Cayman Road Deal Finalised

The addendum to the agreement between the Dart Group and Cayman’s National Roads Authority has been finalised, clearing the way for the redevelopment of the former Courtyard Marriott Hotel, the enhancement of the Seven Mile Public Beach and the eventual closure of stretch of West Bay Road.

Dart Realty (Cayman) Ltd. Chief Operating Office Jackie Doak said on Thursday that the addendum agreement was signed a few weeks ago.

The addendum agreement was required after an independent review by PricewaterhouseCoopers was conducted on the original deal signed between Dart and the National Roads Authority last December. The NRA deal, as it is called, is in turn just a portion of the “mega deal” between the Dart Group and the Government that will eventually lead to, among other things, the closing, capping and remediation of the George Town Landfill and the creation of a new solid waste management facility in Bodden Town.

Mrs. Doak said the main agreement of the deal had not yet been finalised, but that she was hopeful it would be before the end of October.

Even though the Dart Group started construction of the Esterley Tibbetts Highway Extension to West Bay - a key element to the NRA deal - almost immediately after signing the first agreement, it has waited to start construction on other elements of the deal until the addendum agreement was completed. Now that the deal is finalised, Mrs. Doak said the hotel development project was already under way.

The Esterley Tibbetts Highway extension project will take the road from its current terminus at Raleigh Quay Road all the way to Batabano Road in West Bay, with another leg - the extension of Reverend Blackman Road - going to Willie Farrington Drive.

The road project will be constructed in phases, with the first phase taking the Esterley Tibbetts Highway to a new roundabout that is being constructed on Yacht Drive. Mrs. Doak said the first phase of the project is expected to be completed in January 2013.

The deal will eventually lead to the closure of about 4,290 feet of West Bay Road, more than 600 feet of which will be incorporated in the enhanced and widened Seven Mile Public Beach. Mrs. Doak said no date has been set for the closure of the section of West Bay Road at this time.

Bridge

Part of the first phase of the Esterley Tibbetts Highway Extension involves erecting a bridge on the road just north of Raleigh Quay Road.

Mrs. Doak said the bridge has always been planned to allow for future connectivity between the Dart lands on both sides of the Esterley Tibbetts Highway. However, Mrs. Doak said that there are not any concrete plans for the use of the land east of the highway extension and that the Dart Group was currently undertaking a conceptualisation exercise for the lands, which involve a number of possible uses. Some of those conceptualisations included the creation of a new golf course.

Regardless of what Dart does with the land, connectivity with the Dart lands on the other side of the Esterley Tibbetts Highway would be desirable and it’s easier to build the bridge now than after the highway extension is opened. “To put the bridge in later would be more disruptive and more expensive,” she said. Most of the conceptual plans involve putting a waterway under the bridge, along with a path that could be used by pedestrians or golf carts.

The waterway would end in a basin near the redeveloped Courtyard Marriott hotel and other hotels the Dart Group would develop on the land. However, Mrs. Doak said any such waterway would not dissect the Island by connecting with the ocean off Seven Mile Beach.

If built, the waterway would allow boats to pick up and drop off passengers on their way to the North Sound. The bridge is similar to the one built near The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman, but a bit higher - 18.9 feet from mean sea level to the underside of the bridge - and would allow taller boats to access the basin near the hotel or hotels.

Installation of 30 concrete arch units for the bridge occurred this week under the supervision of the National Roads Authority, which is expected to issue a statement on the bridge very soon.