Barbadian real estate magnate Paul Altman has urged Government and private sector interests to get the long touted Bridgetown Pierhead development project going.
Altman said the Pierhead project had the potential to double the economic impact that the Four Seasons development and $100 million Limegrove Lifestyle Centre on the West Coast would have on the economy.
However, Anthony King – managing director of Barbados Shipping & Trading, the conglomerate that conceptualised the project that included a Government-financed marina – said Friday night: “There is no Pierhead project.”
Earlier reports on the project said the development had attracted investors from Britain, Cayman Islands and the United States.
The Caribbean Development Bank had secured US$35 million to develop the marina component that would have been part of the estimated $400 million project.
However, King told BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY: “To have a project there must be something to execute. There was a project that was conceptualised by a set of players and it was dependent on the creation of a marina within a certain period of time by Government. For various reasons, the marina has not come about and some of the players are no longer involved.”
King said the plan was for the investors to have the option of becoming shareholders. However, as the Government-financed marina has so far fallen through, so have the options for investors.
The Pierhead project – which is now more than a decade in the making – would have included the reclamation of land and construction of a marina at the old Coast Guard headquarters, several waterfront condominiums, shops and entertainment facilities along Bay Street.
Many of the buildings at Pierhead and along Bay Street are owned by BS&T.
“At this point we have not been given a document. No contract has been given for the construction of a marina. Is there going to be a marina? We don’t know.
“We have land with buildings and tenants and we await the outcome of a Government determination.
“We are ready to interface with Government and we remain in communication with Government but everything depends on what unfolds,” the BS&T boss pointed out.
