The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Four “serious” bids have been submitted to acquire a Bay Street property vital to the revitalisation of Nassau harbour, a leading realtor yesterday disclosing that the sales process had reached “a critical, critical point”.

Larry Roberts, NAI Bahamas Realty Commercial’s chief executive, told Tribune Business that the outcome depended on the selling bank’s decision, plus talks between the Government and private sector over what types of development would be permitted in downtown Nassau.

This newspaper can reveal that Prime Minister Perry Christie met with key Bay Street real estate owners, including representatives of the Symonette, Kelly, Bethell and Klonaris families, on Monday to address these issues.

Businessman Craig Symonette, who was among those attending, told Tribune Business that it was “a very constructive meeting”, but declined to comment further.

Downtown Nassau Partnership (DNP) co-chair, Charles Klonaris, also confirmed the meeting took place but was unable to speak further when contacted by Tribune Business.

This newspaper understands that while no final decisions were taken, Bay Street stakeholders are hopeful that Monday’s meeting represents a ‘first step’ towards resolving multiple issues seen as inhibiting Bay Street’s redevelopment and revitalisation.

These matters include the proposed Nassau harbourfront boardwalk; how high new construction in the Bay Street area will be allowed to go; and the investment incentives available to real estate owners and businesses.

Tribune Business understands that both the Government and private sector are reluctant to divulge too much on their discussions at this stage, not wanting to raise hopes unduly or compromise the talks.

However, sources familiar with the situation said it might take some time to resolve all the outstanding issues, and that these would likely have to be ‘worked through’ via a committee structure involving both government and private sector input.

This may not facilitate a speedy sale of Union Wharf, the former Pioneer Shipping home, which is regarded by many as the key to redeveloping Bay Street and downtown Nassau ‘east of East Street’.

Mr Roberts, who is jointly spearheading the auction-style process to find a buyer for the waterfront property, told Tribune Business: “We’ve had four offers, and they’re serious groups. We are at a very critical, critical point.”

Mr Roberts declined to identify any of the bidders, or detail the terms of their offers or purchase prices.

Tribune Business, though, understands that he is acting on behalf of CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas), which has taken possession of Union Wharf and is seeking to sell it, presumably to pay-off credit owed to it.

While not naming the vendor, Mr Roberts confirmed it was a financial institution. “We’ve had offers, and the bank has to make a decision,” he added.

“The bank is very anxious to offload the property.”

Mr Roberts said other “very good offers” had been submitted for Union Wharf, but the bidders were uncertain about whether CIBC FirstCaribbean would accept the terms and conditions they wanted.

Union Wharf, with its harbourfront boundary and central location, has long been viewed as having potential for a multi-million dollar mixed-use development, featuring a marina, boutique resort, retail and condominium features.

However, a major turn-off, and impediment, for potential buyers are the current height restrictions on construction in downtown Nassau, which limit what they can do with that property. And the uncertainty over any changes to these limits has also impacted Mr Roberts’ ability to properly market it to potential buyers.

The leading realtor had previously told Tribune Business it was impossible to develop a condo or hotel-related project on the Union Wharf property without going up multiple storeys.

Confirming that he, too, was aware of Monday’s talks, Mr Roberts said: “Apparently, the stakeholders in that area had a meeting with the Prime Minister yesterday [Monday].

“I’m not sure what the outcome of that was, but I know the stakeholders had some very specific requests in terms of going forward on what they needed, in terms of the boardwalk, the height restrictions and incentives.”

Mr Roberts, though, reiterated that he had been told almost a year ago that decisions on the same issues would be forthcoming by mid-end January 2014. Yet it was now December, and he was still waiting.

The NAI Bahamas Realty Commercial chief is far from the first to express concern about the pace of downtown Nassau’s revitalisation (China excepted) and government decision-making on the topic.

Former Deputy Prime Minister Brent Symonette, in a recent Tribune Business interview, had urged the Government to “stop buck passing” and decide final plans for Nassau’s harbour front boardwalk.

Mr Symonette told Tribune Business that harbourfront real estate owners had been waiting several months for the Christie administration to determine the way forward.

Recalling the last meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr Symonette said the Government wanted to hire another consultant, at a cost of $150,000-$170,000, to develop a purported ‘boardwalk masterplan’.

He said that the waterfront property owners rejected this, arguing that enough studies had been performed, and this would in effect be a ‘report to go over another report’.

Mr Symonette said his family and other property owners had provided the Government with various options for the boardwalk, which is supposed to run east from the British Colonial Hilton all the way to Potter’s Cay Dock.

They were now “waiting for answers” from the Government on what is supposed to be the next major project to spur downtown Nassau’s revitalisation, following the $2 million upgrade to Pompey Square.

And Mr Symonette warned that downtown Nassau’s major property owners, his family among them, would not invest in the redevelopment of their landholdings until the Government gave them “the rules of the game”.