NASSAU, Bahamas — Government’s conversations with Royal Caribbean International (RCI) have chiefly focused on the cruise line’s stalled negotiations over the purchasing of the Grand Lucayan resort, with little focus on the company’s interest in Paradise Island, Press Secretary Clint Watson told Guardian Business yesterday, adding that no decision has been made by the government on RCI’s Royal Beach Club project, The Nassau Guardian reported on Monday, November 22.
Watson gave the reassurance that the Davis administration would make no decision on whether or not RCI gets the green light to develop its beach day plan, before the government speaks with another developer, whose plans for a beach club overlap with RCI’s.
Toby Smith, owner of Paradise Island Lighthouse & Beach Club Co. Ltd. (PILBC), has plans to build a low-density beach club on the western end of Paradise Island to do much of the same thing as RCI, shuttle tourists and Bahamians over to the island for a beach day.
This paper understands through credible sources that the Davis administration hopes for an amicable resolution between both parties and to see both developments come about side by side.
However, it is yet to be seen what response Smith will have, given that he has taken his Crown land lease dispute with the government to court.
He told this paper recently that he hopes the government would simply honor the lease given to him.
Royal Caribbean, which stated that they hold a Crown land lease for a plot of Paradise Island property, noted that their project cannot be successful without the leased land and beach space.
It is understood that both Crown land leases intersect into about 20 feet or so of shared space.
RCI Chief Executive Officer Michael Bayley said last week that the company is “very close to being able to start”, adding that RCI is close to concluding all the issues surrounding the project. See complete article in The Nassau Guardian at https://thenassauguardian.com/watson-govt-talks-with-rci-focused-chiefly-on-gb-projects/
