CPA approves Dart’s $5M revamp of old Hyatt
(CNS): Almost 19 years since Hurricane Ivan severely damaged the old Hyatt Hotel and seven years since the Dart Group purchased the property, the Central Planning Authority has given the go-ahead for Dart to start work on the site. This first $5 million phase of the redevelopment includes a small hotel with lofty New York-style rooms, a restaurant, a pool and “creative workspaces”, which will be operated by Palm Sunrise Ltd.
The former owners of the hotel were engaged in a lengthy legal battle with their insurance company post-Ivan, leaving the hotel derelict.
According to the minutes for the 21 June CPA meeting, Dart representatives who presented the project explained that it would involve the renovation of three buildings on the southern part of the derelict site and include shops, offices and collaborative or creative workspaces for artists, designers and photographers.
In their submissions to planning, the Dart executives said that renovations to the two northern structures would be part of future phases.
“The first space to open will be the lobby building at the property’s entrance later this year,” they stated. “The amenities will be operated by Palm Sunrise as part of their portfolio of unique hospitality and lifestyle spaces in Grand Cayman… The project is expected to create new jobs in hospitality, wellness and property management.”
According to the minutes, Denis Murphy, Leonardo Mariotti and Alex Russell, who appeared for Dart, said they wanted to “reinvent the buildings to be best in class” with a mixture of traditional hospitality rooms and amenities and creative workspaces.
Already the country’s biggest land owner and developer, who owns several hotels and a significant slice of the tourism market, the Dart group wants to attract local and international clientele, including celebrities.
Mariotti, who is the General Manager of Palm Heights, said they have an eclectic clientele that doesn’t usually come to Cayman, such as celebrities who want the luxury tourist market, and this new project would meet the increasing demand for a different type of experience. The developers described fluid spaces that could be an office one week, an exercise studio the next and then maybe an art gallery for international artists to show their work.
They were unable to specify how this concept would work but said they would learn as the project went on. The first phase will have 16 hotel rooms and the second phase is expected to have more than 20. The developers plan to mix the old with the modern at the site, where they will use the existing frames of the old buildings. They also plan to build a footbridge over the Esterley Tibbetts Highway for phase two.
In the minutes, the CPA said that planning permission was granted as it complies with the Development and Planning Regulations (2022 Revision), and the board was of the view that the mix of retail, offices, hotel rooms and related facilities provided a balance of development that is consistent with planning legislation.
Since purchasing the property and closing the golf course, Dart has been in a legal battle with the owners at the adjacent Britannia condo community over the loss of access rights to facilities at the old Hyatt hotel, which had been packaged with the purchase of their homes. While the owners were successful in the courts in the first round, they lost in the Court of Appeal earlier this year.
See the minutes in the CNS Library.
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Category: development, Local News
maybe it will attract more drug taking B-Listers. Way to go Dart!
It won’t be long before the economy takes a huge downturn when low paid expat labour leaves Cayman and tourists avoid the islands due to unaffordable accommodation and an increasingly expensive service industry.
Sadly, Cayman has become a concrete jungle for the self entitled and crooked. Ordinary Caymanians and residents are treated with contempt, even though they are the wealth creators on behalf of the familiar Cayman Cartels.
100%. Like, where the hell are all the low paid hotel workers going to live as we build more and more of these things?!?!
I’m an expat (but have been here 12 years and plan to be here for a lot longer), and thankfully own my own home, cause I cannot imagine trying to find somewhere affordable to rent on my past salary working at the Ritz Carlton of all places.
Going to be very interesting as we see this rental crunch get even tighter and prices go even higher.
Why is Cayman hell bent on pandering to a minority tourism product and entitled expats who work in the off-shore industry?
Where are the traditional Caribbean beach bars and eateries, and where are the affordable hotels for the regular travelling and diver guests?
Caymanians will never benefit whilst tourism relies on exclusive resort hotels and foreign owned rental properties. There is no ‘trickle down’ effect from a rich guys rental house at Kaibo/Rum Point when they don’t employ local people and local bars (owned by expats) are serving over priced, average quality food, staffed by poorly trained staff who make you wait until they are ready to serve. Tourists will visit once, then look elsewhere for better value, reporting of their experiences and discouraging others.
