The Ginn sur Mer Development project in West End, Grand Bahama, has gone into bankruptcy and the bank has taken over part of the property.
The nearly $5 billion project was announced with much fanfare by Perry Christie and his PLP administration back in 2005. Christie hailed it as the “largest single mixed used resort development” in the Bahamas.
But like every other project announced by Christie, the Ginn project turned out to be all smoke and mirrors. No doubt it enriched Mr Christie or his cronies, but did nothing for The Bahamas.
Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham, speaking over the weekend at an FNM event in Grand Bahama, revealed that Bobby Ginn is not the owner of the of the project, as the government had thought.
Mr Ingraham said that the real owner intends to change the Ginn name.
“I saw the owners last week. They are making some plans for the development down in West End. I don’t want to make any announcements for them, but they do not want to be known as Ginn anymore,” he said.
Things started to go south in 2009 when Bobby Ginn obtained a $675 million loan from Credit Suisse. The loan was secured with the Ginn Sur Mer project and four other properties Ginn was developing.
Credit Suisse foreclosed on the properties in January, 2010, after Ginn defaulted on the loan.
