The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Downtown Nassau Partnership (DNP) is talking to the Prime Minister’s Office over additions to the City of Nassau Revitalisation Act, which would boost development along Nassau’s waterfront, its managing director saying: ”We want to create a living city”.

Ed Fields told Tribune Business: “We want to create a living city, and to do that means not only creating economic opportunity downtown, entertainment as well as cultural and heritage opportunities, but it also means bringing residents back downtown.

“I don’t mean just residents going into downtown but people residing in town. The Revitalisation Act covers not only commercial activity but also residential activity. For instance, if someone wanted to take a building there that’s covered, they could take the building, refurbish it, turn it in to condos, apartments, and those things would benefit from the Revitalisation Act.”

Prime Minister Perry Christie, during his 2014-2015 Budget communication, said the City of Nassau Revitalisation Act, which expires on June 30, would be extended for an extra year.

“Much progress will be made in the coming months with the rejuvenation of the downtown area of Nassau into a vibrant, attractive and exciting waterfront city, through several initiatives, as part of an overall Master Plan to be further developed with the input of professional planners, stakeholders, local entrepreneurs and other interested parties, including cruise lines and major suppliers,” said Mr Christie.

“The main area of focus will stretch from Arawak Cay to Potters Cay, and will embrace public infrastructure enhancements, private investments, public/private sector partnerships, and participation by local and international bodies interested in preserving the city’s rich history, culture and environment.

“A scenic boardwalk on reclaimed land, together with a myriad of entrepreneurial opportunities, are envisioned stretching all the way from the Hilton Hotel to Potter’s Cay.”

Mr Fields told Tribune Business: “There are some things we would like to add to the Act, and we are negotiating with the Office of the Prime Minister on looking at some other items required to get things going. We see the extension as extremely important, and hope that in years to come we will be able to make the Revitalisation Act and some inclusions more permanent.

“We’re looking at how we can include some elements that would make it more attractive to develop the foreshore, things like building heights, seabed licenses and how the boardwalk would be managed.

“We are right in the middle of the process of getting a final kind of position paper that would speak to the various elements that the property owners and stakeholders would like to see happen,” Mr Fields added.

“I think by the end of the year those things would be addressed, if not sooner, and then you would see quite a bit of activity. I think that the development of the waterfront from East Street onward would probably be, after the major hotels, the single larger economic injection as far as jobs and opportunities are concerned. I really believe that.”