Has Roman Abramovich Bought The Sands?

(photo credits Barbados Underground)

If the latest rumor making the rounds on the Internet is true, the condo project near Sandy Lane that everybody loves to hate may have found a new owner - Roman Abramovich. At this stage I should probably emphasize that this is only a rumor, but rumor is not exactly a new phenomenon  surrounding the name of the Russian tycoon rumored to be the 15th wealthiest man in the world with an estimated net worth in the region of US$ 24B. What we do know for sure is that lately he has been on a spending-spree, oops, make that lavish spending spree. This year alone he plunked down US$ 120M for a couple pieces of modern art and another US$ 34M for the 200-acre Wildcat Ridge estate in Aspen, Colorado; but that is chump change to the US$ 300M he is spending to convert a London apartment complex into an eight-bedroom palace, or the other US$ 300M he is spending to rollout “Eclipse” - one of the largest yachts in the world later this year (btw, did I mention that he already owns at least four, maybe five, other yachts?). And, this is not even getting into the what is turning out to be the “Villa Leopolda affair” or even what he has bought or rumored to have bought for his supermodel girlfriend (pictured below), Darya Zhukova.

But, your question is what has all of that got to do with The Sands? Well, if you have been paying any attention to our sidebars you know that some of the blogs to which we are reciprocally linked have been merciless in their criticism of The Sands condo project under construction in the salt pond on the border between Sandy Lane and Paynes Bay. If someone with the resources of a Roman Abramovich bought into this project then there is a chance of correcting what some have perceived to be its architectural, esthetical and environmental mistakes. However, more likely if indeed Abramovich has bought The Sands (including all of its six (6) condos), is the probability that he would do to it the same thing he is doing in Lowndes Square in Knightsbridge, London - convert the entire complex into the first true beachfront vacation “palace” on the west coast.  If any of this happens, then even the Platinum Coast would have "eclipsed" itself.