Posted by: Editor on Jul 27, 2006 – 10:02 AM
newsandinfo FREEPORT A Danish investor said he expects to break ground on a new $20 million condo-hotel within the next several weeks on land near the Port Lucaya Marina.
Preben Olsen, of New Hope Holdings Company, was speaking after acquiring the Port Lucaya Marina, and an associated strip of land near the marina, for $6.8 million from the Port Group Ltd., the company that is the private holding vehicle for investments made by the Hayward and St. George families.
Prime Minister Perry Christie, Tourism Minister Obie Wilchcombe and the Grand Bahama Port Authority’s chairman and chief executive, respectively Hannes Babak and Sir Albert Miller, were present for the official contract signing at Port Lucaya.
Mr. Olsen said New Hope plans to expand the marina and build a 240-room condo hotel, comprising of 62 four-bedroom suites/units for the home ownership market. He hopes to have the hotel operational in about a year.
“The condo hotel we will be breaking ground on in the next three to four weeks, as we have already obtained our clearing permits from the Port Authority,” Mr. Olsen said.
New Hope Holdings, operator of the Lucayan Marina Village, and now the Port Lucaya Marina, plans to combine both marinas to create one major facility that will be able to attract increased numbers of mega yachts.
Mr. Olsen said the company entered into the agreement to acquire the Port Lucaya Marina last year, and was granted approval from the Government in March to take over the marina.
The Tribune understands that initially, the proposed purchase also included the Port Lucaya Marketplace, but was whittled down in negotiations to just include the marina and associated land. This newspaper revealed that Mr. Olsen was on the verge of concluding the deal last week Wednesday.
Mr. Olsen explained that there was a huge market for mega yachts. “Right now, as we speak there are 5.4 miles of mega yachts under construction worldwide, and a very large number of these yachts will be coming in here,” he said.
Mr. Olsen, a commercial, residential and industrial developer in Florida for many years, saw great opportunities for boating in The Bahamas during a trip to the Islands.
“I came in here as a boater and saw the great opportunities in the boating world here. And when I got to know Erik Christiansen, who had, according to Florida Cruising Guide, the only five-star marina in the Bahamas, we certainly had a very keen interest in being able to develop that further,” he added.
“One of the first things we did when we got involved with Lucayan Marina Village was to change the size of the boat slips to accommodate the larger boats. And, obviously, that is why it became obvious that this marina [at Port Lucaya] would really give some better opportunities.
“A lot of these boats travel in large groups, and we have already made plans for a mega yacht rendezvous in November, where we will have about 35 mega yachts coming into this area, and we could not accommodate that with one marina.”
Mr. Olsen has assured all of the employees at Port Lucaya Marina that they will be retained by New Hope Holdings. “We have put together two of the finest teams of employees I have ever worked with. I think the people at Port Lucaya Marina and people at we have at [the] Grand Bahama Yacht Club make a fantastic team. hey are all pros and know the boating industry and will all stay on board,” he said.
According to Mr. Olsen, marketing of the marina is primarily being carried out at boat shows and through publicity in boating magazines. “It is going to be more people coming in, and the fact that we are combining the two marinas, we will be working with a lot bigger budget to promote the area,” he added.
In addition to the marina expansion and new condo hotel, Mr. Olsen revealed that New Hope is building high-end homes up to a value of $12 million over at the Lucayan Marina Village. “We are also building a beach club at Taino Beach, and so there is going to be a lot of opportunities for Bahamians in the construction jobs,” he said.
Source: The Tribune