NASSAU, The Bahamas
Baha Mar, the sprawling new resort in the Bahamas that has been burdened with delays, announced that it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection—according to numerous published reports.
The $3.5 billion new development was originally slated to open last December, then took aim at a late March 2015 launch date that was also postponed. The large and ambitious project is set to offer four lodgings, a championship golf course and dozens of dining establishments upon its eventual opening.
Sarkis Izmirlian, Baha Mar’s developer, has placed blame for the holdups entirely on the contractor, China Construction America, majority-owned by the Chinese government, saying in a statement that, “The general contractor repeatedly has missed construction deadlines. This has caused both sizeable delay costs and forced the resort to postpone its opening. Unable to open, the resort has been left without a sufficient source of revenue to continue our existing business.”
Izmirlian added in the statement that the resort’s board of directors saw Chapter 11 as the best current solution for putting a viable capital structure in place and finalizing the property’s completion and successful opening. No new date or time frame has been announced for Baha Mar’s launch.
The filing took place in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware; the resort will additionally file an application in the Supreme Court of the Bahamas seeking approval of the U.S. court orders.
Under the terms of the filing, Izmerlian consented to organize the funding for the debtor-in-possession financing facility; the amount is up to $80 million, of which up to $30 million will be used by Baha Mar during the next 30 days.
Meetings Focus will provide updates on the situation as it evolves moving forward.
