By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Deputy Chief Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

DEVELOPERS of the $200m Bay Street project, The Pointe, are now in the midst of a regulatory process seeking the needed approvals from the government for the next phase of construction, according to an official.

However, Kendeno Knowles, China Construction America’s (CCA) communications director, did not reveal which approvals Strategic Property Holding Ltd and Neworld One Bay Street Ltd were seeking.

Mr Knowles said the development is on target to begin construction of its next phase this year and reach completion in 2018.

He also moved to address questions surrounding the recently completed retail spaces, which remain vacant, telling The Tribune that the outfitting of the spaces are left to the lessees. They have set their own timelines for operation, Mr Knowles said.

This comes after it was revealed that the Christie administration agreed to approve between 400 and 500 work permits, in addition to the transfer of existing work permit holders from Baha Mar to developers of The Pointe.

The government, according to the development’s heads of agreement, will also grant 75 work permits for jobs requiring special skills and expertise where the developers feel Bahamians are not available. The document was tabled in the House of Assembly on Wednesday.

“Developers are now going through the regulatory process,” he said yesterday during a site tour of the property with this newspaper. “It’s the regulatory process so we are going through all of the regulators and all of the government agencies that are involved in this kind of process and we will let due process take its course.

“We have set a date for 2018 and we’ve not made any amendments to that date. That’s our next phase, but there are two more phases to this project.”

He also said: “On the retail spaces I know there were a lot of questions especially over the holiday when we opened up to allow people to come in and park. There were a lot of questions about the facility being open and people walking past the retail outlets along West Bay Street. A lot of people have seen the signs go up and so automatically they assume that this should be open and this is ready.

“But one of the things that we’ve had to explain to everyone is yes these spaces are in fact leased and outfitting will be done by the lessees. When their timelines are, I can’t really disclose that information. Obviously they are our tenants and so their opening dates will be hinging on their own timelines.”

The Pointe’s heads of agreement with the government also says the overall Bahamian to non-Bahamian labour ratio will represent 70 per cent of the total work force. However the developer and the government, through mutual agreement, may decide to vary the employment ratio if it becomes necessary for earlier completion.

According to the document dated June 18, 2015, the government has also agreed to spend $1.5m over a three-year period to promote The Pointe under an arrangement that is to be concluded by developers and the Ministry of Tourism.

It is further noted that a completion date of April 1, 2017, for the first phase, is expected. However, in the event that the developer is unable to complete the components of the project, then the government is at liberty to proportionately reduce concessions, incentives, and benefits enjoyed by the developer.

But if the government is at fault for the delay, the date is to be extended beyond the first day of April by the amount of time that elapsed between the third quarter of 2015 and the actual date by which the developer is able to commence its obligations.