that comes along.

That, this newspaper understands, will only be South Ocean if it indeed emerges as first in the queue - meaning the property no longer has an exclusive lock on that licence.

Still, Mr Rolle said the idea of taking that licence from South Ocean was still only a discussion - and one that has been going on for many years.

“No final decision has been made to pull that licence from South Ocean as it exists today,” the Minister told Tribune Business. “That’s not to say that will continue to be the position moving forward.”

One who would certainly like to obtain that licence is former Cabinet Minister Tennyson Wells, whose proposed $700 million resort and entertainment centre at Coral Harbour is riding on such a permit.

“We’ve been in discussions with Tennyson, and see the potential of the project as part of our decision-making process,” Mr Rolle added.