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Albany Development Company's Mixed-use Resort Development Moves Closer To Obtaining Final Permit
Related to country: Bahamas

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Albany Looking Ahead:
By QUINCY PARKER -
Nassau, Bahamas:


The directors of the Albany Development Company are set to meet with top government officials on Monday to hopefully cross the final hurdle preventing the developers from forging ahead full-scale, the Journal has learned.

Albany Director Jason Callender spoke with the Journal over the weekend about the company’s plans for 2008.

"Our expectations are to get going immediately in the new year. We recently have had a large measure of success in dealing with all departments of the Ministry of Works, and the prime minister’s office," he told the Journal on Sunday.

"We have brought to swift conclusion the various items that we needed satisfied before we were able to move forward, and we don’t see any impediments to us moving forward early in the New Year."

Mr. Callender laid out his expectations for the company over the coming 12 months.

"Of course, we’ll commence construction of all first-phase amenities in the development along with the first-phase infrastructure. We will look to complete all of the sales that we have on the books through the launching of our successful Founder Programme," he said.

"We look forward to furthering our designs with the marina residences and bringing those to market, and our goal is to complete all our first-phase amenities along with the infrastructure and improvements by the end of 2009."

In mixed-use resort developments such as Albany and others around The Bahamas, it is common procedure to have to ‘pre-sell’ a certain percentage of the real-estate portion of the development in order to qualify for financing.

Albany is proceeding in a different fashion, Mr. Callender explained.

"We haven’t pre-sold any lots. What we have is approximately 80 families who have signed up to become a part of Albany once we have reached the point at which we can then agree to convey land to them," he said.

"That is our Founder Programme."

Part of the rumpus kicked up by members of the public in regard to any large-scale development like Albany is usually based on major concerns about environmental impact, and that issue has been raised repeatedly with regard to the Albany development.

However, Mr. Callender said the company had recently completed its Environmental Management Plan (EMP).

"One of the unique features of the process that we underwent in getting our heads of agreement," he said, "was that we actually got environmental approval from BEST (the Bahamas Environmental Science and Technology Commission) prior to getting our heads of agreement signed in November 2006."

"We have now concluded our EMP, and so we don’t see any obstacles moving forward."

In fact, Albany submitted its Environmental Impact Assessment to BEST in October 2005, the Journal has learned.

Key amenities of the development, according to that document, will include an 18-hole, Ernie Els Design, signature golf course with clubhouse, a state-of-the-art fitness center and a beach club offering dining experiences and a family water-park.

The EIA said the project would include a world-class, large vessel marina, with approximately 90 slips capable of servicing mega-yachts. A marina village will offer 100 marina apartments, outdoor dining, and select shopping experiences with an ambience reminiscent of Mediterranean harbours.

"The project has been designed along the tenets of ‘new urbanism’; incorporating a state-of-the-art approach to residential planning within a distinctly Bahamian context in architectural and environmental considerations," the EIA document said.

"Residential opportunities will be provided by approximately 375 single family home-sites and fourteen (14) large, five acre lots around an equestrian center."

With a structure based on the transect, which organizes development from most urban to most rural, the plan provides a great variety of experiences within the 500- acre site, from a dense town center to more rural lots at the edges, the EIA said.

"This change in character is supported by all elements of built environment, including the architecture, landscape, thoroughfares, and lighting. The plan proposes the construction of a new road to divert highway traffic around the town, away from Bay Road, which cuts off the waterfront and the lower portion of the site from the bulk of the 500 acres," the document said.

"This new arterial allows Bay Road to become a calm, pedestrian-friendly avenue that runs through the town’s main square all the way to the beach club village at the western edge of the site. This village is designed around an existing clubhouse, emulating the way villages historically grew out of outbuildings surrounding a farmhouse."

Consideration of the effect of this marina basin on groundwater resources has also been made, the document said.

"It is in the best interests of the project not to impact groundwater resources and for this reason an intensive hydro-geological study was carried out to ensure appropriate measures could be incorporated to avoid any impacts. It was determined, even though the basin would have a limited impact on the aquifer, a curtain wall should be constructed around the northern perimeter of the basin to ensure any impacts are avoided."

Given the nature of the proposed development, which will include a world-class golf course, marina and elite residential community, the project is expected to have widespread economic effects.

"By adding to the tax base," the EIA said, "this will have country-wide ramifications. In environmental terms, impacts are primarily localized to the immediate environs.

The EIA also takes detailed account of topography, lithography, pedology, surface characteristics, hydrology and hydrogeology, water resources, surface waters, drainage, flood-prone areas, air quality and noise pollution.

31/12/07

January 6, 2008 | 2:39 PM Comments  0 comments

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