Hotel hope

"The controversial Four Seasons project could have a new saviour, with a multi-millionaire investor here saying he was willing to take over the stalled project.

Eager to see something done with the 32-acre Clearwater Bay, Black Rock, St Michael site, a frustrated Andrew Stewart, who has investments in a number of hotels and restaurants here, said he was willing to seriously look at taking over the development, but it would have to come with “the right terms”.

“Yes, if it came on the right terms it is something that I and my investors would look at with interest,” said Stewart, the chairman of the stockbroking and investment management firm Ravenscroft Limited.

Recalling that many of his friends had invested in the project to construct a 110-room hotel and 35 private villas, Stewart told Barbados TODAY it was disheartening that the project had ground to a halt.

“Every time I go pass there, you know, there is no building work going on. Why don’t we actually do something with it? Some of the highest profile people in the world put their names down for it. Let’s try and get it organized; cut all the nonsense of whatever it is and build the bloody hotel there ...”

Read more: https://www.barbadostoday.bb/2017/01/16/hotel-hope

Are Sue Springer & Robin Paterson Whistling Dixie?

"Royal Westmoreland, a Barbados landmark, is up for sale on the international market but the local tourism industry isn’t worried as this may result merely in a changing of hands. Prime luxury international real estate dealers and financial publications today began announcing that British owner, John Morphet, wants to part with the 750-acre west coast property for US$75 million. “It has been known for some time that there was a possibility of Royal Westmoreland being put up for sale. Now this is obviously what has happened,” Executive Vice-President of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association, Sue Springer, told Barbados TODAY. Morphet’s reported reason for giving up ownership of this property that annually attracts the likes of British Premier League football star, Wayne Rooney, and retired English cricket captain, Michael Vaughn, was that now in his 60s, he feels to be getting on too much in age that tires him after 96 visits to this island in 10 years. “I’m not getting any younger and it needs more time than I’d like to give it,” he said of the spread that includes 225 villas, a clubhouse, restaurant, spa, and a golf course. “It is an incredible real estate property and we look forward [and are] hoping that whoever purchases this whole estate will keep it in its current use and won’t change it,” Springer said. The Financial Times quoted Chief Executive of Sotheby’s International, Robin Paterson, as saying it was “very unusual to get an entire resort for sale” in the Barbados market. “This is the only resort of this scale, reputation and longevity in the southern Caribbean,” Paterson added. Springer does not see the announced sale having any negative impact on the image of Barbados tourism. “No, I don’t think so because things could be for sale at any time; it could be a hotel, it could be an estate like this, whatever. Things change hands the world over all the time. “It sends that message because the gentleman that owns it has accepted that he is at the crossroads and he wants to stay closer to home.” Morphet, who has a rags to riches story, having taken over a struggling UK farm from his parents, had last year indicated plans to purchase land from the Westmoreland estate to build an additional 200 properties. That planned investment was reportedly to the tune of US$500. These plans may not be derailed by a change in ownership because the Barbados real estate market is now being seen as an investment opportunity on the rise. The Sotheby’s chief executive reportedly told the Financial Times that the Barbados market is beginning to see an inflow of international professional property investors such as hotel operators. Springer agrees with that assessment, and believes the announced sale speaks well for the property market." Source: http://www.barbadostoday.bb/2015/03/14/for-sale

Is that a glimmering light at the end of the 4Seasons tunnel I see?

Clearly, if the PM and the Minister of Finance are hiding from you, and you are being schmoozed by the St. Lucy MP (no offense intended), we already know where this deal is going - if it goes anywhere at all.  All debts, including all political debts, must be paid before this project ever sees the light of day again.  Click here to read about it all. 

More Four Seasons Intrigue

One continues to wonder why a prestigious brand like Four Seasons Hotels And Resorts allows its flag to be dragged around in the mud in Barbados in this fashion:

"A group of Italian developers has cried foul over the pricing for restarting construction of the much-talked-about Four Seasons Resort and Residences project at Paradise, St Michael.

They claim that the stalled project is considerably over-priced and want the Freundel Stuart Government to get involved “to iron out a balanced and reliable solution based on fairness and transparency rather than greed and selfishness”.

“Value of the site (Four Seasons Resort and Residences project) is nowhere near the US$105 million,” Elio Raccah, spokesman for the group, told SUNDAY SUN in a telephone link-up from Italy.

