The Tribune

By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

MARRIOT is in talks with at least two investor groups looking to purchase the Abaco Club on Winding Bay, a Cabinet minister confirmed yesterday, telling Tribune Business he had taken a personal interest in driving those negotiations.

“We have been working very closely with Marriott as well as several interested investor groups, and we’re going to have some very concrete movement. I have taken a personal interest in driving this because I want to see it succeed,” said Khaalis Rolle, minister of state for investments .

“Marriott is now negotiating, I think, with two separate parties to sell the property and we’re having discussions with both of those parties.”

One offer to acquire the Abaco-based property has come from the Police Staff Association’s pension fund, backed by a Minnesota-based financier, with plans to turn it into an Olympic-standard athletic/sporting facility.

The 534-acre property, which has been marketed as a luxury resort, has been at the centre of a dispute between property owners and Marriott.

Homeowners have filed a $10 million lawsuit against the company despite its effort to sell the property, alleging that the Abaco Club is not worth “anywhere close” to the $28 million price tag Marriot Vacations Worldwide Corporation is asking for.

The existing Abaco Club owners say the offer was made after Marriott Vacations failed to give them an opportunity to acquire the property before it was placed on the market last year.

Marriott Vacations, in a 10-Q filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) in mid-2012, had revealed: “We recently made the decision to remove the Ritz-Carlton brand from one of our luxury properties, The Abaco Club at Winding Bay in the Bahamas, after concluding that global economic conditions have rendered the property unsustainable under the brand from a business perspective. Our plan, consistent with our overall strategy to sell excess luxury inventory, is to pursue a bulk sale of the entire asset.”

But more than 30 Abaco Club homeowners are seeking a court injunction barring Marriott Vacations from selling the property, based upon their claimed rights with respect to acquiring lots/homes there.

The homeowners contend that in its $28 million offer notice, Marriott Vacations does not disclose deferred maintenance obligations; liabilities for membership deposits and underfunded reserves; or future capital injection requirements, which the members believe substantially affect the club’s marketability and value.

The status of the lawsuit at this time is unclear. Numerous attempts to reach US attorney Todd Soloway who is representing the homeowners in the matter have proved unsuccessful.