NASSAU, Bahamas — A “first-of-its-kind” resort and marina development is seeking government approvals to construct on New Providence’s southern shore a 600-vessel boat storage facility that can withstand Hurricane Dorian-strength storms, The Tribune reported on Wednesday, November 2, in an article written by Business Editor Neil Hartnell.
Legendary Marina Resort at Blue Water Cay, according to documents filed with the Department of Physical Planning, is also seeking permission to develop a 100-slip marina, marine service facility, boutique hotel, rental villas and a mixed-use office/retail component at a location right at the southern end of Fox Hill Road.
No details were provided for the number of jobs, or value of investment, that is involved in a development which will be largely constructed on land reclaimed from the sea via dredging. Maps and renderings obtained by Tribune Business show the development is proposed for a site almost due south of the Freedom Farm baseball field, which can presently be reached by driving due south past Checkers’ Fox Hill outlet.
Florida-headquartered Legendary Marina, whose principal is Peter Bos, assembled the near-17 acres it requires for the project via a series of three real estate transactions worth a combined $4.15m. Documents show the sellers included Peter Andrews, the Bahamas Waste chairman, and fellow Bahamian businessman, Anthony Myers. The duo have close business ties as they both, for example, sit as directors on the Board of Bahamas Hot Mix (BHM).
Mr Myers yesterday confirmed to Tribune Business that the real estate deals had closed, adding that the other sellers also include Star Insurance and the Winner family estate. “I hope they make something of it,” he said of Legendary Marina. “I hope they do it. We could never quite make it work. It’s a difficult site, but he has a lot of energy and knows the market very well. I’m sure it will come off.”
Phylicia Hanna-Woods, the Bahamas Investment Authority’s (BIA) director of investments, confirmed that the Government’s National Economic Council (NEC) had given “approval in principle” for the Legendary Marina Resort at Blue Water Cay to proceed in a June 16, 2022, letter to the developer’s attorney, Allyson Maynard-Gibson KC, the ex-attorney general and Cabinet minister.
The approval granted permission for the investor “to own and operate a mixed-use community with a wide range of amenities including a marina, dry boat storage facility, clubhouse and residential component, swimming pool, utility services, resort accommodations and related amenities on Blue Water Cay subdivision situated on the eastern side of Fox Hill Road and south of Yamacraw Lake”.
The approval was conditioned on Legendary Marina obtaining the necessary Town Planning Committee permits, for which a Town Meeting is being held on November 21, 2022; approval of its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Management Plan (EMP); and all other necessary go-aheads being obtained from the relevant government agencies.
Mrs Hanna-Woods’ letter, though, said the NEC, which is really the Cabinet or a Cabinet committee, had rejected Legendary Marina’s bid “to own and operate restaurants and retail facilities” – activities that are normally reserved for 100 percent Bahamian ownership only via the National Investment Policy.
Instead, the Government “recommended that the developer joint venture with a Bahamian for the operation of restaurants and retail facilities”. The southern New Providence coast is relatively shallow, and the NEC approval indicated that Legendary Marina plans significant dredging – both for its marina and a channel that will give vessels access to deeper water – with the fill created used to reclaim land from the sea for the bulk of the project’s real estate.
See complete article in The Tribune at http://www.tribune242.com/news/2022/nov/02/first-its-kind-marina-southern-new-providence/?news&fbclid=IwAR2DjfO4G4sYbXRDCp7NDnT3CLzH2fDMLGpAr6LinTNRKyptT-v_f5kN6qs
