The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

and YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporters

An ex-Bahamas Real Estate Association (BREA) president yesterday said he and the Government are "caught between the devil and the deep blue sea" over a $100m Love Beach condominium project.

William Wong, who lives barely one-quarter of a mile away from The View at Love Beach Residences project site, told Tribune Business that while he wanted the neighbourhood to "remain quiet and peaceful" he also understood the urgent need to create jobs amid the economic devastation caused by COVID-19.

Speaking after last week's Town Planning hearing on the proposal by Mylor Caribbean Development, which wants to construct 121 new condominium units to go with the eight already present at the property just west of the Palms at Love Beach, Mr Wong said he and his neighbours shared similar concerns over the project's height and traffic that will be generated.

"My only concern with that project is the height; how high are they going to go?" he asked. "That poses a lot of problems for people in the area, and the amount of traffic through that area for people in the neighbourhood caused by the 100-plus extra units. Town Planning may have to consider how to reduce the number of units that are going to be built.

"We have a traffic problem now. We have a lot of traffic going through the area to Lyford Cay, Old Fort Bay and Love Beach. With the construction going on it's really going to increase the density of the neighbourhood. The roads are very small anyway, and most of the time the street lights are not working. It could be a dangerous trap."

The height that The View at Love Beach Residences will built to figured prominently at last week's hearing. Several Love Beach residents argued that the site's original developer, British Hoffman, was capped to a height of 28 feet in conveyancing documents related to its acquisition of the property.

James Liddell, a Love Beach resident, said: “I’m looking at the moment at the site plan application, which was filled out by the Mylor team, and I note that the only restrictions in the covenants along with this application is the right of way.

"They don’t note any height restrictions. Likewise in a Tribune newspaper article, where the executive architect is quoted as saying that there are no restrictions incumbent upon the property. I’m also looking at three conveyances for British Hoffman, which was the original developer, all of which contain a very, very straightforward 28 feet height restriction, which I think the majority of the current residents at Love Beach will now seek to enforce.”

Alexander Christie, an attorney with the McKinney, Bancroft and Hughes law firm, which represents Mylor Caribbean Development, countered that the 28-foot height restriction was a misunderstanding. He argued that the Supreme Court had previously ruled this had not been properly imposed, which meant his client was not bound by it.

“Aside from the rights of way there are no restrictive covenants that impede the project, and that’s really relied on by a court case in 1980," Mr Christie said. "I know it’s been said that this building to the east of the property that is already there, the existing building, has ‘set the precedent', but that really is not what the developer is relying on.....

“The reason why we have four storeys with a fifth floor underneath the roof [is] we are not bound by the restriction. The height restriction is really sourcing from this case in 1980. It’s a Supreme Court case. For the record, the name of the case is British Hoffman Ltd and Aragon Ltd v Bella Vista Beach Apartments Ltd.

"In that case it was ruled that the restrictions, and the height restriction is something we refer to, had not been properly imposed so as to constitute a restrictive covenant capable of running with the land, and was therefore not binding effect so as to prohibit the defendant in that case from constructing condominium buildings.”

Mr Christie's interpretation, though, was challenged by attorney Shannelle Bethel, of the Mitre Court law firm, who represents the owners of existing condos at the site. She argued that the 28-foot restriction "ought to have run with the land" because it was contained in the conveyancing documents issued by the first developer to homeowners.

Mr Wong, meanwhile, acknowledged that the Government faced a difficult task in balancing the concerns of Love Beach residents with the need to create jobs, foreign direct investment (FDI) and foreign exchange inflows amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Arguing that construction industry jobs, in particular, have a 'trickle down' effect that benefits multiple families, he told Tribune Business: "In this time of COVID-19 there are limited jobs so we have to think about it twice before we say 'no'.

"It's hit and miss. We have to create jobs, and construction jobs provide a lot of families with money. The Government is going to be kind of leery to say 'no' right now. It's going to be a big trade-off for a lot of the neighbours - jobs versus their own personal comfort. They own a piece of paradise, and have to give it up to create jobs. Either way you're caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.

"Things are so tough right now that every job we can get, we need to develop. As a real estate broker I see where the jobs are needed, but as a a resident of the area I'd like for it to remain quiet and peaceful. But progress needs to happen and this property needs to be developed," Mr Wong added.

"I could be selfish and say we don't need any more development, enough, but if I said that I'd not be here today in my job. People need to go back to work, business. Bahamians need jobs and I can't be in opposition to that. I can't."

The View at Love Beach Residences is projected to create 309 construction jobs and a total $38.59m wage bill over its three-year build-out. However, residents who attended last year's Town Planning meeting suggested controversial Austrian financier, Dr Mirko Kovats, was behind the project although this has not been confirmed.

Dr Kovats, a Bahamas resident who owns a home at Lyford Cay, was behind a 2014 bid to acquire the 363-acre South Ocean resort in southwestern New Providence which is now in the process of being purchased by the Albany developers.

Mr Christie, meanwhile, reassured attendees of the Town Planning meeting that the The View at Love Beach Residences will not be a commercial development, and will abide by the multi-family zoning restrictions in the area.

"It’s not going to be a commercial enterprise," he added. "The spa and other features that will be for the residents and not for the general public.”