By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

An Exuma developer yesterday said “rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated” as he outlined progress with his “semi-private club and marina” project.

Brent Hurt, principal of the Marina at Hoopers Bay, said the island “sometimes lives too much on gossip” as he revealed that the development is “on track for docks in the water at the end of the year”.

Describing the development as a 30-slip marina that will be “marketed to the power boat crowd”, and feature two restaurants, bungalows and an on-land fish cleaning station, he told the Exuma Business Outlook conference: “This is an island that sometimes lives too much on gossip.

“Rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated. That’s water going into the basin. It’s real now, it’s happening and we are so excited to be part of the community. Community is key to sustainability. That’s the key. Our goal is to embrace the entire Hooper’s Bay community in this concept.”

Mr Hurt added that he had sold the Village at Hooper’s Bay to a purchaser who, while he did not reveal their identity, was now planning to develop it into a hotel that will service and feed-off his marina project.

“I have sold the Village at Hooper’s Bay to a gentleman who has turned right around and signed an agreement with us. He’s expanding it to be a hotel for the marina,” Mr Hurt said. He added that he wanted to revive the Hooper’s Bay Club spirit, and sense of community and local identity, and make his project an “anchor” to recapture this.

The Hooper’s Bay developer had earlier suggested that the jury is still out on whether “the single family focus on the rent-to-own model” and vacation rentals can provide sustainable growth for Exuma as opposed to its previous reliance on longer-staying winter residents.

Meanwhile, Bob Coughlin, co-founder and president of the non-profit Friends of Exuma, and the developer of Turtlegrass Resort & Island Club, told the same conference that his project was “rolling but it will take two to three years to get online”. 

Speaking ahead of the property’s official unveiling and brand launch today, he added that Turtlegrass had purposely elected to obtain all the necessary Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) and other government agency approvals rather than follow other developers who “announce before they do what they should be doing”.

He added that “a lot of bottom up work” is presently underway, with a roll-on/roll-off facility and dock presently under construction on Big Sampson Cay. He added that a prototype cottage should be completed by year-end 2024, and Turtlegrass is also considering a beach club and meeting facility that can cater to events featuring 100 persons.

“It’s going to take two to three years to come online, but we’re moving,” Mr Coughlin said.