“Someone asserts that the works have been paid about US$60 million but where has the remaining US$45 million added value to the project?”

But Avinash Persaud, executive chairman of Paradise Beach Limited, developer for the Four Seasons project, has dismissed the Italians’ claim and hinted that before monthend, a recommendation could be made to Government for the take-over of the former Paradise Beach Hotel site."

Source: NationNews.com

Pared Down Plans For Royal Westmoreland's Expansion Inching Forward ...Maybe?

"Efforts are on to salvage a $150 million luxury golf, residential and hotel project which has been waiting in the wings for more than three years.

Barbados TODAY has learnt that high-level talks involving senior members of the Freundel Stuart Administration and Royal Westmoreland are underway in an attempt to get that St. James luxury development’s expansion onto the nearby Lancaster Plantation property it owns underway.

Discussions have already been held with Minister of Finance Chris Sinckler, and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Senator Darcy Boyce is chairing a working group on the matter.

The major sticking point continues to be the granting of approval for the construction of a $4.4 million reservoir Royal Westmoreland officials said was necessary for the 18 hole championship golf course, hotel and other residences.

These developments were confirmed today by the Royal Westmoreland Construction Director, Ian Putley, who was cautiously optimistic about the likelihood a positive outcome within the coming months.

“We are currently in discussion with a working group led by Senator Darcy Boyce who is trying to get the confirmation of compliance with Town & Country Development Planning conditions letter,” the official told Barbados TODAY..."

Read more: Barbados Today

Update On Beachlands

"After years of sitting idle, a major West Coast luxury tourism project is about to take off.

All permissions for the four-acre, beach-front complex, which is being undertaken by British interests, have now been obtained, Barbados TODAY has learnt and soon construction equipment will be rolling on to the site south of Holetown and seaward of the Sunset Crest area of St. James.

A telephone call to Construction Director Pat Gill, of UK & European Investments, one of the British companies behind the project, confirmed that all approvals had been received.

However, he declined to provide any information on when the project would start, how much it would cost or any other details surrounding the project.

However, Ministry of Finance sources confirmed Government had been told that the project was projected to cost between $150 million and $160 million..."

Read more: Barbados Today

One Sandy Lane On Oprah's Top 3

Oprah Winfrey recently stayed at One Sandy Lane (arguably among the most hated buildings on Barbados' west coast) and apparently she loved it so much that she tweeted:

Leaving One Sandy Lane Villa.Now on my top 3 list of favorite hotels. They are planting Coconut tree in my instagr.am/p/N9FAfySSxv/
— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) August 5, 2012

Oprah and her team were in Barbados ostensibly to interview Bajan singing sensation, Rihanna, with whom she is pictured above leaving the ultra luxury villa complex, driving off in a 4X4 with the Grammy award-winning artist at the wheel.

Oprah also shared pictures of herself hanging around the pool, and with her team, enjoying a One Sandy Lane breakfast spread.

Perhaps now that celebrity guests are showing up (and singing its praises, no less) and with the recent name change from the dowdy "The Sands" to the name-dropping "One Sandy Lane," sales of the half dozen or so slow-selling apartments may finally take off.  Who knows, Oprah (in the past falsely rumoured to own property in Barbados) may have just signed on the dotted line.

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More Bad Press For The West Coast

"Something disturbing is happening on Barbados – the Caribbean experience is being drowned in a tsunami of greed and gravel. With tax dodgers, celebrities, footballers and bloated businessmen all flocking to the island prices have soared. Even my rich friend Lady Carol Parsons complains.

Once I used to think to myself “oh just relax and put it on the plastic, after all you are on holiday”. I do mean literally once. That occasion was when a meal for 5 at the Lonestar came to £650 and I was paying. After that I was more careful. If someone said that Villa Rosa or Chin Chin were the latest places to eat, I would be sure to avoid them.

The turning point came about 10 years ago when property started to boom, and especially on the West Coast around Holetown, originally developed by the likes of the Guinness and Cunard families. This was The Place To Be. Now it is jam packed with mansions from end to end. The latest is One Sandy Lane, a sort of beachside British Museum opposite the famous Sandy Lane golf course and Barbados’s answer to One Hyde Park, that Qatari monstrosity near Harrods in London..."

