By: Staff Writer
April 26, 2024
Royal Caribbean International announced the start of the construction on the Royal Beach Club Paradise Island, a 17-acre beach experience on Paradise Island in Nassau, The Bahamas, according to a statement.
However, the land it is intending to construct the Beach Club on is now part of a UK Privy Council lawsuit over ownership of pieces of the land.
Toby Smith, Bahamian entrepreneur and owner of a competing project on Paradise Island, is continuing his fight all the way up to the highest court in the land after having lost his appeal on a 2-1 vote in The Bahamas Court of Appeal.
The Court of Appeal President in his dissenting opinion said that he would order “specific performance of the lease” by the Government as Mr Smith had “a binding agreement” to lease the five Crown Land acres for a beach break-type destination.
Smith’s contention is that under the previous Free National Movement administration, they did not sign the agreement with him because it “determined that it had found a better deal” – namely Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines’ Royal Beach Club project, which itself wanted to lease three of the same acres sought by the Bahamian entrepreneur.
RCI is forging ahead nonetheless as their groundbreaking was attended by high ranking government officials that went along with pronouncements of a deeper partnership in the Beach Club for Bahamians.
RCI also hopes to present an equity offering for the Royal Beach Club to the public by this quarter, or by the early part of the third quarter, RCI’s Chief Innovation Officer Jay Schneider said yesterday.
Speaking to reporters following the groundbreaking ceremony for the Royal Beach Club on Paradise Island, Schneider said now the heads of agreement (HOA) for the development has been signed, both RCI and the government can begin the process of offering shares in the beach club project, through what is being called the National Investment Fund (NIF). The HOA was signed yesterday at the Office of the Prime Minister on West Bay Street.