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Delaporte Point battle over Airbnb rental ban GRAND LUCAYAN RESORT
Push to close Grand Lucayan’s sale for May 15 HOA signing By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net THE Government is moving rapidly to seal the Grand Lucayan’s sale to a $10bn Miami-based developer with hopes for a Heads of Agreement signing as early as this Thursday. Multiple sources, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not allowed to comment publicly, told Tribune Business that the Davis administration and representatives for Concord Wilshire, the prospective “master developer” for
Grand Bahama’s ‘anchor’ resort property, are in the final stages of reviewing legal documents in anticipation that a deal could be closed imminently on May 15. This newspaper was told that Concord Wilshire, which has acquired or undertaken several Floridabased resort renovation projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars during its 33-year history, has teamed with multiple development and operating partners to transform the Grand Lucayan site into a
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By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net A WESTERN New Providence gated community is battling a furious revolt by a group of homeowners who are accusing it of seeking to ban Airbnb-style short-term vacation rentals within its walls. Legal documents obtained by Tribune Business reveal that an 11-strong homeowner group at Delaporte Point, the gated community located next to Poop Deck West, have initiated Supreme Court action against its homeowners association for “unlawfully and wrongfully” interfering with their rights as private property owners to lease out their homes as they so desire. And they have obtained an injunction Order from Justice Darron Ellis that prevents the Association “from seeking to enforce any fines or penalties” on those involved in short-term rentals of their properties “by disconnecting the water supply of the claimants or any other means” until the substantive trial is heard and the dispute resolved. Tribune Business has seen documents alleging that some homeowners have incurred fines of up to
$20,000 imposed by Delaporte Point Ltd, the homeowners association, for alleged violations of rules and restrictions seeking to curb shortterm vacation rentals within the community. The penalties purportedly include a $1,000 fine per breach plus a “retroactive $400 fee” for each short-term rental. However, Delaporte Point Ltd has hit back through its own Supreme Court filings and correspondence. It asserts it is merely acting in the best interests of all property owners “to maintain the safety, integrity and harmony” of the entire community by preventing it from becoming a “hotel resort” as a result of being overrun by short-term vacation rentals. The Association, in an October 10, 2024, letter to all homeowners accused the 11-strong group of being “renegades” and “openly defying the decisions made by a clear majority of the Delaporte Point owners” to “phase-out” and eliminate shortterm vacation rentals. It added that “numerous issues had arisen” as a result of properties being leased short-term, including safety and security problems plus noise and nuisance from partying vacationers. Delaporte Point said these concerns were underlined by “the recent tragic
t )PNFPXOFST DMBJN AVOMBXGVM JOUFSGFSFODF XJUI SJHIUT t (BJO JOKVODUJPO UP CMPDL VQ UP L mOFT XBUFS DVU PGG t #PBSE TMBNT ASFOFHBEFT DPNNVOJUZ XPO U CF ASFTPSU drowning of a young Bahamian boy” at the community’s pool after he was left unsupervised while visiting a short-term renter. The dispute underlines the multiple concerns and conflicts resulting from the ever-growing expansion of Airbnb, VRBO and other vacation rental-style properties throughout New Providence and other islands. These are unlikely to be confined just
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‘Room for more’: Bahamas 3.4% growth beats IMF’s By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIAN businessmen are arguing this nation has “more room for growth” after hailing the economy’s “fantastic” 3.4 percent output expansion in 2024 - a figure significantly higher than the IMF’s 2 percent estimate. Robert Myers, the Windsor Lakes developer, and Peter Goudie, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers’ Confederation’s (BCCEC) labour division head, both told Tribune Business that the advance gross domestic
PETER GOUDIE product (GDP) growth figures make “it more urgent” to upgrade the Bahamian workforce’s skills and those of new labour force entrants.
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Brothers win $147,500 in family auto shop bust-up By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net TWO brothers have been awarded a combined $147,500 for wrongful and unfair dismissal following a bust-up at a family-run auto repair shop over unproven allegations of stealing. Justice Loren Klein, in a May 2, 2025, ruling recorded that Sterlyn Smith and Shavado Smith’s February 2017 departures from Ron’s Electric Motors, the Wulff Road and Claridge Road-based business run by their
brother-in-law, Ron Frazier, was marked by claims “of threats of violence and a narrowly-averted physical altercation” over purported fears that a “12-gauge shotgun” was about to be produced. “The events leading up to their termination, and the circumstances under which they departed the business, are not altogether clear. But it appears that allegations of stealing items from the shop were made against one or more of the employees,” Justice Klein said of
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