„Die Bahamas erleben gerade eine wirtschaftliche Renaissance“

Timothea Imionidou
Hallo und herzlich willkommen zu einer neuen Ausgabe unseres Podcasts. Heute sind wir nicht in unserem Studio bei der PlattesGroup, sondern in der Motorworld Mallorca. Wir senden direkt von unserem Event „In Krisenzeiten“. Ich habe zwei spannende Gäste bei mir: Zum einen den deutschen Immobilienentwickler, Unternehmer und Investor Hanno Strack, der nach vielen Jahren auf Mallorca heute auf den Bahamas lebt und dort große Projekte realisiert. Außerdem begrüße ich Derek Newbold, Chief Investment Officer der Grand Bahama Port Authority und verantwortlich für internationale Investorenprogramme bei Invest Grand Bahama. Herr Newbold spricht kein Deutsch, deshalb wechseln wir an dieser Stelle ins Englische.
Mr. Newbold, welcome to our podcast.

Derek Newbold
Thank you. It’s a pleasure to be here.

Timothea Imionidou
It’s so nice to have you here on the island and here in this special room. You flew in especially to be here at our event. Why did you come? Why are you here? And why did you think: Okay, I have to be at this event, or I want to be here?

Derek Newbold
Well, we preside over a 230 square mile free trade zone in the Bahamas. And that free trade zone is unlike any other free trade zone in the world. It’s a mixed-use development. It’s not just focused on industrial or commercial activity. We have industrial, commercial, housing and hospitality. It’s very broad in terms of what’s happening within the city of Freeport. The company I represent, the Grand Bahama Port Authority, is the body that controls the city of Freeport. So we manage, maintain and administer the city of Freeport. We are like a quasi-government organization. Companies looking to conduct business within the city receive a business license from us, as well as construction approvals and permitting, and environmental compliance if necessary. We are also responsible for town planning, zoning, utilities regulation and economic development. And that’s how I met Hanno.

Timothea Imionidou
Did you already have time to talk to some of the people and do a little bit of networking?

Derek Newbold
Yes, just a little so far this morning, and it’s been great. And my German is not that great. I have Google Translate.

Timothea Imionidou
To the both of you: you already started to explain a little bit what you’re doing. But for our listeners to place you properly, how would you briefly introduce yourselves and what is your main professional focus?

Hanno Strack
My main professional focus is to develop projects in Freeport, Grand Bahama, because it’s a huge opportunity. It’s a growing market. I think this is the place to be if you want to go with the flow. And I see very good opportunities for real estate investments.

Timothea Imionidou
We already talked in the past in our podcast about one project. It’s called The Nest. But that’s not the only project, right?

Hanno Strack
Exactly. The Nest is one of my projects. It’s a branded residences and hospitality resort directly on the beach. Then I have a project on Cove Road called The Villas. They have direct access to the canal, and in five minutes you are with your own boat on the open ocean for fishing, hanging out on sandbanks, or whatever you want to do and enjoy the sun.
We also do duplex homes with a business plan to rent them out on Airbnb. It’s a huge market and it’s going to grow in the future, especially short-term and mid-term rentals. The duplex homes have three bedrooms, their own pool and their own dock. You can bring your own boat, or even come from Florida, which is only 60 miles away, and spend the weekend there. It’s eight units on the canal, walking distance to the beach, close to nice restaurants like The Stone Crab. There is also the Fish Fry on Wednesdays with great fried fish.
Another project is on the beach, on a sandbar next to Banana Bay. We just bought the lot and will build nice beach villas there, with beautiful turquoise ocean views. Every morning when you wake up. And we will also do some duplex homes with an ocean overview. And more projects are coming up.

Timothea Imionidou
Coming up in the next podcast, maybe we’ll talk about even more projects. And Mr. Newbold, as Chief Investment Officer of the Port Authority, what is your day-to-day business? I imagine you’re looking for investors to invest in this zone.

Derek Newbold
Yes. As Chief Investment Officer, a part of my job is investment promotion and attraction. We promote the city of Freeport, the incentives and the opportunities. And we support our licensees and incoming investors. We provide a business concierge service where we support prospective investors all the way from concept to business setup.
One reason it was important for me to be here and support what Hanno is doing is that we have significant investment taking place within the city of Freeport. It’s creating demand in certain areas. Housing and rentals are certainly one of those areas. There is a need for executive-style housing and luxury housing, and Hanno is plugged into both of those areas through the investments he’s doing. So I’m happy to be here to support him and showcase what he’s doing back in Freeport.

Timothea Imionidou
So you told us a little bit about Freeport. The city is called Freeport. Why is this a place so special to invest?