Read more: Barbados: Don’t Bother, Frankly

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West Coast Getting The Sands II

Artist impression Palazatte Residences

A little thing like poor condo sales at The Sands just south of Sandy Lane is not stopping their imitators five or so miles up the west coast from going full throttle bringing even larger ultra-luxury apartments to the marketplace.  And, it doesn't seem the matter that they are going up next to equally empty and already hugely discounted condos at St. Peter's Bay in Road View, St. Peter.  

See also:  Mullins Bay Blog and Barbados TravelAdvisor 

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West Coast Unprepared And Among Most Tsunami Vulnerable In Barbados

"While one coastal expert rated the island's tsunami readiness at "six out of ten", the head of disaster management disclosed there were "significant gaps" in the mechanism.

Deputy Director of the Coastal Zone Management Unit, Dr. Lorna Inniss gave preparedness for a tsunami a grade of six out of ten today in an interview with Barbados TODAY, but said preparations for the devastating natural disaster were continuing in earnest.

She noted that in another week there would be a simulation exercise involving disaster preparedness agencies and other stakeholders tracking such an exercise from the time the warning is received until after impact.

Director of the Department of Emergency Management Judy Thomas disclosed there was a significant "gap" in readiness -- a mass notification system to warn Barbadians of impending danger, remained unresolved.

She noted that the country still had "a long way to go in terms of putting down the mass notification warning mechanisms because we want to use the cellular networks and the putting down of sirens or the reactivation of the police siren system to give public warnings", she said

"Those are the last things that we have to do to ensure that we have our mass notification system, but the work has started and the work is ongoing. We have not abandoned the thought of getting our country aware of the tsunamis and what they can do, and receiving the warnings out of the Pacific and then having those warnings given to the Barbadian community."

Thomas said a major challenge was that Barbados no longer had a working national siren system, and beyond that there was no money "for a mass siren system at this stage".

And as hoteliers go about putting their disaster mitigation plans in place, there is a call from one the key spokespersons for Barbados' vital tourism sector to have a greater communication system and a proper education programme.

Executive Vice-President of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association, Sue Springer, said there should be a tsunami plan in place. "If there is a plan that's put in place, and with everything that's happening all around us, this level of expenditure to communicate that plan must take priority. We've had a couple of earthquakes tossed around us; we're watching it all over. Who says that we're sitting here so privileged?

"Education and communication must happen so that when the [warning] siren goes, we know and we tell everybody get out of wherever you are and head for the hills and not motorised either cause it will make no difference," she said.

Springer noted that 90 per cent of the hospitality sector was on the coastlines and a storm surge would be devastating to the sector.

That apart, the Ministry of Education was forging ahead with its evacuation plans, said Acting Chief Education officer Laurie King, in a separate interview today. He said that the Ministry was not waiting for an impending disaster to implement an evacuation plan and had carried out, and will continue to do, drills at schools situated along the coastlines and those in low lying areas.

There were also evacuation routes planned to take people to higher ground.

The rebuilding process could be easier for some than others, said President of the General Insurance Association of Barbados, Michael Holder. He explained that once policy holders had the necessary insurance in place, it should not present a problem.

He noted that normally where there was hurricane and earthquake coverage, there was also coverage for tsunamis.

But several Barbadians would be caught off-guard should a tsunami roll in. Some of the most vulnerable areas across the nation still have no real evacuation plans and no idea of what should be done in the event of such a natural disaster. Barbados TODAY paid a visit to a number of these coastal communities including Six Men's, St. Peter, Holetown, St. James, Half Moon Fort, St. Lucy and the message was the same neighbourhood after neighbourhood - no one was ready, no one was prepared.

Some blamed a failure on the part of the relevant authorities to adequately educate the public despite the launch of a public education and awareness week for the Tsunami And Coastal Hazards Warning System Project in March, last year. Others felt there was little or nothing they could do to secure themselves or their families even if armed with the necessary information."

Source: "Significant gaps remain in the island's readiness for a tsunami"

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6 Days In Holetown & Barbados: Bloggings of a New Yorker with a camera and a sense of humour

Follow link below:

Barbados TravelAdvisor • View topic - Interesting photos in this blog..

