Big Bucks from Baha Mar

Sands was speaking last night during Baha Mar's community presentation at the newly-renovated Sheraton Cable Beach Resort. He revealed that the company would break ground for the new $2.6 billion resort in March.

The Bahamas has already begun to feel the economic impact of the project, with over 1,000 local contractors and suppliers hired to date, Sands reported.

As a part of the Cable Beach Redevelopment program, so far phase one and two of the comprehensive renovation for the conversion of the Radisson Cable Beach Resort to the Sheraton Cable Beach is complete. The Crystal Palace Casino also underwent complete renovation with new carpeting, slot machines, table games, a casino bar and lounge and the addition of Starbucks. The Moso Restaurant at the Wyndham Nassau Resort is also complete and external painting is underway. The two eastern towers (F and J) will close this year to make way for a new tower, while the towers C, H and M will undergo renovations. The Baha Mar project is also expected to contribute $14.8 billion to The Bahamas gross domestic product over the next 20 years, which should generate incremental government tax revenue of $5.3 billion over next 25 years, Sands added.

Baha Mar is collaborating with "world class brands" including Caesars hotel, Westin Hotel, St. Regis Hotel, W Hotel, Sheraton and Wyndham.

Altogether, there will be 3,450 rooms, replacing the initial 2,700-room projection, and about 28 restaurants.

Sands also told the 200-plus audience at the presentation that the project would sustain over 10,000 incremental jobs, supplying an estimated $10 billion in local salaries and wages over the next 20 years. In addition, direct employment will average over 2,000 jobs during the course of development, with a peak of 4,440 during the height of construction.

Yesterday's presentation gave concerned residents the chance to view the full plan of the project and to voice their concerns.

With the exception of the creation of the resorts, the most dramatic changes will be the re-routing of a part of West Bay Street, the closure of a section of Skyline Drive and the relocation of the Sir Cecil Wallace Whitfield Building and the Cable Beach Police Station.

The new West Bay Street and jogging path, which will move to accommodate the development, is expected to be complete by the end of the year. The road will curve to allow for a bigger space for the added hotels and the convention center. The current dual carriageway will not close until the new one is finished.

Meanwhile, traffic from the section of Skyline Drive, which will be closed to accommodate the Jack Nicklaus Championship Signature Gold Course, would shift to the new and upgraded roads, President of Baha Mar Development Company John Pagano said.

Baha Mar will compensate the government by paying $17.8 million for the Sir Cecil Wallace Whitfield Center, which will move farther west. Baha Mar will also bear the cost for the relocation of the police station. According to Works Minister Earl Deveaux, the station will be expanded, with the government paying 50 percent of the cost of expansion.

Deveaux said Baha Mar has agreed to pay the cost of a new Bahamas Electricity Corporation substation, and to bury all utility lines on John F. Kennedy Drive.

On Monday, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham tabled the Baha Mar Supplementary Heads of Agreement. The project is expected to be complete in 2011.

By KRYSTEL ROLLE,Guardian Staff Reporter,krystel@nasguard.com