Welcome to Bahams Living - your independent source for the latest information on Ginn sur Mer, a four billion dollar club and resort development under construction on Great Bahama, Bahamas. Upon completion, the resort is planned to feature 4,400 condominum/hotel units, over 870 single family residences, two championship golf courses, marinas, a private airport, casino, water parks, tennis complexes, beach clubs and much more! Learn more about Ginn sur Mer |
None of the in-land canals you see (click on the photo to enlarge) existed 12 months ago, and a lot of the area has been compacted and raised several feet. Keep 'on digging!
As we noted last month, Ginn plans to spend $60 million dollar this year on construction. Utility work has begun at the Caquille neighborhood, and are moving south towards the resort core and the Beusoleil section next.
The grand opening of the Clubhouse at the Conservatory (a Ginn development in Palm Coast, FL) is set for March 29th, during the Ginn Championship tournament.
The building, inspired by the The Crystal Palace of England, features 37,500 square feet of air-conditioned space, with patios making up the balance of the 44,400 square feet building. Over $1.2 million of furniture and artwork has been placed inside the clubhouse, all one-of a-kind authentic pieces commissioned artwork designed after art found in the original Crystal Palace.
This is the second grand clubhouse Ginn has completed recently. Back in October the 94,000 square feet Tesoro clubhouse opened in time for the Ginn sur Mer Classic.
Can't wait for building construction to begin at Ginn sur Mer!
Ginn sur Mer had its most successful sales month in the community's history in January, taking 21 contracts on a mix of homesites!According to Greg Ulmer, VP of Sales at Ginn sur Mer, the buying frenzy was brought about both because of an impending price increase at the community and the fact that development is ahead of schedule.
"We've seen a number of prospective buyers making the purchasing decision lately because the community is really coming along and is in fact ahead of schedule," Ulmer said.
Of particular interest to buyers are the oceanfront homesites. Currently, development is continuing on the community's infrastructure and a grass is growing in on a number of golf holes from the Arnold Palmer design.
Via Ginn Headlines
"If anything we're speeding it up," Mr. Ginn said recently in an update to reporters. "Our attitude is that now is the time to build; concrete is cheaper than a long time ago, material prices are down...so we're moving forward."
"A lot of that downturn is not the business we're in here, our primary customers are 48 years old to 60 years old. Their jobs are pretty much secured. The demographics haven't changed."
Mr. Ginn said while he and other company officials keep an eye on the housing market crisis in the United States, the company's real estate prices remain steady.
"We felt like we were below market for the type of development we've got. We felt like we were reasonably priced already and we have not really reacted to the market other than to do things that will ensure people that we're going to provide the services," he said.
"I honestly don't think that money is going to make someone's decisions to be here."
Read more in the Bahama Journal
Bobby Ginn understands that potential customer may be concerned purchasing property in a development still under construction - so he is putting the money in the bank!
"We have escrowed all of the cash it will take to perform the amount
of work that we currently have under construction - all the roads, the
water, the sewer, the golf courses, the marina. "We put up, I think about $160 million in cash that's sitting on an
account to take any question out of the minds of people of how
committed we are to that community," he said.
Ginn pointed out that as the project moves forward and the more the construction takes place that issue will evaporate.
"We didn't want to lose this time and have people worried about what
the financial conditions of the company are. You just can't do any
better, in my opinion, than to put up all the money," he noted. "We've done everything we can do to be sure that
when we're talking with our customer that they've got the assurance
that what they're buying is going to be developed with the quality and
standards that our company is known for," Ginn assured.
That means that by 2013 the project's core facility, inclusive of 1,200 bungalow-style units will be constructed on either side of a five star hotel, casinos, meeting facilities, retail space and restaurants.
The first residential construction, bungalow condos, will start this summer and in nine to twelve month lot owners will be able to start construction of their oceanfront residences. "We've sold well over 200 lots at this point and we have a lot of people who want to start building right now" said John Davies, senior vice president of development at Ginn.To date over $150 million has been invested in the project and about 70 percent of the 2,000-acre site has now been cleared, partially elevated and prepared for infrastructure. Ginn referred to the project as a "very complicated community to develop," as the crews had to elevate the land in some cases up to 10 feet. "When this thing is finished and all the work is completed, several thousand acres of property will be properly drained, filled back in, wetlands will be restored and environmental debris will have been cleaned up and turned into something useful," Ginn said.
Read more at the Bahama Journal
Listen to Ginn's opening remarks at The Bahamas Weekly
Renowned
Bahamian chef, Basil E. Dean, has been appointed Executive Chef at
Old Bahama Bay by Ginn sur Mer.
A
culinary specialist, Dean brings extensive knowledge and experience
having previously worked at Jamaican and Bahamian upscale resorts. Chef Dean
has won numerous awards in culinary competitions throughout The Bahamas
and the world. He captained the 2004 Bahamian Culinary
Olympic Team and is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America and
the University of the West Indies.
"We
are excited to have found someone with Chef Dean's experience,
management skills and love for the business," said Bob Van Bergen, Vice
President and General Manager at Old Bahama Bay.
Chef Dean is equally excited about his newest appointment.
"I feel honored and privileged to be given this opportunity to work with so many talented and creative people.
It's my goal to ensure that Old Bahama Bay maintains its reputation for quality service as a world-class resort," said Dean.
- The 10.5 feet fill of the Caquille neighborhood (ocean front next to airstrip) is almost complete, and by the end of February utility work will begin. The Resort Core and Beusoleil neighborhood are next!
- Ginn is currently working with a company in West Palm Beach on plans for the first development within the Resort Core, and if everything goes as planned should be on the ground by the end of this year.
- Ginn has budgeted around $60 million this year for construction. $40-$45 million was spend in 2007.
Casual visitors to West End may think that little construction is going on at Ginn Sur Mer, because all of the construction so far have been related to land preparation and not buildings. A view from above changes that perception however, as shown in the images below.
Over the past year Ginn sur Mer's construction crews have been shifting a lot of dirt, digging out Canals and converting swamp land to solid land, raising it 15 ft above sea level.
Click image to enlarge.
Most of the earth used to raise the land comes from the digging of the extensive network of canals. Above you can see the growth of the Master Canal between August and December.
Click image to enlarge.
Up-close image of a turn in Canal. Looks a LOT bigger from the ground!
Click image to enlarge.
A frequent visitor to West End, skierboy6 writes on Geographia: "... its easy to see that development is going on everyday, we could feel the dynamtite blasting nearly everday while working, if you drive to the back side of the village, between town and old bahama bay, you can easily see all the millions of dollars of equipment on the site, you would know that G and G shipping sends a ship to old bahama bay once a week, just for GINN, they have a huge dragline working, monstorous CAT escavators digging all day long, the biggest ive ever seen, from firsthand conversation with multiple workers at the site and OBB, including the construction foreman of the site, you would now that theres already been over 60 million dollars invested in site prep, i believe it was 68 million, but im not sure the specific number he told us, sorry, and having been back onto the actually construction site, you can see that 2 of 14 miles worth of canals are dug, and that mounds of dirt and fill, i'd estimate 30 ft tall, line the entire south coast line of the project in their attempt to build back up the beach, you would also know that they've spent millions reclaiming the sand that was moved from the beach into the swamps by the hurricane"
Thanks to James @ Geographia for some of the pictures.
Ginn sur Mer Gallery
Location
Located at the western tip of Grand Bahama Island, Ginn sur Mer is just 55 miles away from West Palm Beach. A world apart from Florida - yet only a short 20 minutes flight or about three hours by sea.