Limegrove Still Not Quite Ready For Primetime

If you were hoping to shop Limegrove this Christmas for that special luxury item for that special someone, you may be a little disappointed with the official opening of the much ballyhooed Limegrove Lifestyle Center in Holetown.  Not only were Louis Vutton, Hermes, Gucci, Calvin Klein, Armani and other high-end stores completely missing, but of the only two stores ready for the big opening day, one – Hallmark – is so ubiquitous that most discerning shoppers would consider it a no-name brand.  One couldn’t help wondering whether they were forced to open their doors in the still largely incomplete mall just to get rid of their stock of seasonal Christmas cards.
 
Limegrove is a work in progress, and that’s putting it mildly.  It’s more like an active construction site than somewhere you would want to shop.  Intrepid early adopter shoppers should be warned to leave their high heels at home and not to forget their hard hats.  Oh, and they should also bone-up and their dump truck-dodging skills.  I don’t know what’s the rush to open this unfinished product now when clearly it will miss both the Christmas shopping season and the entire key 2010-2011 winter tourist season.  Opening it now, if one can call it an "opening," only serves to remind everyone that Limegrove, like much of the tourism-related development on the west coast, is still in the throes of the deepest international financial recession since the Great Depression.

This recession has devastated tourism development up and down the west coast – projects upon which Limegrove was banking.  After celebrating (in the media) finally paying off its creditors last month, government is today admitting that they really have no firm date for the restart of the Four Seasons hotel and villa project.  Banyan Tree/Black Bess is looking for a buyer, St. Peter’s Bay reportedly has only sold two of its fifty-seven condos (to principals of the company), and Portico and others stand empty.  And, despite the Government of Barbados’ upbeat predictions and pronouncements the future remains bleak.  I mean, just who do they think they are fooling when the shots are really being called in Washington and even there - Feds Chairman Ben Bernanke, like the weather-forecasting ground hog, is predicting five more months years of winter recession.

We certainly wish Limegrove and it’s visionary developer, Paul Altman, all the best in these tough economic times.  If he is still holding on to it when the storm is over, he/we should have an excellent product on par with any of the high-end shopping centers we have seen in North America.  We loved the water feature and the gas lamps.  It’s position in the heart of Holetown across from First and Second Streets cements the area as the leader in tourism entertainment and shopping in Barbados and much of the Caribbean.  There still remains some concerns about flooding in Holetown (in spite of Mr. Altman’s boasting otherwise) and the wider ecological damage to the mangrove upon which it is built and what that portends for the future, but like most the rest of the world, I suppose we are leaving those headaches for future generations.  Right now the spotlight is on Limegrove’s coming out “party.”

We ran into Paul last night showing his wife around his latest dream coming to fruition, and he reminded us that he started out bagging groceries at Elmer’s Supermarket in Speightstown.  Well, Elmer Jordan is in the crypt underneath St. Peter’s Parish Church and a generation has grown up since his supermarket closed its doors.  The lesson for us all and Limegrove is that there is always a fine line between the crypt and success.

Click here for a few shots we took of Limegrove last night.

Click here to read some of our earlier posts on Limegrove.

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Condomania Seizes Batts Rock Beach

"The footprint for another major tourism project on the West Coast is being cleared, and persons associated with the project say it's a clear sign of investor confidence returning to the island.

The project, which planning consultant Richard Gill, noted involves "mega bucks", is being undertaken by British investors at Batts Rock on the St. James/St. Michael border of Highway One.

Today heavy duty equipment from C.O. Williams Construction was being used to prepare the site, while workmen from another operation were clearing brush and pruning trees in the heavily wooded area, a stone's throw away from the popular picnic spot and the multi-million dollar Four Seasons Hotel project on which construction is expected to resume next month.  Gill explained the "outline permission" had already been given by the Town and Country Planning Department, but that certain works had to be completed before final plans were submitted to the department.

These preliminary works will involve major changes to the access to the popular picnic spot, with a new vehicular access, equipped with appropriate sidewalks, being constructed from Highway One in the area of Walmer Lodge Apartments.  Additionally, a new footpath will be built from an area close to the existing entrance to Batts Rock at Prospect, and travel along the cliff edge and down to the beach.  Gill explained that this would take on the style of a boardwalk, would be well lit and landscaped, and guarantee resident a continuous access, not just to the beach, but the comfort of enjoying the ocean view from the hilltop. Only when these two accesses are completed, the engineer said, would the developer close the existing entrance start to push ahead with the main project, which would involve the construction of no fewer than 20 luxury condos and related facilities.

