By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The fight to acquire and develop the former Ginn project has intensified after a Bahamian-led investor group paid a $2.6m deposit to purchase 1,143 acres as part of its bid to transform Grand Bahama’s West End into “the Monaco of the Caribbean”.

Tribune Business has obtained independent confirmation that Shane Coakley, the Bahamian principal of Seattle-based Coakley International, has paid a 10 percent deposit as the first step in a $26m deal with The Bahamas’ treasurer to acquire four separate land parcels which formed the core of Ginn sur mer’s real estate development component.

Both sides have 45 days to close the deal under a sales agreement dated December 16, 2025, which means the transaction is scheduled to complete - and the balance of the $26m purchase price be paid - by this Friday, January 30, although this deadline can be extended under certain conditions.

The agreement reveals that the Treasurer is acting as the vendor, or seller, of the four parcels because they were seized and auctioned-off by the Department of Inland Revenue using its powers to collect on delinquent real property taxes. However, the deal with Coakley International generates multiple unresolved questions given that there are rivals with competing ownership claims to the same four land parcels.

Multiple well-placed sources, speaking under condition of anonymity, are challenging whether the Treasurer has anything to sell given that much of the real estate that comprised the former Ginn project is caught up in a legal dispute over alleged unpaid real property taxes, and the amount that is owed, which is set to be heard by the Tax Appeals Commission around the end of March 2026.

The tax challenge is spearheaded by Lubert Adler, the investment bank that was Ginn’s former financing partner, and Orlando-based Kingwood International Resorts, which has been attempting to acquire the rights and title to the West End project from it. Given that this battle remains live, and unresolved, several sources are querying whether the Treasurer has obtained ownership and can sell the land to Mr Coakley.

Tribune Business has seen documents suggesting that the Department of Inland Revenue exercised its “power of sale”, and auctioned off the ex-Ginn land parcels, on June 24, 2025. It is unclear, though, whether the process was subject to competitive bidding, and multiple offers solicited and obtained, as required by the Real Property Tax Act to ensure Bahamian taxpayers receive the best possible price.

Coakley International, in its statement announcing its deal, said it had been “awarded the bid” for the 1,143 acres but this award is understood to have only been formally confirmed in November 2025 - close to five months after the auction was held. The Department of Inland Revenue had previously attempted to sell the same land holdings in late 2024 over $26m in allegedly unpaid real property tax debts but that was thwarted and put on hold.

Lubert Adler and Kingwood contested both the valuation of the actual land and the amount of real property tax arrears owed to the Government. This has led to the upcoming Tax Appeal Commission hearing, with the Department of Inland Revenue said to be valuing the property at $36m as opposed to the $15m price tax that Lubert Adler and Kingwood have obtained via their own appraisals.

“Does the Treasurer have anything to sell?” one informed contact asked, questioning whether the auction and subsequent deal with Coakley International are an effort to circumvent and undermine the lawful Tax Appeals Commission process.

“You also have to have a competitive bidding process. You have to have a timeline for the submission of bids, and you have to go through a formal process. The whole thing is a farce. It’s a set up. It undermines the integrity of the entire tax appeal process particularised in the Tax Appeal Commission Act. All of this is just ridiculous.”

Tribune Business was unsuccessful in its bid to obtain comment from Lubert Adler and Kingwood before press time yesterday. However, Mr Coakley told this newspaper that his rivals are “completely out” because their tax appeal “didn’t happen”, thus paving the way for the Department of Inland Revenue to seize the land and sell it to recover the real property tax arrears.

He told Tribune Business: “They are out. They are completely out. They did. They tried to appeal it. It didn’t happen and the Treasurer took it. We are in contract, and they have our money - a non-refundable deposit. They [Luber-Adler and Kingwood] cannot stop it. It’s too far gone now. We’re going to push forward.”

Lubert Adler took over the Ginn development’s core property, and the neighbouring Old Bahama Bay resort, after the original developer defaulted on its debt some 14-15 years ago. It has been seeking a buyer, and exit route, for some time.