Foreign property owners should be held to account by government when dumping their tax avoiding cash in Cayman by taxing them appropriately, and ensuring that when they operate a rental business they hold strictly enforced licences and pay exit taxes when they sell.
Planning should insist that more hotels are located away from SMB, and that they accommodate a wider cross section of tourists from all over the world, not just North America.
Grand Cayman has certainly lost much of its charm since Ivan, the proliferation of boring concrete buildings and personal vanity projects is turning this once glorious island into a hideous example of how not to retain the environment, traditions and culture.
We are starting to look and act like some of the worst excesses of development from our friends in the north, and it’s not pretty.
“Planning should insist that more hotels are located away from SMB, and that they accommodate a wider cross section of tourists from all over the world, not just North America.”
Well that would be a first – dictating hotels limit accommodation based on nationality of their guests. Not even the Russians or Cubans do that. And how pray tell are they meant to get guests from wider afield given they can fly here direct, quite apart from the fact we are way more expensive than other Caribbean destinations that European tourists can fly into direct.
Unlike many Caribbean nations, tourism isn’t the economic engine of the Cayman Islands, it’s a tiny footnote.
Perhaps it’s because tourism (although only about 10%) and the expat finance and legal professionals (90%) are the only source of caymans income that keeps this island having first world facilities? The expats pay for the roads, schools, and all other modern infrastructure. They could change that, but the government would have to improve their education system – they spend more per student on it than any other country in the western world – but they don’t seem interested in doing so. It would take two generations to school enough Cayman kids to be able to do the offshore jobs that pay well, but I assume the answer to your question is that Cayman politicians prefer the short term work permit fee income and don’t look to the future of caymanians. I find it incredible that this island spends more than the USA and uk per student at state funded schools from age 4 to 18, but at 18 they are so far behind those other country’s in terms of ability.
A very good write-up giving a lot of good information pointing at too many things that are causing Caymanian tourists to seek greener pastures elsewhere!….. and it points out too many reasons that our tourism continues to fall. Hey….. If you think it was all caused by the covid infection, think again! Cayman businesses catering to tourist have lost their way!
Read it again….. It isn’t looking good for the Caymans….. Too much greed, folks!!! TOO MUCH GREED!
“They were unable to specify how this concept would work but said they would learn as the project went on”.
Comment in the article from the General Manager.
Come on one armed bandits!!!!
you only needs to go down to south america, Colombia, Mexico and look at what the cartels do – build a little school here, and little hospice there, give the people just enough so they’re blinded by the obscene money they are making off of them in exchange for the perception that the billionaire is being nice to them. Delusional.
Hardly a “little school”. And you forgot to mention the roads, parks, hotels….
Tell us again exactly what major investments in infrastructure the wealthy Caymanian families have made over the last 20 years. Kirks can’t even pave the dam parking lot at the grocery store!
tell us how much he’s been gifted as a result of not being fined for the monstrosity, the duty waivers he’s been given, and the tax breaks on the hotel rooms and god know what other back hand deals he’s managed to secure from a clearly conflicted government over the years that have been serving their own purpose as opposed to that of the people of these islands
not really, the tax breaks are enough. read up on it. When dealing in billions a couple of percent is a lot.
Please tell us that they are not asking or being granted duty waivers!
They also plan to build a footbridge over the Esterley Tibbetts Highway for phase two.
Living in Snug Harbor, this is welcome news, I never enjoy playing frogger trying to cross the road there
Except how many people use the bridges available along WBR when they have more than 20 yards to walk to get to them?
Bridges across WB road?
The only ones I can think of is the old Hyatt Bridge, which has been closed and Ritz bridge, and the new hotel at Public Beach.
Which bridges every 20 yards on WB road are you taking about?
You do know what a bridge actual is?
It’s not a hotel.
*”actually”
the man can re-establish a hotel with 5-10 million but government takes 20 million to extend a concrete runway! I feel Cayman (Caymanians & Expats) is going to wake up one day and say how did we cook the goose that laid the golden eggs! Lets not act like this place isn’t feeding thousands of families around the globe. $69 million wired out in the first quarter of 2023! The Cayman economy is buttering a lot of bread. for the most coming to this island is the first time they owned a vehicle.
