NASSAU, Bahamas — The developer behind Grand Bahama’s $250m Six Senses project yesterday said he wants it to be viewed “at the top level of resort development in the world” with a construction start targeted for early 2024, The Tribune reported on Friday, February 3, in an article written by Business Editor Neil Hartnell.
Marc Weller, Weller Development’s founding partner and president, told Tribune Business the partnership behind the investment will help re-establish Grand Bahama’s brand as “the best of the best” in tandem with other investors it will help attract to the island.
Speaking after Weller unveiled its second Six Senses resort project in the western hemisphere, which will be located in California’s picturesque Napa Valley, he confirmed that the Freeport venture will serve as the “prototype” to the company’s further expansion of luxury hospitality and residences in North America.
Mr Weller, though, would neither confirm or deny that Weller’s Grand Bahama plans extend beyond the Six Senses project. Tribune Business understands from multiple sources that the company has obtained an option over 2,000 acres of prime land for further real estate development in the Barbary Beach area, which is thought to be linked to the “ambitious masterplan for change” referred to recently by Rupert Hayward, Sir Jack Hayward’s grandson.
“We are really excited about the future of the island, and are looking to continue to invest in the island in similar fashion to what we have been doing,” Mr Weller responded, when asked about the Barbary Beach option by this newspaper. Mr Hayward had previously spoken of a “new partnership already proposed to government… that can attract billions of dollars in investment, create thousands of jobs and deliver the expertise and infrastructure for The Bahamas to build a truly climate-resilient future”.
Mr Hayward’s Blue Action Lab is functioning as the local partner and adviser to both Weller and Pegasus Capital Advisors, the $10.6bn private equity group focused on investing in sustainable projects, and the only such group accredited as a fund manager by the Green Climate Fund, on the Six Senses venture.
While conceding that the resort development, to be located at the 30-acre Barbary Beach site previously owned by Marriott, cannot solve all Freeport and Grand Bahama’s woes by itself, Mr Weller nevertheless voiced optimism that it will serve as a “catalyst” to attract similar high-end investors who, together, will transform the island for the better.
Disclosing that only environmental permits remain to be obtained, from the Department of Physical Planning (DEPP) and Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) respectively, before the project can move towards a construction start, he added that Weller was further encouraged by signs that the redevelopment and transformation of Grand Bahama International Airport into a facility able to offer the “first handshake” to visitors is moving forward.
See complete article in The Tribune at http://www.tribune242.com/news/2023/feb/03/250m-resort-developer-we-want-be-best-best/
