By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

An investor group headed by Jamie Dingman has leased 25 per cent of the units in a major Bay Street shopping plaza, Tribune Business can reveal, with plans to create a restaurant destination unmatched “except for Marina Village”.

Charles Klonaris, who together with his brothers developed the $14 million Elizabeth on Bay plaza, confirmed to Tribune Business that Mr Dingman and his fellow investors were “committed” to leasing four units.

The units in question include the former Blu Restaurant and Courtyard Cafe spots, and while the Dingman group is still developing their concepts, Mr Klonaris said they were looking to develop a variety of restaurant/bar experiences.

Together with the existing Sur Club, these businesses will create a five-strong restaurant ‘critical mass’ that will boost both Elizabeth on Bay and downtown Nassau, attracting more tourists and visitors to the area and generating spin-offs for other areas.

Mr Klonaris told Tribune Business that the Dingman investor group’s plans would transform the plaza into a “complete, top-notch destination”. It would also see more than 80 per cent of Elizabeth on Bay fully leased.

“I can confirm to you that they’re taking four units,” Mr Klonaris said of Mr Dingman and his fellow investors, “but they haven’t totally finished the concept of what they’re doing with the four.”

Although uncertain as to how many jobs will be created, Mr Klonaris said restaurants were labour intensive by their nature. He believes two of the four units might open in around 60 days, with job numbers running at least into the tens.

Tribune Business sources familiar with developments said the investors were exploring sports and game-related concepts for at least some of the restaurant formats.

“They have big plans for that,” one source said of the Elizabeth on Bay leases. “There’s a number of different things.”

Tribune Business was told that the Dingman group is planning “a very nice, but casual, restaurant” for the space previously occupied by Blu at the plaza’s northern end by the sea.

Upstairs above Blu will likely be set aside for an area where meetings and events, catered to by the restaurant, will be held.

“With the docks behind it, it gives easy access to people from Paradise Island, Ocean Club Estates and the cruise ships,” the source said of Elizabeth on Bay’s location attractions for the investors.

Mr Dingman, the son of renowned entrepreneur, philanthropist and investor, Michael Dingman, was yesterday said to be in California with his family and unavailable for comment before press time.

However, Mr Klonaris confirmed the group’s line of thinking, telling Tribune Business: “It’s not written in stone, but that’s the concept.

“The reason they’ve come together with four units is to create a destination. There’s going to be four restaurants/bars along with Sur Club.

“What it’s going to do is really create a destination where you have five top restaurants - well-managed, well-run units with different concepts. It will be a variety for both locals and tourists.”

He added: “People can pull up on their boats, have a choice of five different types of restaurant/bar where they can relax.

“We are creating multiple types of restaurants, and you’re not going to find that anywhere else in the Bahamas right now, except for Marina Village.

“We’re going to encourage locals to come and enjoy the most magnificent harbour in this hemisphere.”

Mr Klonaris said the Downtown Nassau Partnership’s (DNP) leasing of 60 parking spaces at the adjacent Union Wharf property, which Elizabeth on Bay customers will also be able to use, would “facilitate” convenient day and night access to the Plaza.

Customer parking for locals has been a longstanding problem for downtown Nassau, but Mr Klonaris said the Dingman group’s arrival had reduced Elizabeth on Bay’s vacant units to just three out of 16.

“I am now talking to some very important retailers, but it’s in the initial stages,” Mr Klonaris added of the remaining units, although he declined to name the companies involved.

He suggested the increased customer footfall generated by the Dingman group’s investments would “create a demand for other retailers to open” - not just at Elizabeth on Bay but in downtown Nassau itself.

“The whole idea of this Plaza is starting to come together as a complete destination,” Mr Klonaris told Tribune Business.

“The way it was designed, we have marina, retail, office space and restaurants all under one roof. You are creating variety as well as a destination.

“This is coming close to what I envisioned. It’s been a long haul, but it’s coming together. We’ve gone through five years of deep recession, and it was a very difficult period in trying to attract retailers and restaurateurs to create a destination.”

And Mr Klonaris added of Mr Dingman and his fellow investors: “This is what we needed. Someone of the vision as well as the capital to do what is necessary, and in a recession they’re not easy to find.”

The Bay Street venture follows on swiftly from the acquisition by Mr Dingman and his fellow investors of the iconic Traveller’s Rest eatery in western New Providence.