business@tribunemedia.net
Friday, April 17, 2026
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Bahamas must go on a development ‘diet’ to alter Out Islands trajectory BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A BAHAMIAN resort entrepreneur yesterday argued this nation must approach development “like a diet” and “consume smaller portions” given the multiple mega resort project failures caused by a flawed ‘anchor property’ strategy.’ Ben Simmons, developer of the Little Island Hotels group, which holds The Other Side and Ocean View properties on Harbour Island, plus The Farm on the mainland, told the central and south Eleuthera
Business Outlook conference that The Bahamas would have taken “a completely different trajectory” if - rather than focus on foreign direct investment (FDI) driven anchor properties - it had instead focused on supporting “10 small hotels” all owned by Bahamians on every Family Island. “What has not worked, and I think we’re living in the aftermath of the early 1990s administrations that said let’s put an anchor hotel on every island. Let’s put a major hotel on every island,” he said, “and that
CONSUME - See Page B5
‘Waste of precious resources’ fear over investor tax breaks BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE country’s top PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) accountant yesterday warned that tax breaks awarded to investors by the Government are not always “based on the project’s merits” and could lead to a “waste of precious resources” due to the absence of mechanisms to measure their impact. Prince Rahming, PwC’s senior partner and territory and tax leader for The Bahamas, told the central and south Eleuthera
A FORMER Bahamas National Trust (BNT) chief yesterday asserted that all foreign developers must understand that “black and white people can be on the beach at the same time and not bother each other” as he pronounced himself “flabbergasted” at the ever-decreasing access for locals. Eric Carey, who now runs his own environmental consultancy, One Consultants, told the central and south
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PRINCE RAHMING Business Outlook conference that obtaining value for money from concessions provided to developers is vital given that every
INCENTIVE - See Page B5
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‘Nothing to upset apple cart’ on real estate deals BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
Sellers gaining 90%+ of asking price as market ‘finds its balance’
A BAHAMIAN realtor yesterday asserted he does not foresee “anything upsetting the apple cart” for property sales, despite the upcoming general election and Middle East conflict, with the market “adjusting and finding its balance” during the 2026 first quarter. David Morley, Morley Realty’s president and broker, told Tribune Business that it is “all positive” for Bahamian real estate for the remainder of this year with data produced by the Bahamas Real Estate Association’s (BREA) Multiple Listing System (MLS) for the three months to end-March 2026 showing most property sellers are still receiving more than 90 percent of their asking price. And, with contracted-but not-complete home and land sales on New Providence increasing by 47.2 percent and 10.7 percent year-over-year,
Top realtor: No disruption signs from election or Middle East war FNM’s corporate income tax ‘of concern’ but will not be rushed respectively, for the 2026 first quarter, he added that there was nothing in either of the two major political parties’ election manifestos that is likely to cause any real estate market disruption. And, while noting that the Free National Movement’s (FNM) pledge to replace Business Licence fees with a corporate income tax was “a concern” based on research he conducted for BREA when the Davis administration released its 2023 ‘green paper’ on the subject, Mr Morley told this newspaper that any change would be impossible to swiftly implement because of the complexities involved.
“Overall, it’s still showing to be a very good, healthy real estate market,” he said, following his firm’s release of its 2026 first quarter analysis of MLS data. “I believe it’s going to continue for quite some time. I don’t foresee any major issues globally that would otherwise affect it. We have this war going on in the Middle East, but that’s affecting gas prices, which will eventually affect the cost of everything else. “In The Bahamas, especially in our local market, we always used to joke that if someone sneezes in Florida we always catch the flu, but we don’t catch it until nine months later. There’s enough of a time
Land Use Plans essential to ‘kill bad development’
Ex-BNT chief ‘flabbergasted’ by beach access reductions BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
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BY NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A FORMER Bahamas National Trust (BNT) chief yesterday urged this nation to follow the law and develop Land Use Plans for all 16 major islands so that “bad development” projects can be “killed” during the government approvals process. Eric Carey, now principal of his own environmental consultancy,
Eleuthera that addressing challenges posed by reduced beach access for Bahamians and visitors “is not easy but needs to be taken on”. He was responding to an audience question, which pointed out that “beach access has decreased significantly” since they returned to Eleuthera and asked how this could be improved and regained for Bahamians since it was “a recurring them” happening across all islands.
SEA - See Page B4
One Consultants, told the central and south Eleuthera Business Outlook conference that the 16-year failure to implement Land Use planning - a legal requirement mandated by the Planning and Subdivisions Act 2010 - has prevented The Bahamas from striking the correct “balance” in its approach to determining the types of development best suited for each island. He argued that such plans were critical to
ERIC CAREY determining “the carrying capacity” of each location, especially in the Family Islands, and would enable planning, environmental and other regulatory agencies to better determine whether an investment approval was suited to its chosen location or if it
DAVID MORLEY lag so that we probably only catch a variation of the flu or catch a cold.” Thus the hope is that the Middle East conflict, which is now in the midst of two short-term ceasefires, may end swiftly enough to prevent The Bahamas feeling the full impact apart from short-term hikes in transport and energy costs. “It may affect tourism,” Mr Morley added of the battle between the US, Israel and Iran, “but for the typical second homeowner buying in The Bahamas they already have the ability to purchase; they still
PROPERTY - See Page B4 should be switched elsewhere or “sent back to the drawing board”. Asserting that The Bahamas must have the courage to “tell a foreign direct investor” no, Mr Carey, in a thinly-veiled reference to the battle between Turtlegrass Resort & Island Club and Rosewood Exuma on Big Sampson Cay, said legitimate developers will also want assurances their projects will not be undermined or impacted by future developments that are approved for nearby sites “down the road”. Mr Carey is a consultant to Turtlegrass.
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