Tribune Business previously reported it had done an offshore deal with Kingwood where the latter’s principals took control of LRA-OBB, the entity that owns the Old Bahama Bay resort, and other affiliates, via a transaction that was concluded outside The Bahamas whereby they assumed Board and management control.

However, Kingwood has struggled to obtain the necessary government approvals to cement the deal and, to this day, has been unsuccessful in at least two applications to acquire them.

Phylicia Hanna-Woods, the Bahamas Investment Authority’s (BIA) director, confirmed in September 2023 that Kingwood had been rejected as the Ginn project’s prospective purchaser because it was “unable to satisfy the Government of their fitness to do business in The Bahamas”.

Given this situation, and with a general election imminent, the Government may well have decided to break the West End impasse by using the alleged real property tax arrears - and fact Kingwood does not posses an International Persons Landholding Act permit to authorise and legally secure its ownership of Bahamian real estate - to seize the West End property holdings and pave the way for Mr Coakley’s transaction.

Tribune Business understands that the Bahamian investor, and his group, have obtained support for their ambitious plans from senior figures in the Davis administration. He and Coakley International are represented by Thomas Dean, the Dupuch and Turnquest attorney, who is also Concord Wilshire’s legal adviser on the Grand Lucayan purchase that the Prime Minister is expected to speak about within the next 48 hours.

Mr Coakley, meanwhile, voiced optimism that his group will obtain all necessary government permits and approvals to launch their multi-billion dollar West End development even though well-placed sources confirmed that no formal submission or application has been made to either the Bahamas Investment Authority (BIA) or National Economic Council (NEC), the latter of which is either the Cabinet or a Cabinet committee or sub-committee.

“We have gotten everything that they have needed in,” Mr Coakley told Tribune Business. “We are assembling next [sic, this] week. We have more documents to give to Thomas Dean next week to submit for the Government’s approval. I don’t think we will have any problems with government approvals.” The sales agreement will also have to be completed, and the full purchase price paid, before applications for approvals kick-in.

This is not the first time that Mr Coakley and his company have clashed with Lubert Adler and Kingwood over their competing plans to acquire and redevelop the former Ginn project. Tribune Business revealed at end-March 2025 how the latter complained to The Bahamas’ Data Protection Commissioner and US regulators that Mr Coakley had “misrepresented” himself as the owner and/or purchaser of the former Ginn project.

Mr Coakley hit back that he would “never, never do that” after Michael Scott KC, the Bahamian attorney for LRA-OBB and Resort Holdings, the two entities that held the 2,000-acre plus Ginn sur mer site, launched a formal complaint about promotional material posted on Coakley International’s website.

He also countered by alleging that his problems with LRA-OBB began when he submitted a bid to acquire the Ginn project, asserting: “When it went up to bid, I raised the money, I got the money and they’ve been attacking me ever since. They’ve tried to block me from coming on to their property. It’s just been a fight with these guys.”

Coakley International’s website also reveals he has now teamed with another Lubert Adler/Kingwood adversary. John McDonald, president of Island Ventures Resort and Club (IVRC), the entity formed by the 73 condo owners to keep Old Bahama Bay open following Ginn’s 2011 default, is now named as Coakley International’s vice-president as well as president of Old Bahama Bay.

Tribune Business has reported extensively on efforts by Lubert Adler and Kingwood to replace IVRC as Old Bahama Bay’s management company. Prior to Coakley International’s $26m deal with the Treasurer surfacing, this newspaper understands that the LRA-OBB partners were in the process of obtaining all necessary approvals - including Central Bank exchange control approval - before making a renewed attempt to force IVRC out;

Mr Coakley asserted that, as part of his group’s plans, they have acquired “an ownership interest in Old Bahama Bay” itself although he declined to provide specifics on the purchase price and size of the equity stake taken. “The reason we bought into Old Bahama Bay was to show our dedication and, at the same time, to be able to control that association,” he explained.