From September 2005, nearly $2 million has been spent repositioning the Cotton Bay Resort in South Eleuthera in the international market, according to Franklyn Wilson, a key Bahamian investor of that project.<\/p>\n
Mr. Wilson told The Bahama Journal that while the development is expected to create an economic boom for Eleuthera some setbacks are being experienced. <\/p>\n
“We are beginning to experience challenges because [there] is more construction taking place in South Eleuthera than at any time in the last 30 years or so,” Mr. Wilson explained.<\/p>\n
“There was not that much infrastructure to support new construction going on. By infrastructure, I mean suppliers, vendors, and skilled craft people. So that’s a pace that is a little slower than we expected, but we can only go as fast as the community could support.” <\/p>\n
Phase one, which started last August, is expected to include two and three-bedroom villas, 114 estate lots and a clubhouse with full amenities. The development is scheduled to be completed some time next year.<\/p>\n
Phase two, according to developers, will comprise a 73-guestroom resort, an 18-hole golf course, a spa, real estate development and expansion of the Davis Harbour Marina. <\/p>\n
Mr. Wilson said that investors are determined not to change what makes South Eleuthera special.<\/p>\n
He added that the resort has captured international attention. <\/p>\n
“We are delighted that the international press like Travel and Leisure magazine is already saying that the return of Cotton Bay is really, really big news,” Mr. Wilson said.<\/p>\n
“A lot of Bahamians do not know [the] wonderful legacy of Cotton Bay as the destination of choice in The Bahamas for the most discerning. We are making sure that we are launching that and I think that it is going to be absolutely phenomenal for The Bahamas as really a top shelf destination.”<\/p>\n
Mr. Wilson also said that by the time the resort is completed, more than $300 million would have been spent. <\/p>\n
On Monday, while announcing a development for Cat Island, Prime Minister Perry Christie touted the benefits of having anchor investment projects in Family Island communities.<\/p>\n
“So long as we are able to have a major investment in each of the islands, you’re going to have that investment trigger off or act as a catalyst for the development of an economy that can sustain itself and then keep people on the island.”<\/p>\n
Mr. Christie praised Mr. Wilson and his group for being bold enough to invest in a Bahamian island when so many Bahamian businesspeople have declined to do so.<\/p>\n
“Franklyn Wilson’s development in Eleuthera, which is a mega investment for a Bahamian and the first of its kind for a Bahamian-led group, will hopefully demonstrate to Bahamians that we do not have to wait on, as has happened in the past, the lead Jamaican hoteliers-to come to the Bahamas to demonstrate confidence in the tourism industry.”<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, several other Family Island investment projects are facing other difficulties.<\/p>\n
For example, in Harbour Island, some residents have voiced fears that that project could destroy the island’s uniqueness.<\/p>\n
Developers for that property are proposing to construct a 40-unit hotel condominium and a 50-slip marina.<\/p>\n
Another project that has encountered resistance from some locals is the controversial Baker’s Bay development in Guana Cay.<\/p>\n
The $500 million development will include oceanfront units, hillside units, internal gold lots, beach club cottages, mangrove beach bungalows, marina bungalows, village units and several boathouses.<\/p>\n
The Save Guana Cay Association took the matter to court and an agreement was made to <\/p>\n
cease construction until court proceedings are completed.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, some residents of Bimini also oppose the Bimini Bay project.<\/p>\n
By: Royanne Forbes-Darville, The Bahama Journal<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gangsta’ businessman Franklyn Wilson experiencing delays with Cotton Bay development.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-248582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-headlines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248582\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}