By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Port Lucaya Marketplace’s new owner plans to invest “at least $2 million” over the next five years to transform the facility into an upscale shopping and entertainment centre, with seven prospective new tenants in the process of signing leases.

Peter Hunt told Tribune Business that the seven new businesses, ranging from tapas and sushi bars to sunglasses stores, would take the Marketplace’s occupancy levels to 95 per cent if they all confirmed.

He added that all existing Port Lucaya tenants had paid their rents in full, and on time, for March, and that payment plans had been agreed with them to take care of all outstanding payments within the next 12 months.

Speaking to this newspaper one month after taking over the Marketplace, following its $5.5 million acquisition from the Grand Bahama Port Authority’s (GBPA) Bourbon Street Ltd, Mr Hunt said positive change was already occurring.

Apart from upgrading its image and branding, and those of its tenants, he added that the Marketplace’s new ownership was also encouraging its retail/restaurant tenants to remain open until 10pm to “catch the tourists” in the evening.

And, to prevent alcohol-related crime and violence, Mr Hunt said all tenants - bar the Marketplace’s existing nightclub - were being asked to shut their doors at 12 midnight. Drinking in its public places is also supposed to cease then.

“We’ve come in here, changing the place from one car park to the next, with new signage, new branding,” Mr Hunt told Tribune Business.

“We’re reinvesting a lot of money into development and image, just a general uplift of the whole area.

“We’re improving the image, improving the security and improving the hours when people are going to be open.”

Asked how much the new owners planned to invest in the Port Lucaya Marketplace, Mr Hunt replied: “It’s going to be millions rather than hundreds of thousands, over a series of years.

“It’s a phased approach over a five-year period, and it’s going to be at least $2 million.”

Mr Hunt implied that his approach will be to work closely with all existing and new Marketplace tenants, with the hope they will also work with him and respond positively to the changes he is making for the financial benefit of all concerned.

One of his early goals is for tenants to “stay open later at night”, rather than close at 6pm, as many currently do.

Mr Hunt said one of the terms written into leases is that tenants stay open until 10pm, and he added: “We’re trying to get them to do that.

“We’re trying to make them stay open later to catch the tourist who wants to shop and have a meal in the evening.”

He then disclosed that the Marketplace was in discussions with seven potential new tenants, ranging from burger, sushi and tapas bars, and a pretzel operator, to a sunglasses store.

Emphasising that all were owned by local Bahamians, Mr Hunt said: “We’ve got an arrangement. They’re all genuine, and are signing their leases as we speak.

“We’re at 90 per cent occupancy now, and they will take us up to 95 per cent in short order.

“We’re supporting locals here, and are very supportive of arts and crafts and the straw vendors. We’re doing a lot of good for locals.”

The new Marketplace owners also plan to rate its tenants for service and cleanliness standards, something that is done frequently in malls and other upscale shopping destinations throughout the world.

“March was a month when we had all our tenants paying their rent,” Mr Hunt told Tribune Business. “We’ve not asked anyone to leave [since taking over]; we’ve asked them to rebrand and clean up their image. I don’t think that’s anything negative.

“We’ve worked with all the people in arrears on a payment profile, which all have agreed to. We’re being fair to them. We’re not saying: ‘Pay those areas now, or we’ll shut you down’. We’re saying spread it over eight to 12 months, and we’re not charging them interest.

The new owners acquired all the unpaid rent receivables owed top Bourbon Street Ltd in a deal which saw them purchase all its assets and liabilities, but not the company itself.

Mr Hunt said Port Lucaya Marketplace had “tightened up on security”, and was asking most tenants to now adhere to a 12pm closing, a “standard around the world”.

Drinking in its public spaces is also to cease then, as the new owners “will not stand for late night drinking and fighting”.

However, its existing nightclub tenant will be allowed to remain open past the 12pm cut-off, as all its activities are indoors.

Mr Hunt added that dedicated parking lots for Marketplace and tenant employees, and visitors, had also been established.

He explained that the Marketplace’s new owners had also taken action to prevent employees at nearby businesses from using its parking lots for their own vehicles during working hours, an abuse that harmed Bahamian and tourist access.

“We’ve done an awful lot within a month, and more people are coming up to me saying it’s good, it’s looking good, and is much better,” Mr Hunt added. “There seems to be more tourists and more shoppers.

“We want to have a successful shopping and events centre that will be a benefit for the local people and tourists to Grand Bahama, who can enjoy upscale shopping with a great variety of events throughout the week in a safe, secure environment.”