And the first time they drive one judging by the lack of indicating. I wish we could just make not indicating at a roundabout a work permit cancellation penalty. Although the caymanians are often equally as bad. Please indicate people. It is the biggest cause if traffic, and road accidents, on this island. So if you approach a roundabout – straight on don’t indicate. Going round and exiting – indicate right as you approach. Taking first exit or any exit, indicate left in advance,
That area of the road is already a liability. The road north of the Kimpton was closed with claims that it wasn’t safe to cross and yet now we are talking about making this a hotel when patrons would need to cross 6 lanes of traffic to get to the beach. It is already an accident waiting to happen with staff parking in the layby outside and wheeling trolleys across between speeding cars to access West Bay Road. Putting in any kind of crossing defeats the purpose of having a relief road from WB into town and the bypass has been poorly thought out and built for pedestrian use.
There will be a pedestrian overpass. It was in the approved plans.
in dart i trust.
now do soemthing asap with royal palms…..that’s a heartbreaking eyesore.
“In Dart I trust”? Gee, i wonder if anyone else is that stupid?
sounds like a gap-filler proposal to buy some more time…. and $5m is way too little
Why the art gallery will be for “international artists to show their work” what about the local artists? We have a lot of fine art being produced locally- don’t they think that “international visitors” might be interested in their work?
I doubt it is, but if your “work” is good enough, you can have it displayed at the Ritz. Or, god forbid, open your own studio.
Obviously you haven’t been to an art show on the island. I wish I could afford to build an art gallery for the artists but my last name is not Dart. I am not an artist but unlike you I appreciate and support the local artists.
Have you considered trying a little harder?
Maybe go see if the National Gallery will let you put on an exhibition in the Dart Auditorium?
What did the Kirkconnell family do with the $80 million from the sale of Royal Palms? Did the build affordable housing? Hurricane shelter? Build a school? Buy school lunches?
There are a lot of Caymanians that don’t give back at all, but the scale of disproportional gain and unapologetic deceit is on another level with DART, making it a magnet for deserved criticism. eg. DART was given planning permission on the basis that they were to clear land north of Kimpton for a public music festival site in 2018. The social ruse that was KAABOO 2019, funded by targeted elite ticket sales, was really just another land grab. All of the infrastructure for future events was disassembled and sent away. Land allowed to derelict and fenced off. Now we have clarity that they want to cut a chanel under the ETH bridge and build a marina.
A chanel #5 or a different one?
Ps. Get a hobby.
For a group that has benefitted so much on this 2×4 Rock they should be cognizant enough to reach out to the local artists and invite them to share in this new adventure they are embarking on. Why be so blatantly disrespectful by saying ” for international artists” . I hope that was a mis-statement and that it will be corrected. Governments have bent over backwards to accommodate all of his whims and wishes without demanding much in return. When will our people take their heads out of the sand to realize and understand the imbalance that has occurred by handing him everything he wanted on a silver platter to our own detriment. The price we are paying is much higher than what is being paid back. When has anything been done ” for we the people”?
There’s plenty of exceptionally wealthy local families who have given absolutely nothing back. Greed is the theme in Cayman.
For a. Christian country, it sure is a godless land, unless of course, your god is money.
Did CPA ask Dart to settle the KYD$10,000 per day derelict hotel fine from 2005? What’s that rolling receivable sitting at now? Another public duty waiver?
Slightly less than what’s owed on the Glasshouse.
I believe it is $25,000 a day. Cayman should take note and demand he pays it or kick him out.
Cool story bruh, except that law was intended for one specific property and was never enforceable in any event, even if the property was “derelict” as you claim.
How to tell the whole world you have no idea what the remit of the CPA is without saying you have no idea of what the remit of the CPA is.
Yawn. Wake me up when the casinos and legal strip clubs come.
Shouldn’t you be preparing your defense(s)?
you will be sleeping a long time.
i will settle for be able to buy groceries on a sunday first!
Great. Dart will make a beautiful job of it. Always does. Don’t bring your jealousy here about how you think something else should happen. Remember it’s boards of Caymanian people who approve these projects.
