Negotiations for the purchase of the Walker’s Cay resort have come to a standstill, with the primary bidder for the site claiming that the seller is making the process to close the deal on the multimillion dollar project more difficult.
Principal of the offshore developer Victoria House IBC, Scott Ronning, told Guardian Business that little progress has been made on finalizing an agreement to purchase the Walker’s Cay resort in Abaco.
He claims that the seller of the property is making demands that are becoming hard for his group to meet. Walker’s Cay has been owned by the Abplanalp family from New York and their corporation for the past 50 years.
“We’ve had some difficult times with the sellers [and] in fact they have terminated our contract and we’re doing everything we can to have that contract reinstated,”Ronning said.”We have spent literally millions of dollars to date getting this contract ready to close only to face demands form the sellers that are frankly hard to meet.
“The sellers have become more and more demanding as to how we get across the goal line.”
Diane Jenkins, of Florida’s Jenkins Realty Inc., is the referral agent representing the seller and confirmed with Guardian Business that the property is back on the market.
The seller’s attorney did not return calls to discuss the negotiation status between their client and Victoria House IBC.
Ronning said his development company and the seller of the Walker’s Cay property had a difference of opinion since the initial tender was signed three months ago. He said the seller was not receptive to some of the plans designed for the site.
Ronning claimed that the seller did not embrace the idea of upgrading the utilities facility for the island and surrounding areas, which would have made power resources more efficient for residents.
He also claimed that the seller planned to cut off the utility supply to Grand Cay, an adjacent island to Walker’s Cay where a majority of the workers reside.
