The $25 million Sunset Resort Bahamas yesterday opened its doors for business, with one hotel representative stating that the development presents a "great opportunity" to capitalize on the redevelopment of Downtown Nassau. The project, a venture between New York real estate investment firm Sunset Equities and local investment group Sterling Financial, replaces the old Nassau Palm Resort after two years of exhaustive renovations.

A representative from Sunset Equities, who wished to remain anonymous, told Guardian Business that the new hotel would be affiliated with a "well established" U.S. hotel company brand within 90 days. The source further stated that the Sunset Resort received a hotel license on Tuesday and yesterday opened for business.

"However, in the short term we wanted to open the hotel for a number of reasons. One of the reasons was to offer local discounted rates for Bahamians.

"Our group saw this as a great opportunity. About two years ago we acquired the hotel. It had been on the market for a number of years. It had been neglected. The property was in bad shape and we saw it as an opportunity to come in and acquire a great asset in Downtown Nassau and put a lot of capital into it to bring it up to the standard that it is today," stated the representative.

The $25 million resort has been financed through equity capital provided by Sunset Equities with Sterling Financial provided debt financing, according to the representative. Hotel spokesperson Anthony Smith yesterday stated that the hotel opened its first tower with 118 rooms, while the resort will ultimately feature 201 rooms and suites by 2016. The project will bring on approximately 100 employees, who Smith said would be predominantly Bahamian.

"We are ever grateful to the support of the government of The Bahamas and its agencies and local businesses in moving this hotel opening to the finish line, and are excited about announcing Phase II expansion will begin in January 2016," said Smith.

The hotel hopes to cater to a niche mix of leisure and local and international business travelers as Downtown Nassau undergoes significant changes through the development of The Pointe and the recent acquisition of the Union Wharf Property.

"While we expect the brand to come in and help us put the hotel on the map internationally, because we will tap into the reservation and marketing system of this brand and it will help bring international leisure travelers to The Bahamas, the hotel will also cater to local corporate and commercial business and persons traveling to do business in The Bahamas," stated the Sunset Equities representative.

With these markets in mind, the Sunset Equities representative cited the sale of the British Colonial Hilton last year and the subsequent construction start of The Pointe in Downtown Nassau, both controlled by China State Construction and Engineering Corporation.

"While we see all of the stuff happening in downtown, we see it as a positive for the entire downtown area to be re-gentrified. Our project is the first major hotel that has seen this transformation... We see our property being a part of the whole redevelopment of the downtown area, which in the long term benefits for the area and the country," he said.

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