Nobody is jealous of the false narrative that everything Dart touches is beautiful or even competent. They make costly errors and take construction shortcuts all the time. They are often observed in the throes of redoing their false starts and previous aborted attempts. Roads they oversee aren’t graded properly, curbed before paving, missing drainage, lane partitions, banked the wrong way etc. The landlord portfolio is a disaster. Ask Regatta tenants about their a/c. Ask the Kimpton about their water leaks and paver issues. Ask Camana Bay tenants about all their maintenance issues. Parking lots paved one day and ripped up the next. Nobody knows what’s going on. Low morale and revolving door staff turnover. Even Camana Bay, once the jewel of the collection, is in decline, looking far older than its true age. Maybe you’d be interested in moving into one of their Olea row homes next to the burning dump? Enjoy. The rest of us with eyes and ears know better.
“Roads they oversee aren’t graded properly, curbed before paving, missing drainage, lane partitions, banked the wrong way etc.”
Friend, have you heard about the NRA?
I must say that as a long time supporter of Dart, there is more truth here than I’d like to admit.
Construction standards and upkeep on Dart properties have fallen sharply in recent years. Some of the roads they’ve built within Camana Bay are incredibly poorly designed.
That said, Dart is still doing stuff that, like it or not, is accessible to the public. No one else is building roads, despite their design flaws. The government isn’t. Other private citizens aren’t. As much as you love to hate Dart if he owned Grand Harbour they would have long ago started working on a traffic solution. No one else is going to do it. The government will wait until your commute is 13 hours and people are rioting in the streets before they do anything about it and even then they will just widen existing roads and pretend that will help. Dart may not be perfect but he’s far better than the alternative.
No, this is not philanthropy. Without any applicable skill set, DART bound themselves contractually to oversee the NRA’s building of these roads, in exchange for hundreds of acres of prime crown land real estate. There are 4 versions of the NRA Agreement that detail the conditional gifts and obligations of parties – including many conditions not satisfied by DART in the 7 years since the last obligations came into effect. PPM and PACT are not even keeping track of the limited duty waivers under the deal. Roy as PPM Finance Minister admitted he had no ballpark figure of where that drawdown stood against waiver credits two years ago. PACT Cabinet don’t appear to have even read the workings of the deal. It’s outrageous. Some of this land should have been clawed back to the Crown for non-compliance, but our regimes are asleep at the wheel.
Yes, the government has been negligent, and I’m not suggesting Dart is doing this for altruistic reasons.
That said, the fact remains that their projects, despite their flaws, are in fact a net benefit to these islands.
I wish the government had the wherewithal to deal with roads and the dump without having to give these kind of concessions. It’s clear that they don’t. I’d rather Dart than someone else. At least they have a sense for aesthetics.
This is excellent news. Been a real eye sore. The plans look great – modern glass facade buildings multi purpose for retail, hotel and spaces for the arts and music industries to showcase things.
Thank you for the comment. Does Mr. Dart really think he has found the road to heaven yet?
Well… He hasn’t.
And you have clearly found the road to hell. Good for you. Enjoy the drive.
He’s a smart man, doubt he has any interest in that fairytale road.
Yeah, it’s excellent news for mister Wheeler-Dealer, but not good for Caymanians! It seems that our politicians aren’t interested in anything other than their “income”!
I would be doing myself a disservice if I didn’t behoove my malarkey on the matter. Dart does build quality beautiful well maintained properties however consideration should be given to the rising out of reach real estate costs for Caymanians. These “international clientele and celebrities” should be levied a 5% tax on these deemed “luxury tourist market” units transactions with those proceeds to go to a fund to support Caymanian first time home purchases. In the grand scheme of things it would be like paying a parking ticket for these high roller clientele celebrities.
Dart doesn’t maintain their properties…ask any tenant, there are a lot of them now with over a decade of firsthand experiences to share.
The roads and properties on Safehaven being an excellent example.
You mean the roads used by owners in Crystal Harbour? Why don’t they pay to have them repaired?
Crystal Harbour, Lalique Quay, Holiday Inn, etc are not the registered landlords of these public access roads and easement obligations. This former crown land was passed with maintenance and title conditions that DART haven’t seemed interested in meeting. These are not toll roads. DART are allowed to reconfigure the route, but they need to maintain access to unrelated private property holders as a registered performance condition of their title grant. Me thinks the Governor needs to step back in and reassess performance on the rogue party.
Go to the courts if you think you have a winnable case. Bet you don’t.
9:52, Easier said than done. Dart will beat you down with a legal war of attrition. They will break you financially. Furthermore, they have every major law firm in their pockets with one major exception.
