• Will ‘supercharge’ Elbow Cay with hundreds of jobs

• But months of pleas fail to remove Dorian’s debris

• Govt blames shanty town bar for no ‘squatter’ help

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

An Elbow Cay developer yesterday revealed “frustration has reached a peak” over obstacles impeding a $90m project that could help “supercharge” Abaco’s post-Dorian economic revival.

Matt Winslow, a second home resident on the Cay, told Tribune Business he has been unable to obtain government assistance to clear the former Elbow Cay Club property that he acquired - and obtained all necessary approvals to redevelop - prior to the category five storm’s strike in September 2019.

Having allowed fellow Elbow Cay and Hope Town residents to use the 19-acre parcel as a temporary site for dumping Dorian-related debris, he disclosed that nine to ten months’ worth of pleas to the Disaster Reconstruction Authority (DRA) to remove this waste via barge has yet to produce any action (see other article on Page 1B).

And, besides two massive debris piles that are several storeys high, Mr Winslow said he now faces the additional challenge posed by an estimated 100-200 “squatters” who are living in old, abandoned structures and tents on the former Elbow Cay Club site.

Describing the situation as fraught with health and safety hazards for those persons, he explained that after giving them numerous warnings to leave he has now assembled a demolition team to take down these old structures and clear the site.

However, Mr Winslow explained that the government authorities - including the Royal Bahamas Police Force and Immigration Department - have declined to help ensure the existing residents leave in a safe and orderly manner on the basis that the recent Supreme Court ruling and injunction forbidding the demolition of so-called “shanty towns” prohibits their involvement in any form.

Emphasising that he has “nothing but compassion and empathy” for those persons occupying his land, the developer and second home owner revealed he is now seeking to hire a private security firm and will consult with attorneys to determine whether demolition activities can proceed on July 15.

“Frustration has reached a peak,” Mr Winslow told Tribune Business. “We’re a family that is focused on preserving the community, and we’ve been patient, but at some point we need help from the government to help get this land clear.

“My project is less important than rebuilding the community, but it will create jobs, supercharge the economy, and infuse millions of dollars into Abaco... It’s going to be a boutique, independent luxury resort and resort community with approximately 40 hotel keys and 25 residences.

“Before Dorian we were working very collaboratively with the community over the design, the density, it provided long-term jobs for the community, and it fits into the aesthetics and culture of the community. But I can’t start any work with what is happening on the island right now.”

Mr Winslow said Town Hall meetings were held to explain the project to Elbow Cay residents prior to Dorian, and he and his family completed the acquisition of the 19-acre Elbow Cay Club parcel shortly before the storm struck. All necessary Bahamas Investment Authority (BIA) and other approvals, he added, were obtained to redevelop a property that enjoyed its peak in the 1960s and 1970s.

Describing it as “a gorgeous parcel of land” located south of Hope Town “on the sea of Abaco”, Mr Winslow said of plans that are ready to immediately proceed: “For the reconstruction, this would create 75-150 jobs, and certainly once the resort opens obviously we have to engage almost all Bahamian community members, so it will probably be at least 100-150 full and part-time employees.

“It’s a significant employment opportunity for the island. The entire project will probably be north of $90m, and my family - our family - has invested approximately $15m to-date in the purchase of the land, the drawings and to get it to ‘shove ready’.”

Mr Winslow’s family are the founders and controlling shareholders of Constellation Brands, a Fortune 500 company involved in the international production, marketing and sale of multiple beer, wine and spirits brands, including the likes of Corona, Modelo and Robert Mondavi wines.

The family is also majority owners of HHC Florida LLC, a developer and manager of both commercial and residential properties, which includes several US-based resorts in its portfolio.

Mr Winslow, meanwhile, disclosed that they also acquired a further nine-acre parcel immediately to the Elbow Cay Club’s south last year. It will be the location for “back of house” facilities, including employee housing and a solar energy field complete with battery storage “so that the entire project is completely sustainable”.

Other amenities include a 35-slip marina, but no refuelling facilities, a restaurant, spa and fitness centre that will have “a membership element” and be accessible to Elbow Cay residents and Abaconians. Spin-off businesses such as bike and gold cart rentals will go to existing such businesses on Elbow Cay.

“We’re not trying to step on anyone’s toes,” Mr Winslow told Tribune Business. “We’re creating development that’s respectful and aligns with what is a very historic and special destination. We’ll be doing it in phases. The first phase will last approximately one year-and-a-half, and the second phase - the residences - we’ll build them as lots sell. We’re looking at a two-and-a-half year to three year construction project.

“We’ve asked the community what they’d like to have on the island, and we’re coming in at a level that will really elevate other hotels and restaurants on the island, and create a really special destination and not cannibalise business or take away from others. I think there’s plenty of demand so that we don’t take away from the other hotels and restaurants on the island.”

Mr Winslow and his family’s Sands Family Foundation have been among the key players in Hope Town United, the non-profit group that has helped to finance and organise the clean-up and rebuilding of the settlement and wider Elbow Cay in Dorian’s wake.

The group has contributed more than $8m to the destination’s restoration, with Mr Winslow disclosing that $2m of this sum has come from himself and his family. He told this newspaper that he has been coming to The Bahamas three to four times’ a year for the past two decades, with 12-13 of those years spent calling on Elbow Cay and leading to his construction of a home on the island.

“The island has not completely recovered,” Mr Winslow said, “but in Marsh Harbour they have a lot more work to do. Elbow Cay has bounced back entirely thanks to the work of the community and private dollars, and we want to take the next step in the recovery and are looking to the Government to help us do that and allow the island to move forward.”