He explained that while they had broad permission from Town Planning for the project, specific plans now had to be completed. He noted too that the outline plan spoke to a number of four-storey buildings, but even that was still to be finalised.  "What I can say to you is that we are dealing with investors who have been coming to Barbados annually for many years and who understand and appreciate how Barbadians feel about the beach and access to it," Gill said.  "That's why they took the position from the very start that the project would be set back from the cliff and that Barbadians would continue to have unhindered access to the cliff and the beach. This project will be a win-win situation for Barbados. These people are totally committed to Barbados."

The developers, he added, would also be making a small portion of land beside the National Conservation Commission's children's play park available so it can enhance the facility.  Gill noted too that while getting all the necessary permissions had not gone as fast as anticipated, the developers understood fully the desire of authorities to ensure everything was done correctly, but their desire to push ahead was a sign of confidence in the country.  He said too he believed that now that the Four Seasons project was resuming, Barbados would see a pick up in development activity.  And while Gill could not say what the price tag on the project was, noting only that it involved "mega bucks", one neighbour said her family had been approached by the developer about two years ago to sell their plot for over a million dollars.

"We don't have any problem with the project, but we like it here so we declined," said Sheila Layne, who has lived at Walmer Lodge for more than 60 years, adding that a "Mr. Simon" had spoken to them about his plan to proceed with the project as recently as two weeks ago."


Source: Barbados Today 12/08/10

Black Bess Saga Revisited

"One of the largest developments planned for Barbados is
in limbo and searching for a buyer.


An alliance of real estate companies in Barbados, the
United Kingdom and British Virgin Islands (BVI) has for the
past several months been hunting someone with deep enough
pockets to purchase the property earmarked for a more than
half billion dollar golf and residential resort at Black Bess, St.
Peter, but has been stalled for over a year now, with nothing
beyond massive excavation work having taken place.


Local company, Realtors Limited, its BVI counterpart
Smith Gore and the latter’s London affiliate SG Commercial
LLP, are trying to sell the 247 acre site, which has planning
permission for a hotel and spa complex with up to 100
rooms, an 18-hole golf course and up to 200 residential units.


“The site originally known as Black Bess Plantation, has a
superb hilltop location with magnificent views of the famous
platinum coast and Caribbean Sea. Detailed negotiations
have taken place with a world-renowned luxury hotel
operator to operate the hotel and villas on completion of the
development,” Realtors says in its sales pitch.


“The Black Bess project has been assembled with the
intention of developing a high-end resort community to equal
the very best Barbados and the wider Caribbean has to offer.
The site lends itself extremely well to such a development
and the location and setting are superb. A sale of the site
with the benefit of the planning permission ... is now being
sought”.


The project in question, which was to have been
undertaken by local company Bacassa Developments
(Barbados) Limited in partnership with Asian hotel chain
Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts, officially started in 2007, but
did not get past its first phase after finances became an issue,
sources told Barbados TODAY.


“All that basically took place was that the site was
excavated, things like roads laid out, a road bridge
constructed, and the layout for a lake to be used to provide
water to the golf course completed. Funds then became an
issue with the onset of the international financial meltdown
and economic recession,” the official noted.


Investigations revealed that a company called Caribbean
Resort Assets Fund (CRAF) registered in London, England,
working with others, including joint venture partner COPRIM
Inc of Montreal, Canada, which was expected to be in charge
of project development and management, had worked out a
deal where Banyan would have been guaranteed the majority
of earnings from rentals, money which would then be used
for certain tasks.


“The projected return is a minimum of six per cent on
investment in the form of rental income from the villas.
The Banyan Tree will underwrite this rental guarantee for a
minimum of five years from practical completion,” an outline
of the plan stated.


“The Banyan Tree Hotel and Resorts will retain 66.6 per
cent of the gross receipts from lettings to pay for all the
outgoings, including maintenance, and provide it with a fee
for so doing, paying the joint venture partner the remaining
one third, which is anticipated to equate six per cent of the
value of the villas. There is a guaranteed minimum income
equivalent to four per cent of the value.”


It was also intended that CRAF would have provided
investors with “a total return equivalent to 15.2
per annum over the anticipated seven year life of
the fund ... net of all costs and fees”.


