Southlands developer Craig Christensen weaves his way through the tricky landscape that is his new investment in today's Royal Gazette.
While I'm not converted, some of my initial concerns remain (ie. rigged SDO process, rezoning of protected areas, net increase in foreign workers etc.) I think he probably won over a few skeptics with this article, while opening up a whole new can of worms - CASINOS.
This one is shaping up to be the perfect storm! Pass the popcorn.
I'd heard rumours last week that Southlands had been 'promised' a casino, whatever 'promised' means, but to see the article today lends some credence to some of that.
As someone who submitted a (non-form letter) protest letter, with some of the concerns addressed today by Mr. Christensen, I remain against this project as proposed.
I should say that the developers certainly have a right to develop the property. I would never oppose that, however there are enough concerns around the periphery that I'm far from convinced an SDO is justified to facilitate the full scope of what they're requesting.
With the latest round of tourism stats out, it's clear that Bermuda can't fill our existing beds. Dr. Brown seems to be subscribing to the "If we build it they will come" approach.
I also am opposed to a development such as this being rushed through a secretive Special Development Order process, in which no real rationale has been provided as to why it has been approved (and Dr. Brown's announcement last week confirms that it has been approved even if the official approval hasn't come).
With the number of sites which could be redeveloped successfully, it seems unnecessary to raze Southlands and leave brownfield sites fallow.
One can also not ignore the destruction of the coastline and woodland, in conjunction with the tunneling of South Shore Rd..
Government has not made the case of what the benefit will be to Bermuda and the economy, nor have they addressed the potential inflationary effect and resultant increase in foreign workers which will be required to staff a resort such as this.
And then there's the massive housing component, which is hypocritical in the extreme with locals being shut out of selling their high-end homes to foreign buyers while Southlands/Jumeirah can.
And finally, a nagging concern for me is that Dr. Brown sees this as Bermuda's Atlantis. And while I'm sure Atlantis is a great place, I must admit that more and more it seems like Atlantis is the Bahamas, or at least a lot of people think of Atlantis first.
I'd hate for that fate to become Bermuda. The threat is there that the island could be secondary to some swanky new resorts.
The UBP's David Dodwell has harped on for years that we need to fix the product before we can roll out massive increases in beds.
Nowhere have I heard that critical piece addressed if we are to fix Bermuda's tourism product, not just create a new self-contained resort.
