The proposal includes these hotels, in addition to the 55-acre tract opposite the properties, formerly the Hobby Horse racetrack, at an estimated $500 million.
Hotel Corporation chairman George Smith confirmed Monday that the Government is assessing and studying various proposals for a “major upscale” development for Cable Beach, with the Calstar proposal representing one offer.
Mr. Smith declined to make any further comment on the proposals, noting that Prime Minister Perry Christie will make an official announcement at the appropriate time.
However, a source involved with the project, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The Guardian last Wednesday that with Calstar involved, the hotels would be refurbished and upgraded and flagged with one of the “best” hotel groups’ emblems.
Calstar Properties estimates that the redevelopment of the hotels would be completed within 36 months. The opposite land would take a bit longer and would comprise a convention centre, an amusement and entertainment park.
According to the source the project will not disrupt the Cable Beach area as, “We are not pulling down.”
It is anticipated that between 1,600 and 1,800 permanent jobs would be created at the completion of the project.
The Government has announced its intention to sell its financially-strapped Radisson resort, which received a $15 million bail-out from a clearing bank about two years ago.
However, owner of the Wyndham and Nassau Beach properties Phil Ruffin is refusing to sell his properties to Dikran Izmirlian, a Swiss-Armenian billionaire who owns the largest real estate plot in Lyford Cay, according to recent reports. The Armani group is known to be represented by the law firm of Gibson and Company.
Mr. Ruffin has a 99-year lease on the Wyndham property. A Wichita investor, he is one of three Kansans on the Forbes Magazine list of the 400 richest people in America.
With an estimated net worth of $700 million, Ruffin is No. 364 on Forbes’ list. Forbes says Ruffin dropped out of college and got into the convenience store business in 1959. The magazine says his wealth includes strip centres, hotels, dog tracks, hand trucks and casinos. It also says that Mr. Ruffin took the Las Vegas New Frontier casino off the market and plans to demolish it and replace it with a $1.6 billion San Francisco-themed casino.
His management team has been credited for building an “enviable record” of profitability in the volatile gaming and casino industry. With the purchase of the Crystal Palace Resort and Casino in 1996, (now the Wyndham Nassau Resort and Crystal Palace Casino) Mr. Ruffin began its first turnaround of a troubled operation, the magazine says.
Lindsay Thompson, The Nassau Guardian