“Those investors admitted to the partnership
or buying units at the first close will be given
an additional five per cent share of the final
profit after the repayment of all loans and capital
commitments,” the plan added.


Investigations found that CRAF was
incorporated in 2007, the same year the Black
Bess project was officially launched by then
Minister of Tourism Noel Lynch, but was unable
to raise the funds needed to build the Barbados
resort, which was projected to cost $600 million.
This venture is one of several high-profile ones
in Barbados that have either failed to start or have
been forced to stop mainly because of finance
issues. Also in this category was the Four Seasons
Project, also on the West Coast.


While efforts have been ongoing to get Four
Seasons restarted under the guidance of Barbadian
financing expert Professor Avinash Persaud, a
real estate industry source said the reality was
investors and financiers alike were not willing to
commit until they actually saw activity at the Four
Seasons, Black Rock, St. Michael site.


“Everyone must face that fact. Four Seasons
is the game changer for many of these projects and until
all of the talk ceases and work actually starts on the site in
Black Rock, quite frankly many others are not going to start
because confidence in the market is down and financiers are
still hesitant to pump millions and millions of dollars into
these ventures that have no guarantee of success,” the official
noted."

Click here for original Barbados Today article.

Something The Government Of Barbados Should Think About For What's Left Of The West Coast

"After years of welcoming well-heeled tourists from around the world with open arms, one of Tuscany's smartest, most discreet beach resorts is in revolt against outsiders, wealthy or not.

Forte dei Marmi – the traditional summer retreat for Italian captains of industry, writers and film stars – is changing the law to try to stop locals fleeing because of house prices driven out of control by incoming Russian millionaires. The town's combative mayor, Umberto Buratti, is reserving space next to luxury villas with sea views for new homes that will only be sold to locally-born buyers or long-term residents. Other Italian resorts with similar problems will monitor the experiment with interest.

"We want to safeguard the character of the town instead of seeing it turn into a place with no ties, as anonymous as a motorway service station," Buratti said.

"Not everyone here is rich or Russian," added local councillor Michele Molino. "You look at the designer shops round here and we could be in London."

Despite the economic crisis that has kept some smart Muscovites at home, local estate agents expect up to 500 Russian families to descend this summer, following in the footsteps of super-rich visitors such as Roman Abramovich and splashing out up to €100,000 at a time to rent villas for the season – albeit a snip compared with the €20m reportedly paid out to buy the biggest villas nestling behind bougainvilleas between the broad beaches and Apuan Alps.

"Five million is the norm now, but if you go just a few miles inland prices drop by two thirds, which is where the locals have disappeared to," said a local estate agent, Umberto Giannecchini..."

Read more:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/04/italian-resort-forte-dei-marmi-tourists

Limegrove Comes Under Heavy Environmental And Ecological Criticism

Limegrove under construction on the mangrove swamp in Holetown

(Click here for larger image)

Limegrove, the upmarket shopping, entertainment and residential development in the heart of Holetown has come under heavy environmental and ecological criticism from a professor of Marine Ecology and Fisheries at the local branch of the University of The West Indies. Professor Hazel Oxenford described Limegrove and another big tourism development in the works for another mangrove swamp site on the south coast of the island as having "the potential to devastate Barbados' already struggling coral reef population." She explained that mangroves protect coral reefs by holding back,slowing down and absorbing rainfall runoff which unchecked destroys coral reefs and animal life which live on them.

She did not mince words when she zeroed in on Limegrove: "You see in Holetown right now that ridiculous building complex which is going up right in the swamp. What is it going to do? They are turning [the swamp] into concrete to make the water run off fast, really fast water takes with it soil, garbage, anything. Say 'no' to that kind of building."

In the above photosynth you can see on the landside of the bridge where they have built a new concrete canal to channel the water through the swamp area. Recently in the local media the developer was boasting that with the new canals together with the new catchment pond miles inland at Farmers in St. Thomas built to facilitate irrigation of the new golf course at Apes Hill, they have finally solved the flooding problem in Holetown. Professor Oxenford and others believe such thinking is shortsighted, for with the reefs gone the coastline is more exposed to storms and erosion. And, with the beaches gone, so will the tourists, supposedly for whom these monstrosities are being conceived.

