Project push for Four Seasons Resort
Friday September 09 2011 | 03:40 AM

It will take more than the next winter, spring, summer, and fall to finally get one of the biggest brands in international tourism and hospitality on the Barbados landscape – and the price tag will be big.

According to Barbados TODAY investigations, the developers of the mega Four Seasons Resort and Private Residences have applied for a BDS $104 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank to complete the hotel component of the slow-moving project, as efforts to restart overall construction intensify.

Indications today were that not only was this portion of the overall BDS $274 million required to build the hotel unlikely to be approved in the immediate future given the required process, but that the design stage would take at least until this time next year, with the hotel then not expected to open before the fourth quarter of 2014.

It was also revealed that geo-technical and environmental testing of the site at Clearwater Bay, Black Rock had turned up “some caves and fissures that require stabilisation works across the site”, with the possible solution to this being “excavation, minor capping of fissures, and compacting marlfill”.

Documents obtained by this newspaper stated that “IDB support for the Hotel will enable completion of the overall development and avoid further damage to island tourism industry’s reputation”.

However, that development is expected to take about three and a half years with the first year being spent on design and the remainder on construction.

“The key milestones and typical durations have been established in conjunction with the Four Seasons development team, based on their experience of delivering hotels around the world. Requests for proposals were issued in May 2011 for the architect, with landscape designer and MEP engineer to follow. This will allow master planning to commence as soon as funding is secured. An August 2011, start for design would result in a fourth Quarter 2014 opening for the Hotel,” a 19 page Environmental and Social Strategy for the project stated. When re-construction starts, it noted that “special unavailable skills may need to be sourced from the wider Caricom region or further afield”.

However, there was some concern regarding the labour.

“Currently unemployment in the construction sector is reasonably high, but at the same time the demand for larger contractors is high, and these firms have absorbed the majority of the skilled work force on other projects in Barbados including a residential marina, office buildings, and numerous hotel renovations.

“This has the potential to impact the project schedule, given the need for skilled workers. To that end the Company is looking at the creation of partnerships with the Barbados National Vocational Board and the development to set up an apprenticeship programme for the Resort development, to ensure that the skills shortage is addressed,” stated the project outline.

“At its peak the project will employ a construction workforce of between 1,200 and 1,300, and will average approximately 1,000 for a period of over two-three years, based on the company’s predictions. This will make the project one of the largest employers in Barbados.

“The work force in the country is highly unionised and this supports good working conditions and practices in general. Regularised lunch and rest breaks, limitations on overtime working, compensation for over-time working, coolers with ice water at the workplace, paid vacation, National Insurance and set grievance procedures are widespread within the industry and agreed upon with the contractor’s association,” the document stated.

Between 350 and 400 people are expected to find full time employment when Four Seasons Resort is completed.

The resort is located on 32 acres of land overlooking one of the most popular beaches.

The project consists of 21 luxury villas, 20 apartments and 12 townhouses on an adjacent site north of the hotel.