The Tribune

• Palm Cay eyes further $100m investment

• As real estate sales up ‘couple hundred percent’

• Aiming to ‘leap’ forward in half the time

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Palm Cay’s developer is planning to invest a further $100m in accelerating its build-out by exploiting surging real estate demand, its top executive saying yesterday: “This boom has got some legs.”

Jack Hannaby, the eastern New Providence development’s managing director, told Tribune Business it is aiming to make its “leap” forward in half the time required to reach present build-out with real estate sales “a couple of hundred percent” above 2020 levels.

With construction work underway, or about to begin, on three different real estate products at Palm Cay, he said the development’s ultimate “game plan” is to become a destination where residents do not have to leave the Yamacraw community for any services or amenities they need.

A grocery store, cinema, communal work space, hair salon and larger spa are among the amenities that the Yamacraw-based development plans to add over the next two-three years, with Mr Hannaby describing Palm Cay as having become “the main hub” for economic activity and job creation in eastern New Providence.

“The end game for Palm Cay is that you won’t have to leave at all,” he told this newspaper. “We have a beach club, restaurant, cafe, spa, gym and tennis courts, and we’re doing a putting green (golf) right now. Within the next three years you really won’t have to leave at all.

“There will be a cinema, work space, larger spa. In terms of boating, we already get a huge amount of traffic, with transient boaters coming in and out for the Exumas, as we’re a great stepping point for them. As we grow services there will be less requirement to leave, and Palm Cay will become a destination.

“Palm Cay will turn from ‘Palm Cay, a nice place’, to ‘let’s go to Palm Cay because of everything they have’. It will certainly be the place to go for the whole of the eastern region.”

Palm Cay’s development to-date has been careful never to get ahead of market demand. With the fifth phase of its Anchorage condominiums now fully sold-out, and just two units left in its waterfront Starfish Isle residences, it is now poised to accelerate its build-out by capitalising on its critical mass and the post-COVID boom for high-end real estate that is benefiting both construction and real estate. 

“We must be over $100m now that has been invested in Palm Cay as a whole,” Mr Hannaby told Tribune Business. “In terms of what is ultimately invested going forward, it will probably be similar. It’s over $100m now and $100m to go.

“To step back and look at where we have come in ten years is good. It’s travelled a good distance, but effectively we will be doing the same leap in five years. We’re going to be doing the same leap since inception, but in a much shorter space of time. 

“It’s at a tipping point, and you naturally accelerate to reach that number. We’ve pushed the snowball up the hill, and now we’re going down the hill gaining momentum.” Describing Palm Cay’s marina and its proximity to Exuma as the development’s “biggest draw”, with marina and dock slips consistently at 80-100 percent occupancy levels, Mr Hannaby said it was enjoying its share of demand for Bahamian real estate.

“In terms of sales it’s been a record year for us so far,” he disclosed. “This year’s sales volumes have already passed what we did last year, so it’s been an exponential increase - a couple of hundred percent. Last year wasn’t too bad to be honest. Given the pandemic, I’d say there was a slight fall-off, but this year has seen a massive boom in demand.”

Palm Cay has traditionally attracted strong interest from Canada, and real estate-related inquiries from that market have persisted despite its COVID-related travel bans and restrictions that are likely to be relaxed soon. This, together with similar relaxations in the UK and Europe, have left Mr Hannaby reasonably confident that present market interest will be sustained.

“Even though at some point the Canadians will slow down, I’m not sure it will be this calendar year,” he added. “Once Canada picks up travel, I think this year going into next we will see large amounts of transactions and large amounts of sales.

“That does not take into account we are not getting service from Europe. We do get, not a large amount of business, but a steady flow from the UK. I’d be surprised if that didn’t increase and we did not see a pick up. I’d say this boom has legs.”

Palm Cay is presently focused on three construction projects that are either started, just started or about to begin. Mr Hannaby said its three-phase Galleon Bay condominium project, featuring 36 total units divided equally between the stages, was “well underway” with construction having reached the “first belt course” on the first two phases that are being developed together.

He revealed that 75 percent of first phase units have been sold, a several in the second, for an average 50 percent pre-sold across the two. Palm Cay is hoping that both phases are sold-out by the end of 2021, with price points ranging from $485,000 to $610,000.

Work on the foundation for the “flagship” Cove product, located at the entrance to the marina and overlooking the sea, has just begun. Four of the potential 10-12 units have already been pre-sold, with price points starting at $2m and going up to a $4.75m peak.

And One Marina II, featuring condo units adjacent to the marina’s eastern side, was said by Mr Hannaby to be 70 percent pre-sold ahead of construction’s imminent start. He described these units as “super modern with a super chic feel, like any top-end condo in New York and London”.

“We anticipate that we’ll be sold out by the fourth quarter this year [on One Marina II], and by the end of the year we’ll be 50 percent sold out on phase three, which will tie-in nicely with a second quarter [2022] start for phase three,” he added.

Estimating that the development is presently providing jobs for between 300-400m persons, Mr Hannaby said Palm Cay’s prior experience in managing construction projects would enable it to cope with the build-out of three different real estate product types at the same time.

One Marina, he added, has five phases and “we’d hope we’d start to move to the final phase in the next three to four years. The Cove is one hit, and will be done in 18 months, and Galleon Bay’s first and second phases will be complete by October 2022. We’ll start phase three some time next year, and that will take between two to two-and-a-half years”.