Live in Barbados

Early 2010 should see the Four Seasons kick back into action.

The largest property development and tourism project along Barbados west coast should be back on track early in 2010.

The widely debated property, Four Season Resort and Residences which broke ground in 2007, came to a screeching halt last June but now plans are afoot for its restart.

But now the plan to get the multi-million dollar property underway will largely involve the Government of Barbados, well-known government advisor and investment banker Avinash Persaud and partial financing from one of the island’s finance houses.

See full article here.

AFTER almost a year of being stalled, work at the Four Seasons Resort and Private Residence on Paradise Beach will resume early this year.

Information reaching the Barbados Advocate has revealed that construction on the project, which ran into financing difficulty in 2009, will re-commence this year, after a deal was struck. The deal involves a refinancing plan, which was reached with lenders, creditors, private residence owners, shareholders and developers. The agreement, which was confirmed by Prime Minister David Thompson, who is also the Minister of Finance, involves Government supporting the refinancing efforts to complete the project. The arrangement in part will allow Government to gain an

equity share in the project, while guaranteeing the repayment of the loan, with strict conditions being in place.

via The Barbados Advocate.

Justine Picardie has a nice piece in the Telegraph on Barbados’ colonial past, the Coral Reef Club, St. Nicholas Abbey, Fisherpond and Miss Marple…

There is much about Barbados that has changed since its day as a British colony, but as the gin and tonics clink, you can still see why the island became known as Little England, or Bimshire (the origins of which are obscure). Unlike other Caribbean isles, fought over by a variety of invaders, Barbados was under uninterrupted British control from the first landing of sailors in 1625 until the coming of independence in 1966. There seems to be an even greater concentration of cricket pitches and polo fields here than in the Home Counties, and the place names, like the architecture, are testament to its colonial past (Chancery Lane, Clapham, Hastings, Scarborough).

via Barbados: Sun, sea and G&T – Telegraph.

It’s sad to note that the Cinnamon 88 and Four Seasons Barbados websites are down…

We wish Robin and Mike all the best with their negotiations for new investment. We sincerely hope that this important project starts back soon!

The British make up at least 36% of buyers, and Richard Eames, of estate agents Savills, estimates an astonishing 95% of his clients are from the UK.

‘The market is like the South-East of England,’ he says. ‘The high end, which is for properties above £3.2m, is still active, though prices have come down by about 25-30%. That’s mainly because ours is a predominantly UK market, which has been affected by the drop in the pound against the dollar as well as the global downturn.’ Property abroad: Bet on Barbados | This is Money.