The government is "excited" about the prospect of a major development on the island of Crab Cay, Exuma, as a sale of the island to a new developer is expected in short order, Guardian Business understands.
An $800 million project proposed for the island came to a standstill not long after it was announced in March 2007 following the strike of the U.S. financial crisis.
In an interview with Guardian Business, Minister of State for Investments Khaalis Rolle said there is new hope for a revival of the project.
"It hasn't been sold yet but there is a pending transaction. We are excited about it. We think there's some good potential. There's a lot of opportunity for development there.
"I can't say definitively, but I suspect that based on what I see, that they may go with the original plan."
Other sources in the Exuma business and development community told Guardian Business that they believe a sale may have been agreed between the current owner and the new buyer. As of last Friday, an application to approve the sale had not come before the government.
Murphy International Development, headed by Pete Murphy, had planned to transform Crab Cay into a 200-plus acre "old-world ecological oasis for private luxury living, vacationing and yacht harboring".
It was to be branded by Sedona Resorts.
A 200-foot bridge constructed to link Crab Cay to mainland Exuma and the Queen's Highway, in anticipation of the resort, now remains the most visible evidence of the once grand plans for the island.
If it moves ahead, the Crab Cay project would become one of a number of pending new investments in the Exumas to come to light in recent months, suggesting quite a significant resurgence in investment interest in the prized islands.
Guardian Business recently reported that David Harris, a Tennessee-based developer is looking for government approval to build a $40 million mixed residential/commercial development on Culmer's Cay, which he is re-branding as Escape Cay.
Harris has suggested he would get going on the development by the last quarter of this year, if given the go-ahead by the government.
February Point, a semi-developed luxury community in Exuma recently sold to U.S. developer John McGarvey and a group of investors, who have proposed plans to further develop the area.
Another set of investors, led by Chuck E. Cheese's executive, Roger Cardinale, received approval to develop Leaf Cay in Exuma into a $50 million luxury resort earlier this year.
More recently, Innocence Island, another private island in Exuma, sold earlier this month for $17 million at an auction in New York, some $7 million above the reserve price. The 680-acre island with a 3,000 square foot main house was originally listed in 2009 for $55 million. It was sold by luxury real estate firm Concierge Auctions in conjunction with local real estate firm, Damianos Sotheby's International Realty.
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