The Tribune

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

THE Government’s investment chief says the long-awaited completion of Treasure Cay’s sale is “well on its way” with “pre-construction” and demolition permits for its $177m redevelopment already obtained.

Phylicia Woods-Hanna, also the Bahamas Investment Authority’s (BIA) director, told Tribune Business that the Meister family, as vendors, together with the buyer, Jacksonville-based GreenePointe Holdings and its principal, Edward Burr, are now “working through the final check-list of closing items” and could be completed before month’s end.

Speaking after she received “a full project update” on the Abaco development last Thursday, Mrs Hanna-Woods said: “All the permits have been issued. They are working through the final check-list of closing items and that should be completed this month.

“They have all their pre-construction and demolition permits so they are well on their way. That’s where they are at. They are progressing very well… Simultaneously, they [GreenPointe] have been working on getting their plans completed. That, I understand, is done.

“They should roll it out to the public shortly. We advised them to have community meetings to sensitise people and let them know what is on the way.”

Mr Burr, who is himself a home owner at Treasure Cay, signed a Heads of Agreement for the destination’s $177m redevelopment with the first Davis administration in September 2024, but little tangible progress has been visible on the ground in Abaco for the past two years with uncertainty persisting over whether the purchase from the Meister family, who operate Blue Lagoon and Dolphin Encounters on New Providence, has closed.

However, Mrs Hanna-Woods’ assessment of the deal’s status has been backed by multiple Tribune Business sources either in Treasure Cay or Abaco, or who are familiar with developments in a destination that the island “desperately needs” to revive so it can “get back to the booming days of our development”.

One contact, confirming that both sides to the Treasure Cay deal have endured a long, hard slog to progress to this point, described the sale as complex and challenging because there are multiple “odds and ends” that have to be addressed - including land title issues - before a sale and handover can successfully conclude.

“They are waiting on last-minute approvals,” they said. “They are still waiting to close. It looks like it will happen. They are just nit-picking through all the odds and ends.”

Both Mr Burr and Gaynelle James, GreenPointe Holdings’ marketing director, did not respond to Tribune Business calls and messages seeking comment before press time last night. Ms James, in an update to Treasure Cay home owners in summer 2025, said the developer was aiming to obtain all necessary permits and approvals by October that year - exactly 12 months ago.

More recently, she and GreenPointe have been marketing a ‘marina founders’ programme, offering boat and yacht owners a chance to buy dock and marina slips at a 50 percent discount to comparable Abaco and regional prices, in a further sign the buyer remains interested in closing.

“Phase one introduces a limited collection of 47 founding marina ownership opportunities within Treasure Cay harbour. Founding marina owners receive priority selection for future Treasure Cay real estate offerings, based on the order in which slip contracts are received,” GreenPointe’s marketing materials, obtained by Tribune Business, assert.

“Treasure Cay Marina represents one of the few remaining opportunities to acquire newly-constructed marina ownership in the Abacos at true pre-construction pricing. Initial Phase One pricing begins at less than 50 percent of recent comparable marina slip sales within the region, allowing owners to secure their home port before values begin reflecting a completed destination…

“As the first founding ownership opportunity within the redevelopment of Treasure Cay, the marina offers a limited collection of ownership opportunities within a protected harbour designed for vessels from 50 to 120 feet and beyond.” GreenPointe also promised “the return of the iconic Tipsy Seagull Bar & Grille” and a “future Marina Village”.

Daphne DeGregory-Miaoulis, immediate past president of the Abaco Chamber of Commerce, told this newspaper that while the deal’s fate - and future of Treasure Cay - “sounds more positive than it has done in the past, I’m still not going to the bank on it”.

She reiterated, though, that North Abaco especially and, by extension, the entire island needs the 1,400-acre destination to rebound and become the economic engine it once was to help further drive post-Hurricane Dorian recovery.

Branding Treasure Cay’s revitalisation as “extremely important”, Mrs DeGregory-Miaoulis said: “That whole end of the island is dependent on that development. That end of the island is what put us on the map in the first place, and everyone in that area depends on it.

“They have to come to Marsh Harbour now for work, and there aren’t enough jobs in Marsh Harbour to accommodate all the working workforce. It’s very important.” Mrs DeGregory-Miaoulis added that Treasure Cay has “stagnated” over the decades, and its rebirth could spark Abaco into rapid growth if executed properly.

