By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A major Long Island investment project’s near-15,000 acres has been advertised for sale via auction by the Government authorities to clear an allegedly unpaid real property tax debt.

The Department of Inland Revenue, in last Thursday’s listing of 122 delinquent commercial properties and vacant land that it plans to sell on April 2, 2024, included a 14,720-acre parcel “formerly known as Diamond Crystal properties between Galloway Beach and Wells Point” on Long Island. The property was said to have an appraised value of $21m.

Tribune Business research found the same site was touted as the location for a major investment project as recently as the Long Island Business Outlook conference on November 16, 2023. The acreage listed in the Department of Inland Revenue advertisement matches exactly the number given by Geoff Fulton, chairman of Maritek Bahamas, for his Chrysalis project.

Mr Fulton said then that he planned to segment the 14,720-acre parcel into two, featuring a 11,720-acre environmental preserve and 3,000 acres for development. Pledging that Chrysalis will be “light on the land”, he added that the concept will be based on the cottage resorts he has developed in Canada under the Great Blue Resorts brand.

Mr Fulton said Chrysalis will create a “transformative experience” even though he, too, did not yet possess all the necessary government approvals to proceed. His project seeks to create a community of 1,000 modular, already-built, homes divided into clusters of 25-100 properties whose parts just need to be shipped to The Bahamas.

Activities such as boating and fishing will feature prominently. “The anticipated market we’re driving for is not the economic elite because the modular structures we’re looking at maybe reflect owners, people who are sensitive to nature and want to interact with Long Islanders,” he added. “They learn as much from Long Islanders as you do from them, and maybe more.

“They’re here to learn from you, not show you otherwise.” Suggesting that Chrysalis residents will be interested in buying from local producers and farmers markets, Mr Fulton said: “The concept is that the resort will be inclusive, not exclusive. The owners will engage with the wider community, go shopping, get their own supplies and get to know people.”

The adjacent Salinas project, being pursued by Diamond Crystal Properties, is a separate development that is not impacted by the Department of Inland Revenue notice. Diamond Crystal Properties is controlled by the Toronto-based Hamilton Group, which has investments in traditional equity stocks; residential resort communities; crypto currencies and a Canadian airline.

It is headed by its president, David Young, who partnered with Mr Fulton on an effort that started almost 20 years ago in 2004 to secure the former Diamond Crystal property. They endured legal battles in the Bahamian and US courts to affirm their ownership, and are understood to have ultimately decided to develop separate projects as neighbours.

The Diamond Crystal site was, almost four decades ago, the main driver of Long Island’s economy, providing the biggest source of employment on the island. Diamond Crystal opened its plant in the 1970s and, after it closed due to its US parent filing for bankruptcy, was taken over by World Wide Protein (Bahamas), a shrimp farming company.

That venture, too, failed with the shrimp farming closing after several years of operations in the mid-1980s. World Wide Protein is understood to be the predecessor to Maritek Bahamas. The loss of economic activity and employment opportunities has contributed to the steady depopulation of Long Island ever since.