By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

An ex-Deputy Prime Minister has urged the Government to “stop buck passing” and decide final plans for Nassau’s harbourfront boardwalk, a project deemed “critical” to better distributing cruise tourists along Bay Street.

Brent Symonette told Tribune Business that harbourfront real estate owners had been waiting several months for the Christie administration to determine the way forward, adding: “The ball’s in their court.”

Recalling the last meeting with the Prime Minister, Mr Symonette said the Government wanted to hire another consultant, at a cost of $150,000-$170,000, to develop a purported ‘boardwalk masterplan’.

The waterfront property owners rejected this, arguing that enough studies had been performed, and this would in effect be a ‘report to go over another report’.

Mr Symonette told Tribune Business that his family and other property owners had provided the Government with various options for the boardwalk, which is supposed to run east from the British Colonial Hilton all the way to Potter’s Cay Dock.

They were now “waiting for answers” from the Government on what is supposed to be the next major project to spur downtown Nassau’s revitalisation, following the $2 million upgrade to Pompey Square.

And Mr Symonette warned that downtown Nassau’s major property owners, his family among them, would not invest in the redevelopment of their landholdings until the Government gave them “the rules of the game”.

He blasted claims that owners, such as his own family, had failed to exploit incentives such as the Downtown Nassau Revitalisation Act as “disingenuous at best”.

Mr Symonette revealed to Tribune Business that the key issue to be determined in relation to the boardwalk involved its width and usage, plus ownership and management.

Another factor requiring clarification was the existing height restrictions on development in the downtown Nassau area, and whether these would be revised to accommodate the likes of condominium developments.

“The Downtown owners to the east of the British Colonial Hilton have met on several occasions with the Prime Minister, and talked about a way forward that involved the boardwalk and future development of the boardwalk,” the former deputy prime minister told this newspaper.

“We’re waiting for answers from the Government to proceed. Last time we met, the Government requested another study to the tune of $170,000.

“The owners said: ‘No, we have enough studies. It’s time to make a decision’.”

Mr Symonette said it was the Government, rather than the real estate owners, who were holding back downtown Nassau’s redevelopment.

“The ball is in the Government’s court. They need to provide an answer,” he reiterated on the boardwalk project. “We’ve provided the options to the Government. They have to choose (a), (b) or (c). They have to make a decision, not just pass the buck.”

The Christie administration is unlikely to have been focused on downtown Nassau’s redevelopment in recent months, with Value-Added Tax (VAT), gaming (web shops) and the constitutional referendum consuming most of its time and attention.

Yet reviving Bay Street and the surrounding city areas remains critical for this nation’s economy, given the numerous Bahamian-owned businesses that will be positively impacted.

Given the extra ‘competitive squeeze’ that will be posed by Baha Mar, in addition to Atlantis, there is every prospect that downtown Nassau may become the ‘poor cousin’ unless it is differentiated and turned into an alternative attraction for both visitors and locals alike.

Mr Symonette, meanwhile, called on the Government to set clearly defined limits for what types of development would be permitted from East Street running east.

“No one is going to go ahead and develop until they know what the ground rules are,” he told Tribune Business. “Do you expect someone to invest millions of dollars without knowing what the ground rules are? No bank would lend them money for it.

“The holding back on that is in the hands of the Government, not the private sector. To say that the Bahamian owners east of the hotel [British Colonial] have had all the concessions and not gone ahead is disingenuous at best. I could say a lot more, but I would not help my cause.

“They’ve extended the Downtown Nassau Revitalisation Act, which is welcome, but we can’t take advantage of it until these decisions have been made.” Apart from the Symonettes, downtown Nassau’s real estate is owned by other leading Bahamian families, such as the Bethells, the Kellys and the Pritchards/Hazelwoods.

Mr Symonette identified potential changes to height restrictions on downtown Nassau buildings as one key issue awaiting such a decision.

“The Union Dock people have asked for a revision of the height restrictions,” he added. “We still await a decision on that.”

That is a reference to the Thompson family-owned Union Wharf, which has been on the market for several years. Larry Roberts, the property’s realtor, said that despite attracting significant buyer interest there had been no commitments, due to “difficulty in determining exactly what you can do”.

“We are going to need to go at least 12 -14 stories high to fully capitalise on the land and add the value that’s necessary. You cannot stay at the four to five floors like in downtown Bay Street; it won’t work,” he told Tribune Business previously.

Mr Symonette, meanwhile, said he had no knowledge of China State Construction’s proposed masterplan for the redevelopment of the entire downtown area.

While the Prime Minister had informed him of the Chinese interest in developing the vacant six acres immediately adjacent to the British Colonial Hilton on the resort’s western side, he had not been contacted about any plans for the eastern side of downtown Nassau. Nor, to his knowledge, had any other member of his family.

Yet Mr Symonette warned that it would be “a bit of a slap in the face for us Bahamians” if the Chinese could come into downtown Nassau and receive every incentive they wanted, as opposed to the locals’ struggle.

Mr Symonette’s account of the boardwalk situation was backed by Downtown Nassau Partnership (DNP) co-chair, Charles Klonaris, who said the last meeting with the Prime Minister had been “so long agp, two months maybe”.

He disclosed that the Government had wanted executives from EDAW, which developed the original plan for downtown Nassau, to “come back and give us a proper masterplan for the boardwalk and how it should function”.

The harbourfront boardwalk will border numerous private landholdings, and Mr Klonaris said his understanding was that Sir Baltron Bethel, the Prime Minister’s senior policy adviser, had been asked to spearhead the project.

“We think it’s everything,” Mr Klonaris told Tribune Business of the proposed project. “We think it’s a really important part in terms of moving the city east. We think it’s critical.

“The way the city and Woodes Rodgers are structured, as soon as they come off the cruise ship, they turn right, so there is very little activity east of Rawson Square. The boardwalk will play a very important part in moving the tourists east of East Street.

“If you look at where the tourists come off, at the Welcome Centre and Woodes Rodgers Wharf, everything happens in such a small space. It’s so congested, and the movement of tourists and benefit to Bay Street is limited.

“The boardwalk plays a very important role, and is an important piece of the puzzle, in redeveloping the city.”

Mr Klonaris said the waterfront theme would also help attract Bahamians and residents back to the city, either to admire the harbour view or combine this with dining and shopping. It would, he added, “improve the total experience”.

The DNP co-chair also backed the lifting of height restrictions to spark redevelopment on East Bay Street, suggesting this was being looked at for the area east of either Elizabeth Avenue or Victoria Avenue.

“We feel the core of the city, going west from Elizabeth or Victoria Avenue, should still keep the existing height restrictions to preserve the integrity and charm of the city,” Mr Klonaris told Tribune Business.

He added that relatively high property and construction costs, though, meant it was necessary for developers to build ‘up’ if they were to achieve the necessary return on investment and justify the up-front expense - whether it was a condo or a boutique hotel.

Mr Klonaris said there was “so much opportunity east of East Street. The opportunity to diversify development adds so much to the city itself.

“We have an opportunity really to guide development...... What it needs is momentum.”

Mr Klonaris said downtown Nassau’s revitalisation required “a catalyst”, and acknowledged that the Chinese plan could provide this.

Suggesting that persons needed to keep an open mind, he added that it was important the DNP and downtown Nassau stakeholders be given an opportunity to voice an opinion on it at the appropriate time.

“It could be something quite exciting for the city and the country,” Mr Klonaris said.