By Marlon Madden
Operators of the United States-based luxury boutique hotel chain Pendry Hotels and Resorts are to construct a multi-million dollar property on Barbados’ diamond coast, Prime Minister Mia Mottley has revealed.
She made the announcement on Tuesday, while promising that several highly-anticipated development projects, some of which are to be concentrated in and around the capital, were expected to start later this year.
“There will be a lot of investment,” said Mottley, as she delivered her 2023 Budget in Parliament.
“Investment is going to be critical to growth. We are not going to grow or ease the burden on people without investment – government investment, local private sector investment, foreign private sector investment and investment vehicles for the small people and not just the large people,” she said.
Mottley did not give details, but said government officials were in conversation with operators of the Pendry Hotels and Resorts and the development would “take the place of the old Nikki Beach (Barbados) property and will include Port Ferdinand”.
“That will require a slight realignment of the road, but all of the access to the beaches and to everything else will be protected,” she said, while indicating that a shifting of the road would take place.
“We will also be meeting with [officials of the] Pierhead Project this Friday and that is an investment being done in Bridgetown here on the Careenage,” Mottley announced.
This development, which was initially envisioned to encompass some 10.8 acres of land from the Bay Street area, across the Chamberlain Bridge and Cavan’s Lane, had been promised more than two decades ago.
Mottley said the elaborate development would have implications for where boats can dock, adding that “there will be construction on that part of Bay Street for the better part of the next 18 months to two years”.
“It is going to mean traffic will be difficult in Bridgetown,” she said as she promised that the Ministry of Transport will come up with an appropriate traffic and public awareness plan.
Declaring that any investment must be “respectful of our people, our national spaces and traditions”, Mottley made it clear that there will be no private beaches in Barbados.
Stopping short of commenting on the ongoing spat between residents in St Joseph and a developer there, Mottley said it was necessary to have respectful conversations regarding developments across the island.
She indicated that while several issues will arise from time to time “where people may believe that their public rights of way, public easement or other prescriptive rights are being put at risk”, these matters must be addressed.
“I think you know where this government will land. We must respect those public rights, but equally, as people who want to own property, we must respect the right of owners of property to do on their land that which they want to do so long as it does not offend those public prescriptive rights,” she said.
She disclosed that one of the conditions for the new Hyatt Ziva to be constructed along Bay Street was for a reconstruction of a “proper [restroom] facility” nearby and “contribution of $2 million into a fund for urban transformation by the time the hotel opens”.
Mottley also announced that the Barbados Tourism Investment Inc (BTI) was in possession of a proposal for the old Treasury Building, which “will also be undertaken in the very near future, by the end of this year”.
“It means that in the next two years in the heart of Bridgetown, will be a difficult place to navigate and we hope some kind of alternative arrangements will be put in place,” said Mottley.
As part of a wider Bridgetown Transformation Plan, the Mottley administration had announced the repurposing of the old Treasury Building into a residential facility to help breathe life back into the City.
Noting that she was only mentioning some of the planned developments, Mottley also announced that Barbados will welcome a “top-class” hotel brand to the west coast.
“We are going to see the relocation of the civic centre in St James, which is now on the beach, to in there by Frederick Smith Secondary School, to be able to create more jobs for our people in the north, especially by ensuring another hotel can go on that site. That will also lead as well to a top-class, six-star brand being added to the country. We will hear more about that in the very near future,” said Mottley.
“Similarly, I now have confirmation that the Royalton Hotel, which is on the previous Discovery Bay site (Holetown, St James) is expected to start by the third quarter of this year, having settled its financial arrangements,” she said.
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