Nassau developer announces plans for $1.6 billion luxury Casino Resort
Nassau-based developer announced plans in a partnership with Harrahs and Starwood
First came the massive Atlantis resort on Paradise Island. Now, the Bahamas is gearing up for a new mega-resort: a $1.6 billion venture in Nassau to feature more than 3,500 hotel rooms, a Harrah's casino, an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus golf course, a retail village, luxury spas and a slew of other amenities on 1,000 acres.
Nassau-based developer Baha Mar Resorts Ltd. announced plans Monday for the ambitious project, what it called "the Caribbean's largest single-phase destination resort," in a partnership with two hospitality giants: Harrah's Entertainment Inc. and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc.
Harrah's will operate a new 1,000-room Caesars Resort Hotel and 95,000-square-foot casino at Baha Mar. Starwood will offer four of its top brands: a 300-room W, including 100 condo units; a 300-room St. Regis, including 100 condo units; a 700-room Westin; and a 700-room Sheraton. The group also will renovate the existing 550-room Wyndham Nassau Resort property and add other residential units, offering 3,550 guest rooms, "making it the largest in the Caribbean," developers said.
Plans also call for an eco-water park with a "show-lake" for live events, 175,000 square feet of meeting space and a 50,000-square-foot village with upscale retail, chef-branded restaurants, and entertainment venues. Construction is to begin in 2007, with an opening set for 2010.
Hospitality specialists said the deluxe project should give a major boost to Bahamas tourism, but likely won't dent business in South Florida in the medium term.
"When you're talking of a project of that size and scale, you're talking about creating a destination in itself," said Scott Berman, who leads the hospitality group for Price WaterhouseCoopers in Miami. "If you look at Atlantis as an example, it's additive. It creates more demand."
Indeed, Berman credited the success of Atlantis, the $1 billion-plus resort and marina complex developed by Kerzner International Ltd., with more than 2,300 hotel rooms, with helping spur confidence in the hotel and casino industry to attract heavyweights like Harrah's to the new Nassau venture.
"It's the first time in a long time that a publicly traded gaming company has made a commitment to the Caribbean," Berman said.
Yet he quickly noted that success in the Bahamas, just off Florida's coast, does not guarantee gains throughout the diverse Caribbean nor pain for South Florida.
"I'd be hard-pressed to say it would affect Miccosukee or Hard Rock" casino resorts in South Florida, Berman said.
Still, hospitality analyst Rogerio Basso of Ernst & Young in Miami warned of potential rivalry for South Florida short-term, especially for sun-seekers.
"When you have a project of that magnitude, with that amount of offerings and good quality as Starwood has, it would certainly shift some visitation. Yet if this were happening five years ago, I'd be much more concerned than I am now," Basso said, noting that South Florida has added so many resorts recently -- especially luxury hotels -- it helps "to shield the competitive threat."
Baha Mar developers said the three partners signed a letter of intent to make "cross-property" investments in the project, pending a definitive agreement.
Los Angeles-based MHA Studio Inc. will serve as the design architect. Mike Hong, founding principal, worked on the Bellagio resort in Las Vegas and Wynn Las Vegas.
Travel to the Bahamas has been surging. Hotel occupancy rose to 73 percent, and the average room rate jumped 23 percent in the year through September, according to Smith Travel Research, a Hendersonville, Tenn., company that tracks the hotel industry.
The Atlantis resort posted an average room rate of $294 in the second quarter, almost $20 more a night than a year earlier. The resort is adding a 600-unit, all-suite hotel, condominiums and a golf course in a $1 billion development to be completed in 2007.
Kerzner International's chief executive, Butch Kerzner, said Atlantis likely will draw guests from the proposed Baha Mar, just 15 minutes away, he said.
