News Article
Update September 2009
Project Information Booklet.
Last Thursday, 24th September 2009, we published a fully up to date Project Information Booklet designed to provide background information regarding the Port St. George development. The booklet aims to provide a snapshot of the present position with all aspects of the project and we expect that it will be of interest to a wide audience of people who are interested in keeping abreast of our progress.
The 20 page document can be downloaded from our website on the home page.
Langham Hotels International Press Conference.
The publication of the Project Information Booklet was timed to coincide with a press conference hosted by Langham Hotels International. The purpose of the event was to announce the forthcoming Langham Place Resort and Spa, Port St. George, Long Island, Bahamas and it was well attended by journalists from both sides of the Atlantic who listened attentively to presentations from Helmut Knipp, who is Senior Vice President - Development for Langham Hotels International, Katie Benson who is Managing Director of the Langham Hotel, London and Regional Vice President for Europe and North America for Langham Hotels International and also from Curly.
We expect that both Langham and Port St. George will attract considerable publicity as a result of the successful press conference and associated press release. These have already led to articles in The Tribune (Bahamas) on Friday 25th September and The Times (UK) on Monday, 28th September.
The press release can be downloaded by clicking here.
Presentation at the Langham Hotel, London.
To conclude a busy day, on Thursday evening we made a presentation at the Langham Hotel, London to an invited audience comprising mainly of people who hold a Right to Buy into the Port St. George development. An estimated 185 of our Right to Buy holders were in attendance and we are grateful to everyone who was able to take the time to be present. Also in attendance were representatives of several of the companies who will be involved in the development of Port St. George, namely Robert Trent Jones II, Mott MacDonald and IMG. The lawyers who advised us on the negotiations which led to the contract with Langham International, Field Fisher Waterhouse, and Savills, from whom we have taken valuation advice, were also represented.
The evening began with an informal 45 minutes of light refreshments based around some Bahamian cocktails, just to ensure that everyone was in a celebratory mood. Guests were then invited through to the spectacular ballroom for the main business of the evening.
After a welcome from Curly, the first speaker of the evening was Robert Walters, Investment Director - Property, at BDO Stoy Hayward Investment Management Limited. In a short speech he confirmed that BDO remain fully committed to the Port St. George project, despite the global financial turmoil of the past 12 months. Throughout that period BDO and the Port St. George team have continued to work together closely to ensure that the project is in a strong position to take advantage of the upturn, the green shoots of which now appear to be showing through.
The Presentation by Langham Hotels International was begun by Katie Benson who presented the history of the London Langham from a humorous angle, whilst making sure that she emphasised the fact that many of the facilities we now take for granted in quality hotels came about as a result of innovations which began at her hotel.
The evening was rounded off by a presentation from Helmut Knipp who is the individual at Langham with whom we negotiated the management agreement for the hotel at Port St. George. Helmut presented the other Langham hotels around the world, both existing and planned. He also explained the differences between the Langham and Langham Place brands.
More information about Langham Hotels International is contained in our Project Information Booklet or at www.langhamhotels.com.
Right to Buy Window.
Mindful that the likely timing of the Right to Buy window would be a subject of interest to most people at the presentation, Curly confirmed that our latest estimate is that the 60 day window will be opened during the summer of next year. This allows time for our project managers, master planners, architects, hotel managers, environmentalists, golf course designers and golf course managers to have input into the final stage of master planning, which in turn will lead to the production of the plot level drawings.
This final stage of planning is of critical importance. With input from the companies that we have chosen to collaborate with, each one at the absolute top of their profession, we have the opportunity to improve yet further on the vision for Port St. George and in doing so to add yet more value to the development. That added value is good news not only for us, but also for each and every Right to Buy holder.
This week the preliminary work towards organising the final stage of master planning has begun and we are looking forward to presenting the results in the New Year. We are confident that the quality team that will be working on the designs will, yet again, be able to exceed expectations.