Two Parts To Southampton Redevelopment
Westend Properties said they would like to clarify points about the Fairmont Southampton redevelopment; noting that there are two parts to the redevelopment, one is the renovation of the hotel and beach club and the other is the construction of the new tourism and residential units.
A spokesperson said, “Westend Properties would like to clarify a couple of points related to the Fairmont Southampton redevelopment. There are two parts to the redevelopment. One is the renovation of the hotel and Beach Club. The other is the construction of the new tourism and residential units under the Special Development Order [SDO] that was approved in October 2023. Together, these have been referred to as the “hotel project” and this has led to some confusion about the status of the funding for the redevelopment.
“We would like to reiterate and confirm that the renovation of the hotel and Beach Club is fully funded. That part of the redevelopment has always been our first priority. The construction of the SDO units will not begin until the hotel renovation is complete. The funding for that part of the project relies on pre-sales of the units. Since those pre-sales haven’t started, the SDO portion of the redevelopment is not yet fully funded.”
Good to know ???? now get to work and get the hotel refurbished and renovated so it can reopen. Can you please provide the reopening date? Thanks!
No no no, this has been made up. The hotel renovation cannot go ahead without the SDO being approved we were told. If they were separate you could have just done a hotel renovation that was fully funded and not needed an SDO. What have you been waiting for? Hotel renovation could have therefore started ages ago. Me thinks someone is trying to pull the wool over our eyes.
Agree 100%. This is total horse shyt! We were told that the hotel would be an ugly, crumbling eyesore if the SDO didn’t go through for the condos!!
And if the projects aren’t connected, why did work not start on the hotel years ago??
WHICH IS IT?? This is getting more and more shady!
“This is getting more and more shady!”
Or perhaps the Southampton Princess deal was always shady and it is only now that the shadiness is becoming apparent
Me thinks you’re right .
According to the President of the Construction Association most people employed on the refurbishment will be non Bermudians. So much for the PLP trumpeting the impact on Bermuda’s unemployed. More lies and deception by Burt and others. There was probably more benefit from the Americas Cup.
Even if there will be foreign labourers, there will be locals employed as well. Additionally, there will be economic stimulus within the country and once the hotel is up and running there will be more beds, more tourists, and more jobs in the running of the hotel. No one ever said only Bermudians would be employed.
The beds existed before Gencom bought the hotel and closed it under the PLP. This is not an increase, it just brings us those same beds back. Not sure how you are claiming this as a win.
40 years ago Bermuda had more than 12,000 hotel beds (Club Med, Castle Harbour, Bermudiana, Elbow Beach, Sonesta Beach, Palmetto Bay and other hotels still existed).
In 2013 Bermuda did not have even 4,000 hotel beds for the Island Games.
When Bermuda has 12,000 hotel beds again I will happily listen to talk of “more beds, more tourists, and more jobs”, but until then we are only celebrating our failure over the past 40 years to preserve our tourist economy.
Not to mention when we had 12,000 beds most of the staff were Bermudian and earned good money. Today with 2,000 beds it’s probably not more than 50% at most, so more minimum wage jobs for non Bermudians. Money Gram will of course be delighted.
Very informative. The hotel funding is in place but not for the condos. Begs the question why an SDO held up the hotel renovation all these years as Gencom is basically saying the 2 developments are separate. Burt has to be the worst negotiator in Bermuda’s history, no idea of deal making. Bragged how important the hotel opening was before the terms started to be discussed. Talk about playing with the cards showing. No wonder Cutis Dickenson resigned over the millions of dollars given away, and still the details remain hidden. Millions of dollars of tax payers money being spent and Burt remains silent and MIA.
The hotel was in need of renovations prior to Covid and once Covid hit it forced the closure. That was no government’s fault. Yes it would clearly be an increase as regaining the beds would increase the current allotment of beds available for tourists/guest. Additionally, it would assist in regaining airlift to Bermuda which benefits both tourists and Bermudians.
I understand the desire to make all of this political and anti-PLP, but once the hotel is under renovations and then reopened for business, I am sure we will all appreciate the benefits associated with it.
No one is “making it anti plp”…the PLP have made this mess themselves, and lemmings like you want us to love it.
Educate yourself for a change…not everyone is on the F&F plan, most of us have to work for a living.
Reign your undeserved privilege in.