Just look at Britannia.
Dart has not met the conditions they were required to meet when they acquired Safehaven from CIG in 2015.
They have broken their part of the deal but CIG does nothing.
Fake news.
9:17, What exactly are you saying is fake news Dart employee?
You are.
Darts hands are a bit full, two golf courses and lord knows how many helicopter pads to maintain,please go easy, dem.
Beggars can’t be choosers. Why should anyone pay for your housing? CIG already pays for your vote by giving you lots of handouts. Be happy with that.
Weak reply! I’m an expat and for you to refer to Caymanians as “beggars” is pathetic. Cayman has made many wise moves in comparison to other British territories such as Jamaica (independence wrong move) and Bahamas (restricting expats wrong move). The ultra wealthy that put their money in Cayman can pony up a tax on their real estate purchases with those proceeds go to a fund to supliment first time Caymanian home purchases. Beyond that strict discipline quality Cayman education should be top priority for Government especially with their annual millions of surplus budget. What other country has that luxury? So no Caymanians sure as heck are not beggars. You want beggars go to Venezuela, North Korea or Cuba for a reality check.
Is Beehovers Anonymous still meeting in the little alcove by the Tatoo Shop?
And unless a pandemic comes by again God forbid!! Knock on wood! we caymanians will not be welcomed.
Not all Caymanians are unwelcome – the ones from Canada and the UK are usually good.
Part of the mega plan of the airport lounge for the high value clientele that we “the people” will be paying for to make rich get richer…..LMAO!!!
Camana Bay needs a 2500 seat (or whatever number is appropriate) venue for major events. Preferably with a roof and climate control. It’s 2023 and no one wants to stand up in a marl field to watch a music concert.
Stay yo ass home then.
We can’t even get good movies in the movie theatre.
That’s awful. Sounds like a great business opportunity for you. Please open us a cinema and bring some good movies.
By necessity, already have created a fully-catered private home theatre with liquor license, screening award-winning movies, ballet, and opera from around the world. Camana Bay is a cultural vacuum by comparison.
Sounds lame.
Camana Bay ain’t squat!
more hotels, more staff, more WP holders, more pollution, more congestion, more traffic…
and where are they going to live as there sure are no affordable rentals. The Airbnb have swallowed up all the decent rentals that used to be long term.
CIG is complicit in this grift to make more off of visitors than residents, and no matter how the short term rental cabal spins it, a web serach shows that all temporary lodging must have fire safety systems such as sprinklers and fire alarm systems the same as hotels do.
Sounds like yet another project aimed to cater to the wealthy.
What’s next? Reopen the mini-golf spot for exclsuive use by Palm Heights?
Reopen Calico Jack’s as a private bar?
demolish the building and create a green space.
Do that in your own yard
You first. Be a leader, set the trend.
We certainly could do with some green space in that area as the population soars around that area.
Like the golf course behind it? Dart built the road in front of CIS. The government is supposed to maintain it. Look at it now. Over grown mess.
The public purse built and paid for the majority of costs for connector roads via NRA funds with Dart inserting itself as the crew boss, and without qualified road building expertise. Next, we’re going to allow that same template with ReGen, paying DART to oversee a major government ministry, allowing them control to manage DEH’s trash sorting, even as they turn around and sell that feed privately as WTE power to CUC, while retaining the unlined problematic landfill. We also know that they didn’t win the bidding process on merit because there wasn’t even a working proposal tendered prior to agreeing to agree later. There is still no documentation for the public to review.
Can’t wait to see what this new idea will turn out. Good luck Mr. Dart. I know it must be frustrating to hear such pessimism from people who are jealous and envious. I and many more love what you have done for our country. So full steam ahead.
He has done more for this country than all Generation Caymanians have! At least he is giving back instead of take take take…the Caymanian way.
Damage you mean?
Ungrateful! He built a fantastic speedway for the wreckless drivers!
Pessimism and jealousy is all you got to give. Nothing else of value to the island and those who live there.
if only they were “wreck-less”
Who’s zoomin who?
All I wanna do is a zoom zoom zoom in da….
