By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Downtown Nassau Partnership’s (DNP) co-chair yesterday said Union Wharf’s buyers needed to invest between $150-$200 million to ensure a successful development, and provide a counterweight to the British Colonial Hilton’s expansion.

Charles Klonaris told Tribune Business that the $250 million project, known as The Pointe, would add to “the pull” that typically drags cruise ship passengers and other tourists towards west Bay Street, starving the eastern end of customers and business.

Speaking amid suggestions that Union Wharf has been sold to a Barbados-based group that has Bahamian involvement, Mr Klonaris argued that, if done correctly, the property’s redevelopment would serve as “a catalyst” to draw tourists back to east Bay Street.

“I’ve always said that is one of the most important properties for the redevelopment of the city of Nassau,” the DNP co-chair told Tribune Business of Union Wharf, “and that’s because it’s one of biggest pieces on the harbourfront.

“Whoever buys it needs to spend a minimum of $150-$200 million for it to be successful and beneficial for the city of Nassau. It has to be a very high standard.”

While Union Wharf’s Barbadian buyer has yet to reveal its plans for Pioneer Shipping’s former home, Mr Klonaris said Bay Street would not benefit from ‘speculative” of small-scale development.

“What we need is a massive development on that property,” he added.”Because of its location it’s the biggest plot closest to the cruise ships, and it needs a properly planned development. It would be the catalyst the city needs to start growing.”

East Bay Street ‘east of East Street’ has largely become a ‘twilight zone’ or ‘ghost town’, due to a combination of the shipping industry’s move to Arawak Cay and the almost-natural inclination of cruise ship passengers to turn west after leaving Prince George’s Wharf.

And Mr Klonaris, who with his brothers owns the Elizabeth on Bay plaza next to Union Wharf, suggested this ‘pull’ would be exacerbated when China Construction America (CCA) completes The Pointe development.

“The Chinese are developing a $250 million expansion of the British Colonial Hilton, and they’ve got a lot of restaurants and are going to have entertainment,” Mr Klonaris told Tribune Business.

“It’s an even stronger facility pulling the tourists west. To offset that, we need something [in the east]. It’s going to be difficult to meet that standard, but all the way from Kelly’s Dock to the [Paradise Island] bridge, it should be compelling for the tourists to come.

“We need something as compelling as the Chinese are doing. Every development east of East Street needs to have a purpose. Whatever we do there in partnership together should be compelling to offset that.”

The Union Wharf purchaser’s identity has been shrouded in secrecy ever since Tribune Business reported in March 2015 that the property was ‘under contract’, after the seller CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank (Bahamas) - received four serious bids.

This newspaper understands that the deal was so secretive that the realtors marketing the property did not show the selected buyer around, with all parties bound by a confidentiality agreement.

However, it was reported yesterday that a Barbados-incorporated company, the Galaxy Group, had bought Union Wharf for $10 million,

From the few details divulged, the company’s incorporation date in early 2015 coincides with when Union Wharf’s sale process was ‘heating up, suggesting that Galaxy Group was incorporated for the specific purpose of acquiring the property.

While two of its directors seemed to be Barbadian financial services professionals, the principal behind the deal was said to be a Richard Barrow.

However, numerous downtown Nassau and business community sources have in recent months suggested that Peter Nygard, the Lyford Cay-based fashion designer, is involved in the Union Wharf purchase.

That could not be confirmed yesterday, and Mr Nygard’s spokesperson did not respond to a detailed e-mail seeking comment. Mr Gibson, too, did not respond to this newspaper’s voice messages and e-mails.

Suggestions of his involvement could have been sparked by several things, not least the fact that Eric Gibson, an estate manager employed by Mr Nygard, and brother of Shane Gibson, minister of labour and national insurance, is named as a Galaxy Group director.

And Mr Nygard, in a recent radio interview, said he had purchased an unidentified property for use as a stem cell clinic.

Union Wharf currently remains locked up, and in the same condition that it was left in by Pioneer Shipping and the bank, which suggests that Galaxy Group is waiting on the necessary permits or still finalising its plans.

Union Wharf, with its harbourfront boundary and central location, has long been viewed as having potential for a multi-million dollar mixed-use development, featuring a marina, boutique resort, retail and condominium features.

However, a major turn-off, and impediment, for potential buyers are the current height restrictions on construction in downtown Nassau, which limit what they can do with that property.