The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Freeport realtor yesterday affirmed transactions “are way up” due to revived buyer interest stemming from recent multi-million dollar investment project announcements, adding: “Grand Bahama is going to be grand again.”

James Sarles, broker and principal with James Sarles Realty, told Tribune Business his firm is seeing the highest level of market activity since Hurricane Matthew struck the island almost six years ago with deals such as the pending $100m Grand Lucayan sale meaning “there’s a story to be told about Grand Bahama now”.

Besides the resort deal and Carnival Cruise Line’s port, he pointed to Weller Development’s plans to construct a Six Senses resort; the impending Port Lucaya Marina sale; Western Atlantic Medical University’s build-out; and Doctors Hospital’s new hospital as examples of private sector activity that has revived interest in the island as a real estate investment destination.

With the insurer, CG Atlantic Medical, having selected Freeport as “a hub for the Caribbean, Mr Sarles said: “This is creating some interest and we’re getting a lot of people from Florida, and more so the US, than we’ve seen for a long time....

“Grand Bahama, for the first time, is on the radar and that’s going to increase prices. There’s a lot of transactions and properties. The timing is very good from a real estate perspective. Transactions are way up. There’s a lot of new people saying let’s get in now before prices go up.

“Grand Bahama getting all these projects, you put all the pieces of the puzzle together, if all come through Grand Bahama is going to be grand again. There’s hope for the first time. The truth of the matter is if you sat around with locals at the restaurant, instead of everyone complaining, for the first time there’s hope all these projects will come to fruition although I know we’ve been down this road before.”

Real estate prices in Freeport and wider Grand Bahama “bottomed out” as a result of Hurricane Dorian in September 2019, and then the COVID-19 pandemic, making them attractive versus elsewhere in The Bahamas and Caribbean. Mr Sarles, though, suggested that many persons had previously been deterred by questions over why the island was failing to thrive despite its US proximity and existing infrastructure.

Describing Grand Bahama as having “always been the diamond in the rough”, Mr Sarles said that while the promised investments “will not make a dent in Nassau” they would “stimulate a lot of activity for a small population” such as Grand Bahama’s if six to seven were to occur at the same time.

Meanwhile Alex Thompson, of Island Living Real Estate, estimated that undeveloped land prices and rental rates on Grand Bahama had increased by up to 25 percent in the last quarter. “Investor confidence is up in Grand Bahama,” she said, adding that Dorian has focused significant attention on the island. 

“We were centre stage and now people saw for themselves what this ‘second city’ had to offer. An efficiently planned city, below market priced properties, access to miles of unspoiled beaches and intricate canal waterways. Everyone finally noticed that what you would pay in Nassau, you can get triple that in property value in Grand Bahama.”

Referring to Carnival’s cruise port, she added: “Even though it is 20 miles away from the heart of the island, it will create its own demands. Contractors working on the project will need places to stay, places to eat, they’ll need transportation, offices, administrative staff.

“These monumental projects will also have heads of management, engineers and project directors needing to relocate to the island, so the rental market, which is already strained, will see continued increases in demand. We’ve not had a major investment like this in a very long time. We have always talked about potential in Grand Bahama. Now the potential is real. “

Royal Caribbean and Carnival are also investing $350m in the transformation of Grand Bahama Shipyard with two floating docks that will accommodate the world’s largest cruise ships for maintenance and repairs. “Throughout the island we see demand increasing and values rising in all areas - in residential, in commercial, in beachfront,” Ms Thompson said. “Before the 2019 hurricane, we had a surplus of listings, now we are short in every stream.

“We are a hot commodity right now. Even older condos that sat for years are being sold.. We’ve got over 40 beaches and no matter where you are, you are never more than 15 minutes away from any one of them. Ten cars on the road is what we call a traffic jam and there’s only about six stop lights throughout the island. Grand Bahama is no longer the illusion of the magic city, it’s all now very, very real.”