By FAY SIMMONS

Tribune Business Reporter

jsimmons@tribunemedia.net

The Government has allocated $1m in the 2024-2025 Budget to finance its purchase of the dilapidated Royal Oasis resort with a matching amount for the West Sunrise Highway.

Prime Minister Philip Davis KC, in leading-off the 2024-2025 Budget debate, said his administration plans to acquire the Princess Towers hotel (Royal Oasis), West Sunrise Road and the now-derelict International Bazaar site for under $4m.

He added that loan financing has been arranged with the African Export-Import Bank to redevelop that site into an African-Caribbean products marketplace. Mr Davis previously indicated that the all-in development cost, including the purchase price, was around $30m.

However, no deal has yet been sealed for either the Royal Oasis or International Bazaar sites. Chris Paine, president of the International Bazaar Owners Association, told Tribune Business after the May 29 Budget that discussions with the Government were only at a preliminary stage although, given that “90 percent of the buildings are vandalised or destroyed by fire”, the only real asset to be acquired is land.

The International Bazaar’s ownership is also somewhat complex with no less than 13 separate entities involved, including the likes of the Bahamas Hotel, Catering and Allied Workers Union (BHCAWU), John Bull and the Chee-A-Tow family. This means it could take some time to get all parties on the same page, and to agree a purchase price plus terms and conditions of sale.

As for the Royal Oasis, it will have been closed for 20 years this September. Tribune Business reported earlier this year that its current owner, Harcourt Developments, the Irish-based property developer, had appointed Colliers, the international real estate firm, to market and sale its Grand Bahama real estate holdings including the resort.

However, no deal has yet been concluded. “There’s been a lot of talk but no action,” one source said of a potential Royal Oasis sale. The Government has allocated $1m towards the “acquisition of Royal Oasis” in both the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 fiscal years, as well as the one immediately upcoming, indicating it may be hoping to pay-off the resort’s purchase over time.

Ginger Moxey, minister for Grand Bahama, in her 2024-2025 Budget debate contribution, said the purchase will help to “revitalise” the surrounding area and stimulate economic growth in Grand Bahama. “The Government has also agreed to acquire the property that the International Bazaar and Royal Oasis tower and casino is situated on for a future development that will revitalise the area and stimulate economic activity for the benefit of the Bahamian people for less than $4m,” she said.

“This transaction involves 14 property owners. Thereafter, the properties will be demolished and beautified to make way for an amazing, world-class tourist attraction.” Mrs Moxey confirmed that the Afro-Caribbean Marketplace will be funded “after in-depth analysis” by the Africa Export-Import Bank.

She said: “It is envisioned that the Afro-Caribbean Marketplace on Grand Bahama will provide amazing entrepreneurial opportunities to empower Bahamians, especially in the creative industry – the orange economy.”

The minister for Grand Bahama also weighed in on the ongoing dispute between the Davis administration and the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) over $357m that the Government claims is owed by the latter for costs incurred in providing public services in Freeport over and above what it has earned in tax revenues for the 2018-2022 period.

She said: “It is that simple. GBPA is obligated to reimburse the Government of The Bahamas in law.” Mrs Moxey said the Davis administration will continue to seek the best deal for the Grand Lucayan’s sale and will make further announcements “when the money is in the bank”.

She asserted that the former Minnis administration purchased the hotel at a rate higher than its appraised value to prevent lay-offs and ended up using “taxpayers’ dollars” to subsequently distribute severance packages to former staff.

Mrs Moxey said: “With the Grand Lucayan, bear in mind, member for East Grand Bahama [Kwasi Thompson], that it was your administration that purchased the hotel for more than its appraised value to ‘save jobs’ then you turned around and still ended up using taxpayers’ dollars to pay severance as you let the same people go.

“In any event, this Davis/Cooper administration continues to work for you to find the best deal possible, and as the member for Exuma and Ragged Island would say: ‘We’ll have a lot more to say when the money is in the bank’.”