Rosewood Tucker’s Point president Ed Trippe said a special development order will enable the property to pay back its loans to HSBC.Mr Trippe spoke after Government announced it has granted in principle approval to build 78 private residences and 70 hotel rooms on the 240-acre property, much of it on land previously protected by various environmental zoning orders.Allan Marshall, who will be the United Bermuda’s Party’s candidate in the next election for the area where the development is supposed to take place, said he believes the Bermuda Government is willing to sacrifice untouched land to ensure the hotel does not default on its loan.On Friday Mr Trippe said he had spent a year negotiating with Government, HSBC and Rosewood Hotels and was relieved with the announcement.“It puts an end to months of speculation,” he said.The first stage will see 19 residential homes built on Glebe Hill, Paynter’s Road, South Road, Harrington Sound Road and Paynter’s Hill.Mr Trippe said once the SDO is approved the hotel will be able to repay some of its loan with its primary lender, HSBC. Tucker’s Point received an $85 million loan from HSBC before beginning construction in 2007.“Many successful hotels today are built on the back of residential units,” Mr Trippe said. “The real estate, in effect, is a silent investor. It is capital; you don’t have to go find a shareholder to put up that money“The first stage, I expect it will take two to three years. We are already seeing it come back, people are making offers; they are not as high as the offers we had in 2008, but they are starting to come back. People are now willing to come in and invest in real estate and we are now able to sell real estate.“It will allow us to repay our loans. It will also help by bringing people to our resort they will play golf, use our spa and go to our restaurants.”He added the SDO was one of the main reasons ultra-luxury hotel management company Rosewood came on board. Rosewood will manage the property and help market it.Rosewood is not investing in the construction of the new homes or hotel rooms but is paying for 50 percent of the re-branding costs.Mr Trippe said it would not be necessary to find additional investment for the development.He said the second and third phase, which include up to 70 rooms and 57 townhouses, would start when the economy improved. The SDO will expire in 2021 which means Rosewood Tucker’s Point will have to have received final planning approval for all three stages by that point.At Friday’s press conference David Bragg, HSBC’s head corporate real estate added: “The approval of the SDO sends a powerful message to all stakeholders, including banks and would-be investors and developers, that Government is solidly behind Tucker’s Point and the Island’s hospitality sector.”But yesterday Mr Marshall said it was wrong Government was essentially helping the hotel repay its loan.“My question is why should the Bermuda Government offer an SDO that will eventually take away a large portion of Hamilton Parish woodlands in order to make good the HSBC loans? This is wrong and any MP who votes for this SDO should have their head examined and the voters in their constituencies should likewise hold them to account.“Issuing an SDO which ultimately leads to the selling and development of raw, virgin, protected real estate will not solve the financial problem of Rosewood Tucker’s Point and, ultimately, it only helps the loan book of HSBC.”l See Editorial page 4