The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business

Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

PARADISE Island’s newly-opened Hurricane Hole super yacht marina is over 80 percent booked, its principal developer says, with the wider $250m project moving forward at a brisk pace.

David Kosoy, Sterling Global Financial’s chairman, said the marina is part of a wider redevelopment of the former Hurricane Hole site that is designed to create a ‘downtown’ centre or destination for Paradise Island via a mixed-use retail, office and residential complex anchored around the boating/yachting element.

“The office space is totally leased with international companies and local companies, totally leased,” he explained. “Retail, we probably have about 1,000 feet left, that’s it. All the condos were sold. We’re going to be starting a new building, a seven storey building of condominiums…. And with that we’re going to go to market probably after the New Year. So that’s the next phase of 28 condominiums.”

Sawyer’s Fresh Market will be the supermarket retail ‘anchor’, and Mr Kosoy said: “What we’re doing is that the supermarket is going to be open next November, and it’s going to be a high-end, high-end supermarket. We’ve got another couple of restaurants being built down here.

“We have a pop up that’s owned by Kyma, called Asian grill, that we’re doing now, and there’s another three high-rise buildings that are going to be coming. There will also be pharmacies here, a medical centre is also coming. So it’s going to be all self-serving to the Paradise Island community.”

Sterling’s total investment to-date is more than $100m, Mr Kosoy said, and “mostly Bahamians” will be employed to operate and manage the property. Mr Kosoy said “nobody else” has floating docks of the size Hurricane Hole will provide for its mega yacht clients, or the in-slip refuelling capabilities.

The Prime Minister hailed Sterling’s investment, saying: “This $250m development is set to revitalise and diversify Paradise Island’s luxury vacation profile. The entire development has effectively created a downtown district on Paradise Island and includes restaurants, harbourfront residences, professional offices, a food store, a wines and spirits retailer (700 Wines and Spirits), and other commercial and retail vendors.

“This boon is bringing excitement to Paradise Island, adding to the convenience for Paradise Island residents and the experience of visitors at hotels and short-term rentals. More dining, boating choices, entertainment and convenient services will serve to augment the overall experience of residents and visitors alike.

“At the heart of this development is the Sterling Hurricane Hole Superyacht Marina, capable of hosting the world’s most exclusive super yachts— boats up to 420 feet in length,” Philip Davis KC added. “I’ve been made to understand that this marina boasts a cutting-edge redesign with floating and fixed docks, and an impressive 6,100 linear square feet of berthing space.”

Chester Cooper, deputy prime minister and minister of tourism, investments and aviation, added: “These are exciting times for tourism, and we know that our bookings for the next three months are 16 percent ahead of where they were in 2019. That didn’t happen by chance. We have a great brand called the islands of The Bahamas, and we have a great team called ‘team tourism’, and we have a phenomenal strategy to take The Bahamas to the world.”

The Hurricane Hole redevelopment is far from Sterling’s only interest in The Bahamas. It is also developing the renamed Montage Cay in the Abacos, but Mr Kosoy revealed his company’s relationship with Schooner Bay came to an end on November 1.

“With Schooner Bay we had a contract there for a couple of months to help them out, and we’ve done what we could, and so we figured we want to develop more of the things that we are involved in as equity partners,” he explained of the end to Sterling’s management/operator relationship with Schooner Bay.

Mr Kosoy said: “We have another arm of our company that’s financing, and we financed a number of other developments in The Bahamas, like Norman’s Cay, the Harbour Island marina (4M). And those are two, and the new marina coming into the Exumas shortly which isn’t announced yet. So we’ve been involved in over a $1bn worth of financing in our own stuff that we’ve done and we’re not through.”

Sterling has also just sold a majority interest in its bank and trust subsidiary to IIHL Capital. The latter is a subsidiary of IndusInd International Holding, a Mauritius-based investment holding company with investments in finance and banking. It is also the promoter entity of IndusInd Bank, the fifth-largest listed bank in India.

“The bank is as strong as it was equity wise,” Mr Kosoy said of the deal’s rationale. “We have international clientele coming. We can do more things as we finance a lot of the real estate in The Bahamas. That just helps us be more competitive. We’ve got great partners that I have known for a number of years who approached us to be partners, and we’re very fond of them and they seem like they want to do more here than just banking.”