Nassau Palm's New Owners in $8 Million Upgrades

A private equity group plans to invest $8 million in upgrading the Nassau Palm Resort after completing the downtown Nassau property’s acquisition on Friday.

Sunset Equities, a consortium of Caribbean and international investors, pledged in a statement that it would hire Bahamian contractors, and local labor, to work on renovations that are set to start in three months and be complete by November 2014.

Renovation work on the 183-room Nassau Palm, which has been for sale for three years, is projected to create 75 construction jobs, plus around 70 permanent posts once the hotel reopens.

The ownership change/upgrade is perfectly timed, as it will dovetail nicely with plans to revitalize Bay Street and downtown Nassau, plus the potential acquisition just down the road at the British Colonial Hilton.

Tribune Business exclusively revealed the Sunset Equities deal last month, and the fact it was set to close by end-May.

The West Bay Street property, located opposite downtown Nassau’s popular Junkanoo Beach, has been on the market since late 2010, but two previous sales fell through. One of those deals involved an offer by a Bahamian group.

Sunset Equities said it plans to provide hospitality and customer service training across all departments, including executive level positions. Bahamian law firm Lennox Paton provided legal advice to it on the transaction.

The statement described Sunset Equities as a group focused on acquiring hotels throughout the Caribbean region, making the tourism model more sustainable and maintaining environmentally-sound decisions. It is looking for other acquisition opportunities beyond the Nassau Palm Resort.

The Nassau-based Sterling Financial Group (SFGI), headed by David Kosoy, provided the Nassau Palm acquisition financing through one of its managed mortgage funds, the New Providence Income Fund. It provided financial advisory services to Sunset Equities Ltd.

Source: The Bahamas Tribune