Business Specialties Development
Related-Meritage JV to Develop Bahamas Resort
March 3, 2008
By: Dees Stribling, Contributing Correspondent

Real estate developer the Related Group and franchise operator Meritage Hospitality Group have formed a joint venture called TRG-Meritage Bahamas L.L.C. to develop an 884-acre resort property on the island of Eleuthera in the Bahamas.

The partnering comes in the wake of the project's approval in principal by the Bahamian government's National Economic Council.

According to the JV's plans, the project is intended to be a low-density, low-rise resort community. Eleuthera is a narrow island about 110 miles long and a mile wide at places, roughly 50 miles east of Nassau. Currently, many of its resort properties are on the small offshore Harbour Island, in the northern part of Eleuthera; the TRG-Meritage property will be on the southern part of the island. The property was owned for many years by George Baker, a Bahamian businessman and former member of the Bahamian House of Assembly.

The Related Group will function as the lead developer for the project, which will also include a golf course. Currently the company is currently finalizing the project's master plan and development schedules. In addition to developing the property, Meritage and Related
will also jointly oversee its sales and marketing efforts.

Mertiage develops and operates hotels, marinas, restaurants and mixed-use developments, and it also operates 49 Wendy's restaurants in western and southern Michigan. The Related Group has developed about $25 billion in properties in the United States, the Bahamas and Latin America.


 
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