Delusional. Are you talking about the single Dart university scholarship they hand out to go to a Canadian University, or the two scholarships to Cayman Prep? The PPM gave DART the biggest giveaway package in the history of the Cayman Islands worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Hundreds of acres of land, untracked duty waivers, hotel tax concessions, stamp duty breaks, and lucrative government contracts they didn’t earn by merit. The airport connector road still isn’t finished in its 8th year. A failing crew boss, project manager, land steward, landlord, and an exploitative litigious neighbour on top of it.
A bit more than that but you do you if it makes you feel good.
https://www.dart.ky/about/dart-scholar/
Fake news! He buuit a speedway for all of the speed demons and idiots and also pays for the porta toilets on Easter so the beaches can be trashed.
Wrong. We pay for the wonky roads built by NRA, overseen by DART. Still trying to get the airport connector finished 7 years later. CIG gave DART hundreds of acres of land, including the very beachfront you camp on, cleaned of plastic by grade 5 classrooms, and you think that exchange is offset with seasonal portapotty rentals? Come on man.
Do some math buddy. The scholarship programme has been in place for around a decade, each year a university scholarship and two high school scholarships are named, all Caymanian recipients, coverage for four years, whether it be post grad education like A levels or IB or their undergrad uni years. So at any given year there are at least four Caymanian students on university scholarships and 8 Caymanian students getting their last two years of high school and their two years of post-grad covered. It’s a blind selection process based on excellent grades, school leadership qualities and extracurricular/community involvement, applicants/recipients have come from various schools and go on to study in universities all over the world of the recipients’ choice.
Not advocating for all that Dart does, but if you want to make an argument, base it on fact. Do some research. There are definitely other aspects to pick Dart apart on, but their Caymanian educational support is not one.
What has he given? Just more garbage is all I’ve seen!
He has done more for this country than all Generational Caymanians have! At least he is giving back instead of take take take…the Caymanian way.
Dart has done better in this country than any other.
That’s because we have stupid people in charge of things.
You mean the voters right? Everyone on this island can see that.
Super-intellectual argument, friend! You have convinced me, previously being a voter, that I was part of the problem. Thanks to your insight, I no longer plan on voting.
(Am I doing this right, duncebat?)
Done better for himself, absolutely!
He is not a philanthropist, he has also received far more in concessions than people like you claim he has done to contribute in building Cayman’s economy. What he has done however is to drive up prices, create more disparity between classes and gentrified areas of West Bay alienating average Caymanians. Our leaders have been feeding as his trough too long and now blinded by greed. Instead had they booted him out of Cayman decades ago we’d be in a better more harmonious place.
I’m curious. Has he ever purported to be a philanthropist?
The man himself most likely hasn’t spoken those words but jaded fools make him out to be one. Are you in that category?
Yep. Dart sent packing $6,000,000 a month in work permit staff at onset of COVID and trumpeted their establishment of a $3,000,000 philanthropy fund that wasn’t dispersed to people that needed it.
Someone’s bitter. Got any evidence? Didn’t think so.
Apologies, DART’s portion was even less…only $2.1mln given to the R3 Foundation. Few seem to grasp what the people of Cayman have surrendered conditionally to DART over the years. Conditions that haven’t been competently supervised for performance by our trusted gatekeepers. That doesn’t mean the serial exploiter should be revered for their hustler track record.
Here’s the R3 Annual Report: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5f089384a110c32d35dadad5/t/643e755275415d3a5e3ecfd8/1681814873038/R3-ANNUAL-REPORT-2022-FINAL.pdf
Thanks. Can you point us to the report on the $6,000,000 a month of work permit cuts?
Stop whining. It’s Caymanians who vote for these trough feeders. Maybe expand the voting base and you’ll find they’ll get booted out pronto.
Are you kidding!
You are looking forward are you? It’s not for us, or even by us. $5mln is far less than is necessary to put much of a dent in this eyesore they are choosing to retain. The resident condo owners will continue to be denied access to the hotel amenities they were promised. Who then are you cheering for? This is an a$$hole developer that should have all waivers cancelled. We are gifting them tens of millions a year in sweetheart incentives for what?
You talking about the hotel amenities that their real estate agents fooled them in to believing they had rights to? Tell them to sue the realtors.
I don’t see much given back….. Where is it? Dart isn’t on my honest list!
whatever
reserving judgement in this. Glad something’s happening with this EYESORE after so many decades🤦