Plans are in the works to begin rerouting West Bay Street in the area of the Cable Beach Resorts, a senior Baha Mar official announced on Wednesday.
“We are working in concert with the government on a strategy for the diversion of West Bay and the relocation of police and fire services to meet the needs of the resort and the community,” said Robert Sands, Baha Mar’s vice president of administration and external affairs.
He was addressing members of The Bahamas Society of Engineers at the Graycliff Restaurant.
“The accurate and precise execution of this project will be essential to the success of Baha Mar. Consequently, it will be a project that will require extensive analysis, planning and good old-fashioned common sense, which we all know goes a long way. The civil engineers among you will be our allies in this venture.”
Mr. Sands said the development of Baha Mar, beginning in 2007, is a major undertaking and it will require the next two years to design the project, relocate tenants, and get ready for construction.
“We plan on spending these two years of planning doing just that – planning – and drawing on local and international expertise to create a world-class tourism product in The Bahamas that will surpass visitor expectation,” he said.
Mr. Sands also assured that Baha Mar is committed to ensuring that Bahamian entrepreneurs and professionals are given as many avenues as possible to participate in the “investment explosion” on Cable Beach both now and at a higher level when the project gets fully underway.
Baha Mar is working with relevant agencies to support national development objectives through the utilization of local products and services, he said.
“Doing so is a smart choice and, quite frankly, the right thing to do. Bahamian involvement at various levels ensures a wide dispersion of financial resources and gives the resort a Bahamian flavour,” Mr. Sands said.
“I wish to affirm our commitment to creating and strengthening an environment where possibilities abound for qualified individuals in the conceptualization and realization of Baha Mar. I have no doubt that we will be able to work together in significant and creative ways toward meeting the opportunities that will be created over the next few months.”
In May, Baha Mar took over the management and operation of the Radisson Cable Beach Resort, the Nassau Beach Hotel, and the Wyndham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino.
Mr. Sands told the engineers that the consolidation of the three hotels into one resort complex – Cable Beach Resorts – will make the properties the second largest resort in the Caribbean, and the center of a billion-dollar development at Cable Beach, the largest private tourism investment in the history of The Bahamas.
He informed that the casino is undergoing renovations at an initial cost of $7 million.
A total refurbishment of the Wyndham’s C-Tower, which houses the casino, began in August, with a sample room completed earlier this month, Mr. Sands said.
He also said that the floor layout was reconfigured and over $4 million has been allocated for the addition of 30 table games and 460 state-of-the-art slot machines to be installed over a period of three months.
Other upgrades included much needed ceiling repair and new carpeting on the casino, the vice president added.
“I should also note here that we are presently in negotiations with a potential global brand casino partner and hotel operator to operate a Las Vegas style casino in The Bahamas which, at 75,000 square feet, will be the largest in the Caribbean at the end of Phase I,” Mr. Sands said.
He also informed that Baha Mar’s economic impact assessment, prepared by international economic and financial analyst firm, Global Insight, revealed that work on the building and renovation of the new Cable Beach area will spawn the need for approximately 4,700 full time jobs for Bahamians during the 12 months of construction.
The project is also anticipated to provide direct employment for an additional 4,500 Bahamians in its first year of operation with a likely increase of about 51 percent by year two.
Total employment – direct and indirect – is estimated to grow from 7,000 to more than 10,000 in the first three years of the resort’s operation.
The Bahamas’ Gross National Product (GDP) is expected to rise by about $400 million, Mr. Sands said.
By: Stephen Gay, The Bahama Journal
