The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Sandyport is hoping that Jamie Dingman and his investor group will “add another dimension” after they expanded their growing New Providence restaurant/eatery empire by renting the former Beach Cafe.

Garth Buckner, Sandyport Development Company’s president, confirmed that the developer had leased the beachfront Cable Beach site to Mr Dingman and his group for a restaurant that Tribune Business understands will be renamed the Beach House.

“Having Jamie Dingman’s new restaurant at Sandyport will add another dimension to life in this community,” Mr Buckner told this newspaper in an interview.

“They’re renting the restaurant. They’re renovating it now to open up as a new restaurant, and I think it’ll be a lovely addition to going out in the Cable Beach area. It’s a lovely site with one of the best views on the island.”

Efforts to obtain comment from Mr Dingman have to-date proven unsuccessful, even though Tribune Business has attempted to reach out to him and his group via a Bahamian PR firm that has handled releases for them in the past.

However, sources familiar with developments said Mr Dingman’s team had already performed a ‘soft launch’ with openings on Saturdays opening.

The Beach House thus becomes the latest addition to Sandyport’s existing mix of homes, offices, retail and restaurants, which also features the Sandyport Beaches Hotel, marina and other amenities.

“It’s a real community, and too often that’s missing in many developments,” Mr Buckner added.

The Beach House also becomes the latest venture in an expanding portfolio for Mr Dingman, son of the renowned entrepreneur, philanthropist and investor, Michael Dingman.

It was Mr Dingman and his group that took over, and re-opened, the iconic Traveller’s Restaurant in western New Providence after it was closed by the family of its former owners.

And they have also set their sights on revitalising the downtown Nassau experience via the opening of Island Smokehouse in the Elizabeth on Bay Plaza off Bay Street.

Tribune Business revealed last year how Mr Dingman and his group had leased 25 per cent of the units in the same shopping plaza, with plans to create a restaurant destination unmatched “except for Marina Village”.

The units in question included the former Blu Restaurant and Courtyard Cafe spots, and Tribune Business sources familiar with developments said at the time that the investors were exploring sports and game-related concepts for at least some of the restaurant formats.

“They have big plans for that,” one source said of the Elizabeth on Bay leases. “There’s a number of different things.”

Tribune Business was told that the Dingman group is planning “a very nice, but casual, restaurant” for the space previously occupied by Blu at the plaza’s northern end by the sea.

“With the docks behind it, it gives easy access to people from Paradise Island, Ocean Club Estates and the cruise ships,” the source said of Elizabeth on Bay’s location attractions for the investors.

Charles Klonaris, who together with his brothers developed the $14 million Elizabeth on Bay plaza, said at the time of Mr Dingman and his fellow investors: “This is what we needed. Someone of the vision as well as the capital to do what is necessary, and in a recession they’re not easy to find.”