Bleak Christmas On West Coast

Simon Cowell is here, and so is Roman Abramovich and many other celebrities but their star power is dimmed but the darkness of the Global Economic Recession still hanging over the West Coast and indeed the rest of Barbados.  Government tried to lift spirits yesterday by issuing a vague statement about the restart of the Four Seasons project, but it has been whistling that same tune in the dark for the last eleven months.  The brief bulletin  this time said:

"Work on the stalled Four Seasons development at Black Rock, could be resumed early in the New Year.  CBC understands that several parties to a plan to re-start the multi-million-dollar tourism project are likely to sign off on the deal before the end of this year.  If this happens, our sources say work is likely to restart in the first quarter of 2010.  Over 700 workers were sent home in February 2009 after the project ran into finical difficulty.  Since then, a group led by Barbadian Professor Avinash Persaud has been trying to raise financing so that the project could resume."  CBC TV News

It is doubtful whether Four Seasons will continue to associate its flag with this project for very much longer.  As an asset it may now be even more toxic and hazardous than the gas tanks under which it sits in Black Rock.

Another near West Coast project in similar 5-star luxury brand jeopardy is Banyan Tree golf and villa project at Black Bess (Black Rock, Black Bess, hmmm...).  The company behind this project has long since sold its crown jewel when it got rid of the beachfront property on Mullins Beach it had earmarked for the beach club for the "uber-cool."  Now rumor has it that Batalleys Mews - the 30-condo project  ("townhouses") this company constructed just off Mullins is now in receivership.  An accounting firm is now running the show there.  This can only be bad news for Black Bess.  Meanwhile, into this bleak financial climate, St. Peter's Bay (only a stone's throw away from Battaleys Mews) is preparing to launch 60 more condos - not that they weren't advertising them for sale for at least the last five years.