ABACO, Bahamas — Businessman and developer Sebas Bastian has invested just over $4 million into what he believes would be the reinvigoration of commerce on Hurricane Dorian-battered Abaco, The Nassau Guardian reported on Friday, May 21, 2021.
The 24,000-square-foot Resilience Square Commerce Center in Marsh Harbour has been officially opened, consisting of 15 retail spaces, 12 of which have already been leased.
Bastian, who serves as chairman of Brickell Management Group, said the project was unlike any other investment his company has undertaken, in that the ultimate aim was to spur economic activity rather than see an immediate return.“When we decided to build Resilience Square, we started construction three months after the storm and you can imagine that was a time when a tremendous amount of uncertainties would have existed on where the future of Abaco was headed. But I initially thought that we were not making a traditional real estate investment like how we do, we knew that in order to rebuild and rebound Abaco, we would need to cement in its future anchored services,” he said.
“With almost 90 percent of the commerce and storefronts decimated, we knew that we needed to make an investment that would kickstart commerce in Abaco again and allow businesses that existed before the storm to be able to recalibrate and reopen and then businesses that want to open for the first time, they would have the infrastructure to do so. So, it was really our contribution to the revitalization of Abaco, which was the reason why we decided to construct the plaza in the first place.”
Toward that end, Bastian said the businesses leasing spaces in the plaza would be given the first six months rent free, to allow them time to build out, set up their spaces and alleviate the pressure of restarting. See complete story in The Nassau Guardian at https://thenassauguardian.com/bastian-invests-4-million-in-resilience-square-on-abaco/
