By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian investors will get details on how they can invest in a $60m hydroponic farming project by early March, its principals saying yesterday: “We want to make agriculture sexy again.”

Lincoln Deal, Eeden Farms’ co-founder, told Tribune Business that Bahamians would get a chance to participate in a “high level” of ownership in the proposed Gladstone Road facility that will be 100 percent privately financed.

He confirmed that himself and his fellow co-founder, Carlos Palacious, are currently talking to both Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and FTX Digital Markets, the Bahamian subsidiary of the world’s third largest cryptocurrency exchange which recently switched its headquarters to this nation from Hong Kong, about providing financing for the planned 71,000 square foot facility.

The necessary land “is in hand”, Mr Deal said, with the project set to be located at the Ministry of Agriculture’s former agro village “near where the farmer’s market used to be”. Mr Palacious added that the duo and their US partner, 80 Acres Farms, were aiming to “break ground” on construction in the 2022 second or third quarter depending on how quickly the required approvals are obtained.

Besides cutting into The Bahamas’ annual $1bn food import bill with their herbs and greens, and providing a model for other farmers to emulate, the Eeden Farms duo said the project - to be known as Eeden Acres - aims to also inspire young Bahamians to enter the industry through its marriage of agriculture and technology via the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in growing techniques.

The concept paper for Eeden Acres pledged to “dedicate a portion of its shareholdings” to diversified Bahamian ownership via an investment fund, and Mr Deal yesterday promised that more specifics on this will be released shortly.

“That is another part we’re excited by,” he said. “There will be opportunities for Bahamians to invest and have some level of ownership. We’re talking at a high level. We’ll be rolling out specifics very shortly. We’re still discussing it, but it’s definitely going to happen.

“Our chief financial officer is working extremely had to put all that together, and it’s going to be beautiful. We’re hoping that by late February or early March, within the next month or so, those details will be released to the public.

“We hope to do it quicker, we hope to do it faster, but that’s an ideal timeline as it aligns with the permitting process coupled with other things that we’re going to roll out.”

Based on the description contained in the Eeden Acres concept paper, it appears likely that Bahamians will be given the opportunity - as presently structured - to buy shares in an investment fund that will, in turn, acquire and hold an equity stake in the Gladstone Road venture.

Asked how much of the project will be majority-held by Bahamians, Mr Deal did not give any percentages or figures but promised that local equity ownership will be “significantly higher” than the stake held by its US partner.

“It is predominantly Bahamian,” he added. “80 Acres will have a minority ownership share in the company.” To finance construction and build-out, Mr Deal confirmed Eeden Farms is speaking to both FTX Digital Markets and RBC. Ryan Salame, the former’s chief executive, and Jerry Butler, RBC’s corporate and investment banking vice-president, were both on the Friday visit to 80 Acres.

“We’re all having discussions, and we hope to continue those discussions, but they are supportive and we will know in a very short time how that is progressing,” he told Tribune Business of the talks.

“We have the land already. We have already acquired the land on Gladstone Road. That is in hand. It’s near the Ministry of Agriculture’s agro-village property. It’s near where the farmer’s market used to be. We’re going through the process of getting the permits done and the drawings in. That’s going very rapidly and efficiently, and we hope to break ground in a very short time.”

Mr Palacious added: “We’re in the process of preparing design drawings and issuing environmental documents. We are in the process of preparing those now. We’ll continue to go through the process as needed to get all those permits in place.

“We’re in the process of value engineering, and are in the planning stage - the technical planning stage. We definitely plan to break ground this year between the second quarter and the third quarter this year, probably more the third quarter.” It was too early, Mr Palacious said, to provide figures on how many construction jobs will be generated by the development.

With 80 Acres set to provide much of the technology and operational expertise, Mr Deal said the harnessing of robotics and artificial intelligence in the growing process would be especially appealing to young Bahamians who could be enticed into a career in agriculture.

“We want to make agriculture sexy again,” he told Tribune Business. “This is developing a tool. It’s merging agriculture and technology, which interests young people, using robotics and AI to grow food. It’s social impacting at its highest level.”

Eeden Farms, at its current containerised farming facility in western New Providence, employs a workforce comprised of “exclusively women” with degrees in areas such as biodiversity, chemistry and sustainability.