Ground has been broken on the $10 million first phase of what will become a 120,000 square foot shopping centre at Coral Harbour, with its developer planning to being sales of a 304-lot subdivision he is also constructing in the same area "during the first week of March".

Tony Joudi, president of Bahamas-based FTC Ltd, a development, construction and project management firm,told The Tribune that "physical construction will start in the first week of February" on the shopping centre, which is targeting an area of New Providence currently underserved by retail. Construction workers have cleared and marked out the site, and are now excavating the foundations.

"We are doing two things at the same time," Mr Joudi said. "Via Della Rosa is a 75-acre subdivision with 304 lots that's under construction right now. Sales will be launched in the first week of March."We have also broken ground on a 30,000 square foot shopping centre,which will be Phase 1. Phase II will follow next year."

The shopping centre construction would mainly involve sub-contractors,Mr Joudi added, and they would employ a total average of 30-40 workers on the project at any one time. When Phase I, with its 17 retail spaces, was completed, "at
least 50 permanent jobs were likely to be created. Mr Joudi said the retail tenants would be stores catering to the basic needs and necessities of all residents in the Coral Harbour and Adelaide areas. Among those targeted for inclusion in Phase I would be a laundromat, hardware store, restaurants, and post office/mail box operation.

"We have 17 spaces right now in Phase One, which will be rented mostly to restaurants and stores providing basic necessities for the area," Mr Joudi told The Tribune."We're also looking into relocating the Bristol Cellars liquor store from the inside of Coral Harbour to the outside through the shopping centre. We're looking at relocating them from the Hemmingway Plaza." Fidelity Bank (Bahamas)was "also interested in being there", he added.

Phase II will involve construction of a major food store and office complex with "at least 20 spaces". Mr Joudi said he was looking at Budget Meat as the potential food store tenant.Mr Joudi's two projects go hand-in-hand and complement each other, with the shopping centre and its amenities likely to provide an attractive feature attracting buyers to Villa Della Rosa.

In turn, Villa Della Rosa's homeowners will provide a ready-made customer base for the shopping centre, which is located on an almost eight-acre site at the roundabout where the Airport road, and roads to Adelaide Village and Carmichael Road, meet.

The prospect of relatively certain consumer traffic will help to attract customers to the shopping centre.

In addition, the shopping centre will also be well-positioned to capture customers from the development scheduled to take place in the area, as well as existing businesses such as Commonwealth Brewery, the Royal Bahamas Defence Force base and BEC's Clifton Pier power stations.

The key developments that are likely to drive consumer traffic to Mr Joudi's shopping centre are the $1.4 billion Albany Golf & Beach Resort, construction on which is likely to start imminently, given that the Government last week issued a Notice of Vesting for the land acquisitions key to the southwest Bay Street re-routing. There is also the $867 million redevelopment of South Ocean, another project approved in principle. by the Government.

"We want to be part of that economic boom," Mr Joudi explained. "We did a study, with CB Richard Ellis and Bahamas Realty, and it showed in that area there was a high demand for a shopping centre, because 20,000 people reside in the area and need to be catered to. "Currently, they have to drive all the way to Lyford Cay, Cable Beach or Golden Gates.
We're making it easier for people from the Coral Harbour and Adelaide areas, and with Albany we're going to have a high traffic area."

Meanwhile, Mr Joudi described Villa Della Rosa, upon which he has been working for over a year, as "a pretty big investment". All required approvals for the subdivision had been received from the Ministry of Works, Town Planning Committee and Department of Physical Planning."We haven't put them on the market, but we have daily calls from brokers and clients interested in what is going on," Mr Joudi said of Villa Della Rosa's lots. "There is high demand. This is going to be a great success."

The fact that such residential real estate projects are continuing apace in the Bahamas shows that this nation's banking system has been insulated, via exchange controls, from the global credit/liquidity crunch that has impacted the international banking industry.

The pent-up demand for real estate from Bahamians, especially properties in relatively secure gated communities, and the finite supply of land on New Providence is continuing to give the domestic market momentum. Mr Joudi said Villa Della Rosa would be targeted at middle to upper-income Bahamians, such as professional people like, bankers and attorneys. Apart from the 24-hour gated security, it will include amenities such as man made lakes, tennis and basketball courts, three parks, and a special park for children.

"Villa Della Rosa is a unique community," Mr. Joudi said, adding that further attractions were its proximity to Lynden Pindling International Airport and closeness to the ocean, the latter of which was just five minutes' walking distance away. As a result. Villa Della Rosa would provide a living environment similar to that on the Family Islands, he added.

Construction work is currently focusing on Villa Della Rosa's roads, gated entrance, security gate and landscaping.

Source: The Tribune