Govt purchases Grand Lucayan resort

The Grand Lucayan resort in Grand Bahama.

As of Wednesday, August 22, 2018

THE Minnis administration has purchased the Grand Lucayan resort in Grand Bahama, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced after a tour of the property on Wednesday.

During a press conference on the island, Dr Minnis said the government made a deposit of $10 million on the property. The full purchase price is $65m, Dr Minnis said.

Dr Minnis said it is not the government’s intention to run a hotel, saying it is his administration’s intent to save jobs, saying if the three-hotel property would close, it would have a “devastating” impact on Grand Bahama.

He said the government was only “holding” the hotel to preserve the island’s economy and as soon as possible, the hotel would be sold.

He said the hotel purchase should be complete in the next 30 days.

The prime minister said he would give a full report on the sale when Parliament resumes from its summer break.

The Grand Lucayan resort features three brands: Memories, the 500-room Breaker's Cay and Lighthouse Pointe.

The hotel closed in October 2016 for repairs after it suffered damage from Hurricane Matthew leading almost 1,000 people to lose their jobs.

In November 2016, only the 196-room Lighthouse Pointe reopened.

For more on this story, see Thursday’s Tribune.

DDK 6 years, 3 months ago

Nice photo of the hotel and beach. At least the guy overhead has a parachute. I think we may be in free-fall!

The_Oracle 6 years, 3 months ago

Issue is the hotel and property need remedial work done to get it anywhere near presentable. Still no airlift, and which old hotel dead heads will be "appointed" to run it? Wonder if George Smith is available..... Anyway this is a perfect example of Damned if you do, damned if you don't. BPL/BEC, Lucayan strip , Bay st, the list is endless. Concessions being given left and right out of desperation, And still no buyer, just another rusty can to kick down the road.

Sickened 6 years, 3 months ago

And we're kicking that can without shoes and without any tetanus vaccine in our hospitals. This is going to hurt.

BahamaPundit 6 years, 3 months ago

The only real news is who will be paid the realtor commission and who will be paid the legal fees for the sale of the hotel. You might add who will obtain the renovation contract to the mix. Believe it or not, these crony/nepotistic payouts are all these feeble minded, carpet bagging politicians cared about in the first place. The nationalistic reasons for purchasing the hotel are fake news.

truetruebahamian 6 years, 3 months ago

Oh God - No!

proudloudandfnm 6 years, 3 months ago

So they won't open them? Just hold it and sell it. No renovations? No re-opening?

Unbelievably idiotic. Loke trump stupid..

Wow....

proudloudandfnm 6 years, 3 months ago

So it is now official. The Grand Lucaya will not be re-opened.

Now instead of a.dead hotel property owned by Hutchison we'll have a dead hotel property owned by our government.

This is beyond stupid. This is child like stupid..

Wow....

John 6 years, 3 months ago

ILet us hope for the sake of the Bahamian people, and especially for the residents of Grand bahama, and more specifically, those in Freeport and surrounding settlements,who expect to get a job at this hotel, that Minnis and K P Turnquest is right on this one. Maybe they already have a secured buyer in their periscope and, for reasons unknown to us, they are facilitating the sale. Let us hope and pray.

Bonefishpete 6 years, 3 months ago

Meh, Freeport? Should of bought Baha Mar instead. Go big or go home.

SP 6 years, 3 months ago

Now the Minnis administration needs to face the facts and admit under the present extraordinary conditions, extraordinary measures must be implemented in all haste.

Dr. Minnis must move swiftly to make Freeport and Grand Bahama the first duty-free shopping destination in the country AND sell Grand Lucayan resort hotel packages at $5.00 net, net, net above cost.

If they have better ideas on how to "jump-start" Grand Lucayan hotel, Freeport, and Grand Bahama, I would love to hear them!

Well_mudda_take_sic 6 years, 3 months ago

Minnis has officially become a certifiable moron, doing nothing but looking for ways to put money in the pockets of his cronies. He has no real regard or care whatsoever for the well being of Grand Bahamians or the country as a whole. He just could not wait to squander the recent 60% increase in VAT and is looking forward to increasing VAT to 15% or more, possibly as soon as July 1, 2019 but no later than July 1, 2020. He has repeatedly spit in our eyes all the while muttering to himself: "Ain't nuttin' da plebes can do 'bout it but whine an' squeal. Da gullible fools should've knew dis wasn't gonna be no people's time - dis is da Doc's time!"

Bonefishpete 6 years, 3 months ago

"If they have better ideas on how to "jump-start" Grand Lucayan hotel, Freeport, and Grand Bahama, I would love to hear them!"

Couple, Give foreigners work permits free for the asking. Give foreigners stamp tax free real estate transactions and building permits, collect duty on building supplies at reduced rates.

Big one here make Freeport exempt from laws governing marijuana consumption and use. That alone will fill the hotels.

BahamaPundit 6 years, 3 months ago

I've said this before: Making recreational cannabis legal in Grand Bahamas, and only Grand Bahama, is a no brainer and would jumpstart the economy overnight without purchasing a 65 million dollar hotel. There should be a special prison for those who steal the people's hard earned money and waste it on wind and water pies.

OldFort2012 6 years, 3 months ago

$65m, eh? Nice.

Now, it would be ideal if you connected Grand Bahama to Florida via a bridge. That would enable the tourists much easier access and would therefore increase the value of your investment hundredfold. I just happen to have one I could sell you.

Negotiating with our government must be like being in scenes from Dumb and Dumber.

If that dilapidated piece of crap is worth $65m, most cars you see in Nassau the government would happily buy for $10m. (with kickback, of course.)

Clamshell 6 years, 3 months ago

As a US tourist seeking a nice resort holiday in the Bahamas, I would face a choice: Go to a musty old place that’s been closed 2 years, has limited and outdated facilities and is very difficult to reach by air; or fly direct into Nassau and take a quick cab ride over to Baha Mar or Atlantis. Gee ... which should I choose?

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