The long night may be over for the Bahamas and the super-resort the Caribbean island nation is looking to for thousands of badly needed jobs and a major boost to its tourism-dependent economy.
The $3.5 billion Baha Mar, which stalled near the end of its construction almost two years ago amid a falling out between its founder and developer and its principal contractor and lead lenders, will be completed, says the government of Prime Minister Perry Christie.
Christie says his administration has an agreement with the main lender, Export-Import Bank of China (EXIM) to finish the resort and sell it to a “world-class hotel and casino operator.”
The agreement has the approval of the Bahamas Supreme Court, which has overseen Baha Mar in a forced receivership that wrested it from developer Sarkis Izmirlian, and what that means is that construction could resume as early as September and be completed by next spring.
In a nationally broadcast address, the prime minister said EXIM has committed to funding the costs to finish the project, and the general contractor, China Construction America (Bahamas), a division of China State Construction Engineering, will complete the outstanding work. He said CCA will resolve outstanding claims with its suppliers and contractors and EXIM will pay a “significant part and possibly all” of the project’s outstanding debt, including workers’ unpaid salaries, severance pay and accrued vacation pay.
Izmirlian has previously derided any suggestion that the two Chinese organizations be involved in any solution since they were the reasons Baha Mar failed to open on time by not completely construction.
Christie did not say who the buyer or buyers may be. In the past, however, strong rumors surfaced that Genting would take over Baha Mar. The Malaysian-based gaming giant owns a small casino resort on the Bahamian island of Bimini. The company operates Resorts World New York at Aqueduct Raceway, one of the most successful casinos in the U.S. When Genting broke ground on its new Resorts World Las Vegas in May 2015, Perry and other Bahamian officials were honored guests who participated in the ceremony.
The 1,000-acre Baha Mar, which is slated to include four hotels totaling about 2,200 rooms, a Las Vegas-scale casino, 200,000 square feet of convention and meetings space and a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course, started construction on Nassau’s Cable Beach in February 2011 with plans to open in late 2014.
But the project sputtered as disagreements widened between Izmirlian and the lead contractor, CCA Bahamas. When lenders pulled out Izmirlian tried to put the property under the protection of U.S. bankruptcy law. But the Bahamian government opposed the move, which resulted in a halt to construction and the dismissal of some 2,000 employees.
It was put up for sale earlier this year with both Kerzner International, whose properties include the Bahamas’ Atlantis Paradise Island, and Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts International rumored to be potential buyers.
MGM has denied any involvement, according to news sources. Kerzner has not commented publicly.
