HAMILTON, Bermuda – The owner of the Fairmont Southampton resort is applying to build more than 130 residential and tourism units that will cover 34 acres of the 100-acre site, according to an advertisement placed in the Royal Gazette newspaper.
Work to renovate the hotel, the island’s largest, which has been closed for three years, will also begin in the next four months, according to the developer.
The advertisement, placed by West End Properties, an affiliate of the Miami-based hotel developer Gencom, revealed that it plans to build villas that will add a further 195 rooms to the hotel’s inventory of 593.
The hotel opened 51 years ago as the Southampton Princess.
The advertisement states that a new special development order (SDO) “is in the process of being submitted”.
The advertisement did not disclose exactly how many villas will be built, but it did state that it will be more than the 130 contained in a 2009 SDO submitted by the previous owner.
It stated: “The footprint is not substantially different from the SDO that was granted in 2009, but there is a proposed increase in the number of villas as well as in the height of some of the residential and tourism units.”
Home Affairs Minister Walter Roban pledged redevelopment plans for the Fairmont Southampton, including any application for an SDO, would go before the public.
“What I can say is that they will have to follow planning law,” he said.
The advertisement said that 62 per cent of the site would remain as green space and recreational areas.
West End Properties stressed that construction of the villas will not start “until well after the hotel renovations have commenced”.
It stated: “Our first priority will be to renovate the hotel. It is important to note that the existing building is not going to be torn down, but it will be upgraded.
“The existing bars and restaurants will also be updated. The 18-hole golf course will remain, with some minor reconfiguration, and there will be additional venues and amenities such as a reimagined beach club and a new outdoor events lawn.”
The owner claimed that the redevelopment “will result in tremendous economic benefit to Bermuda”, including a US$312.9 million impact on construction and $462.2 million “flowing to local business“.
A first consultation session with residents of the surrounding neighborhood is understood to have already taken place.
The hotel, which accommodated 28.5 per cent of visitors who arrived on the island before the COVID-19 pandemic, shut its doors in 2020, making more than 700 employees redundant.
While the new owner initially said it intended to reopen the hotel in April 2022, that timeline has repeatedly been pushed back.
Premier and Minister of Finance David Burt said in last week’s Budget Statement that legislators will soon be asked to approve changes to strengthen “the protections for the government of Bermuda in the provision of the $75 million guarantee of local lending to support the redevelopment project”.
He added that in preparation for the commencement of construction, the developers have been repricing construction costs.
He said: “The volatility in capital markets delayed the confirmation of financing, but it is a testament to the developers and their investors’ confidence in Bermuda that the capital for the project’s completion has been secured.”
Former Finance Minister Curtis Dickinson resigned from cabinet a year ago after he had a bust-up with Burt over taxpayer-funded sweeteners for the major revamp deal.
