The developer of the Bahamas' unfinished Baha Mar resort late last week said it planned to hold talks with both its China-based primary lender and its China-based general contractor in an effort to complete the project.
The announcement came after the developer, Baha Mar Ltd. exchanged salvos with the contractor over who was to blame for the megaresort's continued delays.
Baha Mar Ltd. last week requested and received a 13-day court adjournment from the Bahamas government to allow time for negotiations with both its lender and general contractor in an effort to finish the $3.5 million project.
The developer said last week that it was granted a Bahamas court adjournment until July 20, and will use the time to negotiate with both its general contractor, China State Construction Engineering Corp., and its primary lender, Export-Import Bank of China, in order to help finish the project.
"We welcome the parties' agreement today to our motion for the adjournment of these proceedings to July 20," Baha Mar said in a July 7 statement. "We look forward to engaging in substantive discussions with the parties to try and reach a consensual resolution that will allow us to move forward, and acknowledge the government's constructive role in those conversations."
The Bahamas Tribune reported last week that Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie would personally mediate discussions over the weekend between the developer, primary lender and general contractor in order to reach an agreement that will push the project forward. The publication previously had reported that the Bahamas government agreed to pay Baha Mar workers whose paychecks were not delivered due to a delay in temporary financing.
A Baha Mar Ltd. spokesman last week declined to confirm whether the prime minister would be part of the developer's discussions with the contractor and lender. The prime minister's office didn't respond to a request for comment from Travel Weekly last week.
Baha Mar Ltd. had decried a prior court adjournment by the Bahamas government, saying at the time that it hamstrung its ability to access the $80 million in debtor-in-position financing that Baha Mar Ltd. arranged late last month. That arrangement was approved by the U.S. bankruptcy court.
Baha Mar Ltd. is looking to salvage both the resort and its relationship with its general contractor after suing China State Construction division CCA Bahamas Ltd., which in turn slammed Baha Mar Ltd. early last week, saying it was the developer's own missteps that resulted in its bankruptcy filing late last month.
Specifically, CCA Bahamas, which says it's owed almost $72 million for work performed since February, cited Baha Mar Ltd.'s decision to replace the resort's principal architect after construction started as well as more than 1,300 "construction change directives" as examples of mismanagement. The contractor added in a July 7 statement that Baha Mar's late-June decision to file for bankruptcy in the U.S. and not in the Bahamas was "misplaced and calculated to benefit the project's developer over the interests of the Bahamas and its people."
Where that leaves Baha Mar, the most expensive development in Bahamas' history, remains in question seven months after the mega resort was originally slated to open. Baha Mar broke ground in Nassau's Cable Beach area in February 2011. The five-hotel project originally had been scheduled to open to the public by the end of 2014, featuring the 1,000-room Baha Mar Casino Resort & Hotel, the 707-room Grand Hyatt at Baha Mar, the 200-room Rosewood at Baha Mar and the 300-room Mondrian at Baha Mar.
In June 2014, however, Mondrian parent Morgans Hotel Group pulled out of the project and was replaced by SBE and its SLS Lux lifestyle badge. Meanwhile, last August, Baha Mar's opening date was pushed back until spring 2015. In late March, the project's grand opening was pushed back to early May, and since then, the developer hasn't been specific about an opening date.
Baha Mar Ltd. late last month sued CCA Bahamas Ltd. Baha Mar CEO Sarkis Izmirlian said the contractor had made guarantees that the project would open in November 2014 and when it failed to meet that deadline, guaranteed that the project would open in late March, neither of which deadline was met.
The developer also said that before filing for Chapter 11 protection, it had unsuccessfully sought additional funding from its primary lender, Export-Import Bank of China, in order to help finish the project.
Representatives with Hyatt, Rosewood and SLS have all repeatedly declined to comment, referring all questions to Baha Mar Ltd. representatives. The project's fifth hotel and lone pre-existing property, the 694-room Melia Nassau Beach, remains open as it completes its renovations and conversion to the Melia at Baha Mar early next year.