Problems With Rosewood

The ultra-luxury Rosewood hotel brand tapped to manage the resort expected to be built at Harrison?s Point has lost yet another important management contract of a beachfront property. Five years after its contract to manage the Carenage Bay Club on nearby Canouan in the Grenadines had to be terminated it has been announced that the year and a half old Acqualina Resort which recently made the Conde Nast Hot List and located in Sunny Isles, Florida just north of the hip South Beach area will also be hauling down the Rosewood flag at the end of the month. Luxury brand Raffles now runs the Canouan resort but interestingly Acqualina is saying that it is leaving Rosewood to create its own brand. This latter intension, however, cannot hide the obvious dissatisfaction with Rosewood so soon after the resort's opening barely over a year ago. Whatever the problems with Rosewood are, developers at Harrison?s Point and the Bajan public which was invited recently to comment on the plans for the area should pay attention to this latest development.

Pierhead Project Still On Cards

http://www.nationnews.com

Battle for BS&T no problem for Pierhead project
Published on: 10/8/07.

by Geralyn Edward

THE LONG-MOOTED public/private sector Pierhead Project is still on the cards, according to Barbados Shipping & Trading (BS&T) chief executive officer Anthony King.

Providing an update on the initiative which has been nearly a decade in the works, King told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY the current takeover battle between Neal & Massy and ANSA McAL for BS&T had not affected plans for one of the country's most ambitious projects.

The multimillion-dollar project would transform the Pierhead and lower Bay Street sites into a sophisticated shopping, entertainment and upscale accommodation area.

"In a way it is fortunate that there are not a lot of hard decisions or a lot of heavy financial decisions that have to be taken with the Pierhead project at this time.

"As a result, the takeover issue is not affecting it. But clearly, whoever is successful at the takeover will need to look at it and decide how they want to do things," he said in an interview over the weekend.

He explained that Neal & Massy, which for several years had a presence on the BS&T board of directors, "did not have any differences with us on it."

At the same time, the top BS&T executive said most of the project plans were on hold while Government completed the marina portion being handled by Barbados Tourism Investment Corporation.

Still Coming

http://www.cbc.bb/content/view/12486/10/

"Harrison Point to be a luxury resort
Friday, 07 September 2007

A dramatic change of status is on the cards for Harrison Point in St. Lucy. Mike Goddard reports that the site of the temporary prison is to be transformed into a place of luxury. It will be constructed on 83 acres of land, and will comprise a hotel, residential villas, restaurants, pools and a spa, among other things. The Harrison Point Resort development is a joint private and public sector project by the Barbados Tourism Investment Incorporated and Fairways Development Limited. The details are all spelt out in an environmental impact assessment which is now available for public viewing. According to the document, there will be an 80 to 120 room hotel and about 350 residential units plus tennis clubs, jogging track, hiking trails and beach facilities. The residences will be made up of 140 - cliff top units, along with 15 to 20 on the beach, 35 - on the bluff and between 100 and 150 condominiums.

The developers will also be transforming one kilometer of coast line by constructing and relocating two groynes and by creating an offshore island. Harrison Point lighthouse is also to be retained and will be incorporated into a historic centre and park.The Harrison Point Resort development is to be discussed during a town hall meeting at North Stars Cultural and Social Club on Wednesday September 26 at 7.30 p.m..Copies of the environmental impact assessment are presently available for public viewing at the Town Planning Department, the Garrison, at North Stars Club at Crab Hill and Golden Crust Bakery at Maycocks in St. Lucy.The developers say the multi million dollar Harrison Point Resort development will create a unique high quality environment which will benefit visitors, residents and the Barbadian public.It will also improve and revitalise an area of coastline that has not been formally accessible to the public for between 40 and 50 years. This project has been on the cards since 2004 but was put on hold when the fire at Glendairy prisons forced the relocation of prisoners to the site of the old American navy base at Harrison Point."