“We need it. We desperately need it,” she told Tribune Business. “I spoke to someone yesterday who said: ‘I understand Abaco is booming. I said: ‘Don’t believe everything you hear’. We are continuing to recover, and business is improving, but right now we are in ‘dead season’ like everyone else.

“We are not booming. OK? We have made great strides in recovering, but I would not use the word ‘booming’ in any way to describe our economy. The quicker Treasure Cay gets operational, the quicker we will get back to the booming days of our development. Let’s hope it happens really soon.

“I have to say it sounds more positive than it has done in the past, I’ll say that much, but I am still not going to the bank on it. We’re not counting our pennies until they are in.”

Bill McLean, head of the 120-strong Beach Villas Owners Association, the largest homeowners group on Treasure Cay, yesterday told Tribune Business that “unobtrusive” signs that the Meister family, as owners through Treasure Cay Ltd, and Mr Burr and Green Pointe are inching towards closing the sale but “that is as clear as the story gets”.

“I haven’t had any direct contact with GreenPointe since the March/April timeframe while I was still in Treasure Cay,” he said, “and at that time they were routinely saying this deal is for real and the only question is us getting through the approvals process, with environmental permits, if you will, probably being the slowest of them to come forth.”

Confirming that GreenPointe had released its ‘marina founders’ programme more recently, Mr McLean added: “Other than that, it’s what I call unobtrusive news. Nobody from Treasure Cay Ltd or GreenPointe is saying anything explicit other than they continue to work towards closing.

“There’s evidence of that. It’s kind of unobtrusive stuff, nothing obtrusive. You can see Treasure Cay Ltd is doing everything it can do to have everything on their end organised. In Spring, GreenPointe had their golf course engineer here multiple times. Everything I have seen leads me to believe it’s imminent but, of course, we’ve felt that way for a long time.

“This is a very complex deal in that it includes dozens and dozens and dozens of individual land parcels. It’s not like buying a single corporation and the papers get signed. There was title work to be done on many dozens of parcels.”

Mr McLean added that existing Beach Villas and Treasure Cay property owners have enjoyed “very significant” increases in the value of their real estate assets as “demand for property is very high even before GreenPointe is able to offer any real estate for sale excluding boat slips.

“The attitude of people around in Treasure Cay for a while is: ‘It will be nice when it happens. In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy what Treasure Cay has to offer’. Certain, both parties want it to happen,” Mr McLean said. Treasure Cay is thought to have around 1,200 home-owners, of whom 120 are Bahamian families.

Ms James, in last year’s update on behalf of GreenPointe, said the prospective purchaser wanted to “do this the right way” with “the utmost respect for Bahamian laws, culture and environmental standards”. She wrote: “Once all permits are approved by the Bahamian government and they receive a formal ‘notice to proceed’, GreenPointe will share detailed renderings with the community.

“In the meantime, GreenPointe is holding off to make sure everything shared is accurate and truly representative of the future we all hope to see for our beautiful Treasure Cay. Their priority is doing this the right way - with care, transparency and respect.”

The redevelopment plans, at that point, included a new 163-slip marina, Tipsy Seagull bar and restaurant, new Coco Beach Bar and a “pedestrian-friendly” retail village featuring amenities such as a beach bar and coffee shop.

A wastewater treatment plant was also in the works, along with “a complete rebuild of the golf course, clubhouse and racket sports facilities, including tennis, pickleball and padel”, and “exploring options for medical care” and grocery store services.

Tribune Business revealed earlier in 2025 how GreenPointe was seeking to raise more than 92 percent of its target $65m equity capital from other investors while only committing $5m of its own funds.

An offering memorandum seen by this newspaper showed it was aiming to raise a total $121.406m to cover costs associated with the first two years of redevelopment work. The total $65m equity capital would have accounted for some 53.5 percent of this, with the balance generated from a combination of residential real estate and marina slip sales, plus operating revenue from Treasure Cay’s club.

Apart from funding the $25m “acquisition”, GreenPointe’s offering document said it planned to split the proceeds between an $18.943m spend on “master infrastructure”; $12.59m on “residential infrastructure”; just over $20m on marina construction; $14.131m on a golf and racquet club; and $12.851m on the marina village and beach club’s first phase; with the balance committed to “soft costs” and a reserve “contingency”.