By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Nassau Cruise Port will “not unreasonably withhold” permission for any of its Marketplace tenants to expand their business by opening another outlet in a New Providence resort, its top executive has pledged.

Michael Maura, addressing concerns that a clause in the vendors’ lease agreement with Nassau Cruise Port is tantamount to a ‘restraint of free trade’, told Tribune Business in a recent interview that the Prince George Wharf operator only wants “to understand” what a vendor’s expansion plan may be so that it does not detract from the overall effort to downtown Nassau’s waterfront.

He spoke out after concerns were voiced over a lease clause that stipulates marketplace tenants cannot open a “competing retail shop” at any other New Providence or Paradise Island resort without the cruise port’s permission.

“The tenant agrees that, during the term of this lease agreement, it shall not own or operate, whether on its own, or in partnership, or other form of association with another, any competing retail shop in any other resort on Paradise Island or New Providence without prior written consent of the landlord, save and except those currently so owned and/or operated as listed” in an annex to the agreement, the lease document said. Those exceptions and the annex were not enclosed.

Yvette Prince, president of the Nassau Cruise Port Tenant Association, which includes Marketplace vendors, voiced strident objections to this clause. “One of the things that they want us to sign on the lease says if we signed the lease, if we have an existing business, they want to know where it is. And if we want to have another business, we have to get permission from them. There was no way that I would put my signature on something like that,” she said last week.

Mr Maura, though, said Nassau Cruise Port was investing heavily in promoting the Marketplace tenants’ business to visitors and positioning them at “the front door” of the 4.2m cruise passenger arrivals it expects to accommodate in 2023. It is also providing the first year rent-free, had brokered a deal for all to secure general liability insurance at “minimal cost”, and had invested heavily in ensuring all tenants offer authentically Bahamian products to tourists.

Indicating that the cruise port did not want this effort disturbed through a Marketplace Tenant opening a similar, or competing, outlet in a New Providence hotel that offers the same products, thereby drawing stopover tourists away from visiting downtown Nassau, Mr Maura said: “The requirement, as outlined in the lease, is that a tenant that is operating at the port that wishes to open up the same store in another location simply has to come to us as landlord and make as request.

“The company will not unreasonably object. That’s the way it works. The question is the ‘why’. From our perspective, specific to the Marketplace tenant group, we are providing assistance to help those folks get established and develop, enhance and improve their individual brands. We’re doing that by positioning them so close to the front door of 4.2m cruise passengers for 2023 and 4.6m for 2024.

“We’re helping them out with Small Business Development Centre (SBDC) grants up to $20,000 to fit-out their spaces. We are undertaking promotional campaigns to highlight that operators in that space are offering authentic Bahamian products, and promoting that to cruise passengers and people coming into that space,” Mr Maura continued.

“The first year, they are operating rent free. The second year is reasonable, and we feel that we’re doing a lot to promote their brand. A big part of the overall project is to improve the destination of downtown. What we want, and our hope is, that people come downtown to go and see the tenants as opposed to going a hotel some place to see that tenant.”

The Nassau Cruise Port chief emphasised that the Prince George Wharf operator, which is 51 percent Bahamian owned by a combination of the investors in the Bahamas Investment Fund and the Yes Foundation, will not stand in the way of Marketplace tenants seeking to grow and expand by increasing their number of locations.

“We obviously support and applaud the entrepreneurial spirit of all Bahamians, and don’t have any intention of being unreasonable in terms of someone trying to grow and expand their business,” he told Tribune Business. “We’d like to understand, so that what we don’t do is harm the collective effort to revitalise the downtown waterfront.

“We have no intention of being unreasonable to someone’s desire and passion, and them investing in their business to grow and develop their business. You’re getting into business looking to get a return on your hard work, creativity and ingenuity. That’s to be applauded and supported. We’d like to understand what the plan is and, per the lease, permission will not be unreasonably withheld.”

The Nassau Cruise Port, in its previous response to other Marketplace Tenant concerns, said: “To alleviate the financial burden on its Marketplace tenants, the Nassau Cruise Port is providing one year rent-free to leaseholding tenants. This unprecedented initiative allows these small business owners to focus on their growth and development without the immediate pressure of rent expenses.

“The waiving of rent for a year also allows tenants to adjust their authentic products and non-Bahamian product offerings to be better aligned with demand. The rent waiver gives the tenants an opportunity to refine their products and promote their unique artistic offerings. In addition, tenants were only required to pay a security deposit, not first and last month’s rent.

“Nassau Cruise Port [has also] brokered a deal to provide liability insurance coverage for each tenant at Nassau Cruise Port for a minimal cost, saving time, money and effort and ultimately benefiting all of the tenants.”