Click here to read original Barbados Today article.

Click here for more context to the mangrove swamp in Holetown.

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Barbados is queen of the Caribbean

"It is not hard to see why Barbados is considered the premier destination for Britons thinking of buying property in the Caribbean.

Turquoise-coloured sea and beaches that live long in the memory are just a starter; add to this a warm sunny climate all year round, friendly people, infrastructure that is more first than third world and stable government and it's easy to see why Barbados still holds many in thrall.

"Barbados has always been a favourite among UK buyers – it's known as 'Little Britain' – and the current market has proved that," said Georgina Richards from estate agents Knight Frank International. "We've traditionally sold in British Virgin Islands, Mustique and Grand Cayman as well, and a couple of years ago buyers were investigating the more peripheral islands of the Caribbean, but the market's contracted right back to Barbados. It's our core market: more than 90 per cent of buyers are looking there."

Although the Barbadian market did suffer a downturn in late 2008 and 2009, and several high-profile developments such as Four Seasons and Apes Hill were subject to delays, it seems that building work is commencing again on the island. At the luxurious Royal Westmoreland development, for instance, a new building phase, Sugar Cane Ridge, is about to begin which will have 14 four-bed villas available from $1.2m (£800,000). "Some developers understandably have struggled with financing their projects," said Ian Cox from Royal Westmoreland. "Here we have had no such difficulty as we are a large, well-established development which has grown organically over years, regardless of credit crunches or world economic problems..."  - more -

Click here for entire article from The Independent

Apes Hill Adds Nine More Holes

Prime Minister David Thompson officially opened the new 18-hole golf course at Apes Hill yesterday.  Nine holes were opened this time last year so this opening represents the opening of the remaining nine holes completed this year.  The clubhouse is yet to be built but we are told a temporary one will soon be in place.  From some of the comments made yesterday it is now clear that the residential component of the development never reached anywhere near to rosy picture painted by the developers even before the current recession.  That fact has not stopped the developers from launching a new round hubris and hyperbole trying to sell the property.  They are already calling the course "one of the best in the world."   Don't laugh, at least it has come a long way from a COW pasture. 

Links:
Barbados Advocate 12/03/09 Page 1, Page 4, Page 5

The Truth About The Beach At Beachlands

“Beachlands is scheduled to commence building construction in Easter 2010. The work that has been completed on the beach preservation and enhancement has paid significant dividends and that strip of beach is certainly amongst the best on the island. This project has already attracted some of the wealthiest of Barbados’ international clients. When you know Barbados, Beachlands will likely be at the top of your list of places to call home.”

This is what the beach at Beachlands looks like today:

 Barbados TravelAdvisor • View topic - Predictions for Barbados property development in 2010

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Construction On Banyan Tree/Black Bess Golf & Villa Project Causing Local Headache

"CONSTRUCTION ON THE SITE of the $600 million Banyan Tree Hotels & Resorts Ltd at Black Bess, St Peter, has taken a toll on 82-year-old Gellispie Springer.
Springer, who lives below the site at Upper Rock Dundo, St James, said her life has been disrupted by falling boulders and mould, loud noises from bulldozers and now a mass of water.
Whenever it rains, water gushes down the cliff above her and floods around her house and the road.
"If you see how the water rush down from there and flood my whole yard; I had to say Lord have mercy!" the elderly woman cried as she pointed to the cliff which is about 50 to 60 feet high..."

Click here for entire NationNews.com article.

Who knew that this project was restarted? Last we heard this project was shuttered and/or abandoned because of the recession. Be that as it may, the headache it is causing this old lady is another episode in a long string of problems construction on luxury tourism developments on or near the west coast have caused for locals and the environment. Some people in the area still blame a massive flood and rushing water which swept through the village of Weston, St. James several years ago washing one chattel house out to sea and drowning its occupant in the process, on construction related issues at the Royal Westmoreland golf and villa project. There has been no end of headaches for locals with the Apes Hill/Waterhall project involving everything from dry water taps to pushing people off lands. And, of course, the nightmare created in Road View/Mullins by the St. Peter's Bay condo project has been well documented on the Mullins Bay Blog. In all of these and other cases Government has stood aside with its arms folded and mouth shut - it too a victim and sometimes facilitator of the greed that currently grips Barbados by the throat.