Investors will ‘take their money elsewhere’ if hotel SDO fails
The Fairmont Southampton investor group will take its money elsewhere if the sought-after special development order for the resort is not approved.
This is according to Chris Maybury, a longtime Bermuda resident and affiliate of the ownership group, who gave a presentation and took questions at a town hall meeting last night attended by close to 200 people at Heron Bay Primary School.
Mr Maybury was asked what would happen if the SDO allowing Westend Properties, an affiliate of Gencom, to build 114 tourism and 147 residential units in buildings of up to six storeys at the resort was not approved.
He responded: “When we started the process 3½ years ago, the world was in a different place. Interest rates were lower, there was no banking crisis.
“Now there is a crisis unfurling, credit is getting tighter, interest rates are getting higher. I will not hide away from the fact that our investor group is nervous about the reaction from Bermuda.
“To keep the hotel, golf course — it is costing us millions a month — we have shown a certain amount of commitment. We can’t, and won’t, keep doing that. We can’t. The world has changed. We either have to get this done or the world is begging for our investment.”
Mr Maybury said the resort would end up as “another derelict hotel on the landscape” if the SDO was not approved.
The Government has already approved tax concessions valued at between $121 million and $133 million over 15 years to the Fairmont Southampton site owner, Gencom, and will also provide a guarantee of $75 million.
The Fairmont Southampton SDO was posted on the Government’s website earlier this month, giving residents until May 3 to submit objections.
Once the deadline has been reached, technical officers from the Department of Planning will conduct “a comprehensive assessment of the proposal”, taking into consideration all feedback.
That assessment and any recommendations on behalf of the Director of Planning will then be forwarded to the Development Applications Board, along with any other correspondence, including objections.
The board will then consider the application before passing the SDO and its own recommendations on to the Minister of Home Affairs.
Previously, SDOs then had to then undergo parliamentary scrutiny by being debated in the House of Assembly and approved by a vote.
But in 2021 Walter Roban, the home affairs minister, steered through amendments to regulations, giving the minister the authority to approve an SDO before it went to Parliament.
The minister is still required to bring an approved SDO to the House on the negative resolution procedure, and a debate can then be forced if an MP objects to the SDO. However, no vote is taken and approval cannot be reversed.
He named one of the investors as “Starwood”, which could refer to Starwood Capital Group, an investment firm headquartered in Miami Beach, Florida.
Mr Maybury said that this was a long-term investment in Bermuda and that the resort will be world-class. He went as far as to say: “We don't want to build the best hotel in Bermuda. We don't want to build the best hotel in the Caribbean region. We want to build the best hotel in the world.”
He said that building the hotel was the priority and would be getting a “full refurbishment”.
He added: “Renovations will involve sewerage, plumbing, water ... they are now 50 years old. There’s no fundamental structural work that needs to be done. The biggest lenders in the world will have checked that the place is going to stand up.”
He also said that ceilings would have to be carefully removed as they may contain asbestos.
Many in attendance voiced support for the development of the Fairmont Southampton but questioned the scope of the project. Mr Maybury said in order for the resort to be first-class, it would need year-round support by way of the future residential units which will be built on demand.
He said: “This is the modern way of providing a year-round infrastructure and support for a hotel. Used to be timeshares and fractionals – that is history now.”
An SDO granted in 2009 provided planning permission in principle for 71 fractional tourism properties, 37 residential villas and 22 town homes. It was never executed but remains in effect.
Mr Maybury said that misleading information was being circulated saying that the SDO that is now being sought is only four acres more than the 2009 SDO.
He said: “Read the SDO – you will see the exact figures.” He added that only 10 per cent of the golf course would be taken up by the development.
Addressing concerns about the environmental impact, Mr Maybury said that Westend Properties “went upwards instead of sideways” in terms of reducing the footprint of the site.
“We want to be good environmental citizens. We want to be seen as environmentally friendly as we can and have the lowest carbon footprint.”
He was unable to give any details about targets for renewable energy usage at the site including solar panels but said Westend was committed to green energy options.
The meeting was hosted by government MPs Zane DeSilva, Jason Wade and Crystal Caesar.
It was held to discuss a special development order request submitted to the Department of Planning this month.
Environmental organisations raised concerns about the scale of the proposed project and the impact it could have on open space.
A petition launched in opposition to the plans has attracted 3,891 signatures and is expected to be presented at the Cabinet building on Friday.
Former premier Sir John Swan said he believed the Fairmont Southampton development “could be an asset to Bermuda” and that, in part, it represented a chance for the island to become “a world-class destination”.
The Bermuda Industrial Union also backed the project.
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