The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

New Providence’s largest private landowner is moving to acquire the Island House hotel from the Holowesko family, Tribune Business can reveal.

This newspaper can disclose that New Providence Development Company is “in the process” of closing its purchase of the boutique ten-acre property, located just outside Lyford Cay, and which first opened to guests almost a decade ago in April 2015.

Lauren Holowesko-Perez, the Island House’s general manager and a member of the family that owns it, declined to talk when contacted by Tribune Business yesterday. “I’m not going to comment because of the NDA (non-disclosure agreement),” she explained. Efforts to obtain comment from New Providence Development Company produced no response prior to press time.

However, multiple sources familiar with developments but speaking under condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk publicly, all confirmed that the sale has been agreed and that both sides are working to complete the necessary due diligence and all required formalities so that the deal can complete.

“The process is continuing,” one contact said. “They haven’t formally sold it. It hasn’t closed yet. There’s lots of due diligence and audits going on. These things take time and they wanted to make sure that was done.”

No details on the sale, including the likely purchase price, have been disclosed. However, this newspaper was told that New Providence Development Company and its majority shareholder, H. Hunter ‘Terry’ White, are seeking to exploit potential synergies between the Island House and their existing Old Fort Bay Club.

“From what I was told, they were looking to exploit synergies between the two properties and their offerings,” one source said. “Food offerings and events.” They pointed to the Island House’s restaurant offerings including Shima, which features Asian cuisine, as well as the Yellowbell bar that allowed the resort to expand its lunch and drinks menu.

“Terry White was buying it. I don’t know how far the deal has got,” a contact added of the Island House. “Everybody around there knows about it,” another source said of the sale. “This goes back a couple of months.

“They’re not going to make any major changes. Lauren Holowesko-Perez is going to stay on as general manager. Things have been pretty much the same there so far. They don’t see anything coming up. It was never a major money maker for Mark [Holowesko]. The rates are always high. The average room rate is around $500 per night. It’s more expensive than places like Atlantis and Baha Mar.”

Media reports from the Island House’s official opening, which occurred under the last Christie administration, said the Holowesko family had invested some $40m into developing the resort into a high-end, five star property and becoming one of the relatively few Bahamian owners in the hotel industry.

The ten-acre site was purchased by Mark Holowesko, the prominent Bahamian financial adviser and investment manager, in around 2005 and was initially earmarked for office space. It lay unused until the Mahogany House restaurant, now known as Mogano by Chef Giorgio Locatelli, opened in 2011.

Its success encouraged Mr Holowesko and his daughter, Ms Holowesko-Perez, to develop the resort at the same property. “We wanted a laid-back, comfortable space for people from every walk of life. That is what was missing from this end of the island,” Ms Holowesko-Perez told Bahamas Investor in 2015. “Mahogany House was a great tester.....

“We do have beautiful hotels here but we are trying to create something different by bringing island and city together and creating something that is unique. We really had the local community in mind when we designed this project. We want people to come and utilise the space. There has been a lot of attention to detail with the hotel; these are the little touches we hope people will appreciate.

“We never imagined that this would be a long stay hotel. We have a lot of corporate clients, people who have to stopover in Nassau. We are close to the airport so it is a great base for them.” When it opened, the Island House was said to have 128 staff.

The resort, on its present website, states: “The Island House stands out among Bahamian resorts, having been designed with both visitors and the local community in mind, and as a symbiotic extension of the surrounding environment.

“The property features 30 rooms and suites, six rental apartments, private beach access, two restaurants, a cafe, market, art house cinema, lap pool, movement studio, squash courts, TERN art gallery and a Bamford Spa.

“Merging the height of contemporary luxury with the understated elegance of authentic island life, The Island House offers today’s sophisticated traveller an experience that is warm and intimate in spirit, polished and discerning in character.”