A major US developer is targeting the purchase of Marriott’s 30-acre Barbary Beach landholding in what could be “a stepping stone” towards much larger efforts to revive Freeport’s economy.
#Multiple sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed that Weller Development, which is presently spearheading a 235-acre waterfront redevelopment project in Baltimore, is negotiating the tract’s acquisition for transformation into a project featuring a marina with accompanying houses and bungalows.
#Tribune Business, though, was told that this investment could be just the first stage in a much bigger vision that could potentially see Weller Development fill the vacuum created by Hutchison Whampoa, and its Grand Bahama Development Company (Devco) affiliate, when it comes to real estate-based ventures that could regenerate Freeport’s and, by extension, Grand Bahama’s wider economy.
#Several meetings are understood to have been held with the Prime Minister and the Government, with Dr Hubert Minnis pledging that his administration will “do whatever it can” to help bring Weller Development’s vision and ambitions to life given that Freeport desperately needs an economic ‘game changer’ with several cruise line-led projects stalled due to COVID-19.