Amid great uncertainty surrounding the future of the proposed billion-dollar Cable Beach redevelopment proposal being pushed by the Baha Mar Development group, a new investor emerged on Monday releasing details of its plans for the area.
TSGG Ltd., an Orlando, FL based developer, claimed that it submitted an offer to the Hotel Corporation of The Bahamas to purchase the Radisson Cable Beach & Golf Resort and submitted a simultaneous offer to Phil Ruffin for his Wyndham Nassau Resort and Nassau Beach Hotel.
The company said in a press release that it has adopted a very different approach from the ﾓcontroversial mega resort strategy previously outlined by the Baha Mar Consortium that failed to acquire the properties.ﾒ
TSGG claimed that it has submitted a comprehensive proposal to the Government of The Bahamas for a more than $1 billion redevelopment of Cable Beach.
It said its proposal includes:the renovation and expansion of existing properties; preservation of existing jobs; a high profile brand name for a themed hotel and casino; a multi-brand hotel strategy to enhance the overall Cable Beach offering; a full commitment to redevelop the entire Cable Beach area; two-years of time vested in the project; a commitment to open the resort within 15 months; an enhanced economic package for the government over the existing bid; and a commitment to close in 60 days.
No government official confirmed receipt of the proposal on Monday, although Prime Minister Perry Christie recently told The Bahama Journal that there were other offers on the table for Cable Beach.
At the time, he said, however, that the government was still negotiating exclusively with Baha Mar and he was still hopeful that that deal would be concluded.
Week before last, Mr. Ruffin said from his Witchita, Kansas office that he was just a day or two away from signing an agreement with a developer other than Baha Mar for the sale of his Cable Beach interests.
However, he did not reveal the name of the buyer.
No TSGG official could be reached last night to comment further on the groupﾴs plans, but the company said in its release that it started working with the government over two years ago.
ﾓWe shared the prime ministerﾴs vision for the regeneration of Cable Beach and are excited to have the opportunity to make this vision a reality,ﾒ TSGG Chief Executive Steven Goodwin said in the press release.
ﾓAs soon as we heard the rumors floating around the financing community that the Baha Mar group was not able to commit to a full redevelopment, we knew we had to act fast to ensure The Bahamas gets the redevelopment of the entire Cable Beach area that it deserves.ﾒ
TSGG claims it has secured the full backing of a $15 billion, New York-based, Private Equity Fund.
ﾓThere is no doubting our financial capability,ﾒ Mr. Goodwin claimed.ﾓWe have disclosed our backing to the government and Mr. Ruffin and I can confirm it is a highly credible partner.We make a full commitment to our development because our partner has the capacity to underwrite it. There are no doubts about that. They do what they say they are going to do and they are very excited about our plans for the Cable Beach area.ﾒ
He said his groupﾴs plan is centred around a high profile themed hotel and casino brand which works well with the existing Radisson facility.
ﾓWe felt it was important to spend the time ensuring that our development plan for the entire Cable Beach area would cause minimal disruption to the current employees.I have stayed at all of the hotels on Cable Beach and believe the employees there are one of the resortsﾴ main assets. Since we do not plan to demolish all of the existing structures we will preserve many of the existing jobs and rapidly create many, many more,ﾒ Mr. Goodwin said.
The release said the TSGG plan calls for the redevelopment of over 3,500 acres of Cable Beach into one coordinated first class resort and residential area.
Details include the development of an 800-room hotel with a major U.S.-based convention hotel operator, a 350-room luxury hotel, upscale retail centre, live music venue and theatre and an outdoor entertainment complex, the release also said.
ﾓOur resort is all about fun,ﾒ it added. ﾓBahamians are fun. We want everyone to have a good time, including the guests and employees.ﾒ
Candia Dames, The Bahama Journal
