The developer behind the proposed $867 million redevelopment of the South Ocean Golf & Beach Resort told The Tribune that he will today "have closed on the bulk of the land" acquisitions needed to make the project happen.

Roger Stein, head of RHS Ventures and the New South Ocean Development Company's managing ditector,said he hoped that physical construction on the project could begin "about six months from now if everything goes well".He told The Tribune: "We're frantically designing infrastructure so that we can get shovels in the ground as soon as possible, and start hiring lots of people in the future."

To bring the South Ocean project to fruition, Mr Stein and his company need to acquire land from four different owners.
They include the New Providence Development Company, the affiliate of the Tavistock Group, the investor/developer behind the neighbouring $1.4 billion Albany Golf & Beach resort, and South Ocean's former owner, the Canadian Commercial Workers Industry Pension an (CCWIPP).

Mr Stein told The Tribune: "We've closed on the bulk of the land. As of Monday [today], we will have closed on
the bulk of the land. We will have closed on the balance of the land outstanding in the month of January."

The major land acquisitions should be relative formalities. The Albany Heads of Agreement commits the developers to "make available sufficient land to ensure the viability of the proposed South Ocean Beach Hotel project". More specifically, the agreement that was signed under the Christie administration commits New Providence Development Company to make available "sufficient land to ensure the viability" of the South Ocean project, at a price and location to be agreed between the two sets of developers.

Revamping

Meanwhile, Mr Stein told The Tribune that work on revamping the South Ocean golf course was "75-80 per cent" complete. "We've spent a fortune on it, and spared no expense. It will be the top course in the Caribbean," Mr Stein added.

The South Ocean redevelopment's main equity backer is the hedge fund group, Plainfield Asset Management. With all project financing in place, Mr Stein said the global credit/liquidity crunch, and difficulty some were having in obtaining financing — at the right price (interest rate) or at all — would have no impact on his South Ocean plans.

"It's all systems go," Mr Stein said. "I'm very pleased with the attentiveness and embrace we've received from the Government, and the expeditious manner in which they're attending to us and the project. I'm very much looking forward to continue involvement with this administration."

The South Ocean development set to include a 140-room five-star and 400-room four-star resorts. Apart from the two resorts and 40,000 square foot casino, the redevelopment of South Ocean, which has been closed since 2004, will feature fractional villas, 180 timeshare units, second homes, convention centre, marina, tennis facilities, and spa all set to cost around $500 million. The first phase, involving the installation of utilities and infrastructure, is set to cost "a little over $200 million".

The draft economic impact study, performed for South Ocean, completed by Oxford Economics, projected that the resort would create 1,358 full-time jobs when fully open, plus 1,200 direct construction jobs during peak build out.

Year

During its first full year in operation, Mr Stein's project is projected to inject $172 million in extra visitor spending into the Bahamian economy. Hard construction spending, involving the building of new buildings and renovations to others, will total $541 million by 2015, with the total investment by Mr Stein, RHS and his partners in the new South Ocean Development Company reaching $867 million by that year. The $541 million construction spending has been forecast to inject $217 million into the Bahamas' GDP over nine years, and generate $105 million in wages, with construction employment averaging 877 persons between 2007-2010, peaking in 2009.

On the operational side, South Ocean was forecast to produce a $3.7 billion GDP impact over its first 20 years, generating $1.5 billion in direct wages and salaries for employees.

The project will also generate $1.8 billion in revenues for the Government in the 23 years to 2030.

Albany will be a 'next door neighbour' for the revitalised South Ocean. "I think the two projects complement each other quite well," Mr Stein said previously of Albany and South Ocean. "While Albany is a private, exclusive community, we are a hospitality-driven, commercial development in which anyone can participate, with multiple hotels, a pay-for-play golf course, major marina, the relocation of Stuart Cove's, which is a huge draw already, and bars, retail and restaurant options, plus estate homes.

"It's a complete destination, yet complementary developments."

Source: The Tribune