Derek Newbold
Freeport is part of the island of Grand Bahama. The entire island is about 456 square miles. The city of Freeport is 230 square miles and it’s only about 55 miles from the US East Coast. It’s like a stone’s throw away. You can jump on a 25-minute plane ride to Miami, do some shopping, and then come back to relax.
The city itself is very unique because it’s the most diverse economy in the Bahamas, unlike the rest of the country that relies heavily on tourism. There is tourism, but in addition we have alternative energy sectors, manufacturing, maritime, healthcare and education. It’s a broad economy within Freeport.
One of the things we focus on is creating an environment that can attract investors where they can deploy capital confidently, while also having a very enjoyable quality of life.

Timothea Imionidou
So I imagine you’re in contact with many international investors. What are the most common questions you receive when someone is considering an entry into the region?

Derek Newbold
Some of the questions we get are: How difficult is it to do business? What is the ease of doing business like? And I would say it’s straightforward.
At the Port Authority we offer a business concierge service. From the moment you decide to invest in Freeport, you’re connected with a representative. It’s their job to assist you from the business concept all the way through to setup. They help you secure your business license, construction permitting, and environmental compliance if necessary. They help you find land, residential or commercial, or even a building. They’re there throughout the entire process to remove pain points and bottlenecks. We roll out the red carpet, so someone is literally holding your hand through the entire process.

Timothea Imionidou
Hanno, was that one of the reasons you shifted your focus from Mallorca to the Bahamas? You invested many years here on Mallorca.

Hanno Strack
Yes, 100%. We get full support from the Port Authority. It’s the department where you get your business license, construction license and all the paperwork. That helps a lot as a developer because the processes are short and efficient.
Compared to Mallorca: back in the day it was easier, but it got harder and longer. In the end I had to wait one to two years for a building license. Then the construction phase takes longer too. And until all final paperwork is done and you can go on the market, it can take five to six years. And time is money.

Derek Newbold
To get a business license, you can get it within five to ten days. For construction permitting, we are considered best in class. We can turn it around within ten days, depending on the complexity.

Timothea Imionidou
That sounds crazy for us living here on Mallorca. Why is it such a difference?

Derek Newbold
It’s different because it’s controlled by a private company. It’s not a government. Private companies understand business, cost and time. Time is money.

Hanno Strack
Another point is that in Freeport they need construction because so many things are happening and more people are moving there. They need housing. So it’s good for Freeport that we develop there.
On Mallorca, in the past 10 to 15 years there was so much construction. Now they want to slow it down. I can understand the government. You have to go with nature and with what’s there.

In Freeport the infrastructure for about 250,000 people is already there.

Timothea Imionidou
What role do infrastructure and connectivity, like port, airport, and proximity to the United States play in your conversations with investors?

Derek Newbold
It’s very important. If you want to deploy capital in any jurisdiction, you want adequate infrastructure. Proximity to the US makes it more attractive.
And Freeport has global connectivity. We have a major container terminal, the largest in the Caribbean, and one of the largest with the deepest water. We can accommodate the largest vessels. You can source products from anywhere in the world and ship directly to Freeport, or if you manufacture, ship directly to anywhere in the world. We reach 550 ports in 155 countries across six continents from Freeport.

Timothea Imionidou
Could you walk us through an example of how you support investors from first contact all the way to implementing a project?

Derek Newbold
I’ll use Hanno as an example. Hanno met with us and said he’s interested in investing and doing a project in Freeport. From that first meeting, someone is assigned to assist him throughout the entire process of setting up the business. Anytime he has a question or issue, he can call that person.
For example: “I’m ready to move forward with my business licensing application. What do I need to do?” We guide him and can even walk the application through the process.
Then: “I’m getting ready to start construction.” We tell him what to submit, and if something is delayed, he calls and we follow up directly with the permitting division. If there’s an environmental component, we explain exactly what to do. There is no guessing and no figuring it out alone.
And we also have a business retention unit. We don’t just attract investors and then ignore them. We do regular health checkups: How is your business going? Are there bottlenecks? What can we solve as the regulator? We maintain a close relationship with investors to give them the best chance to succeed.

Timothea Imionidou
What should people pay particular attention to when investing in a new region for the first time?

Hanno Strack
First: go local. Work with local people and local possibilities. Most of the people building my projects are local Bahamians. And I want to give something back to the community. It’s important to grow together and understand what the community needs.

Derek Newbold
Yes, and understand the laws of the land. Know the legislation and how it impacts your investment. Also make sure there is adequate infrastructure to support what you want to do, because that directly impacts cost.
And as Hanno said: build relationships with locals and local partnerships, involve them through employment or contracts. Freeport is going through a Renaissance or economic revival. We have about 4 billion US dollars in active or planned projects across many sectors.
Carnival Cruise Lines opened a cruise port about seven months ago after investing 600 million US dollars. The Grand Bahama Shipyard reinvested about 665 million US dollars and acquired new dry docks, the largest in the world. MSC and BlackRock are active, and MSC invested heavily in modernizing the container port.
We also concluded a deal with MSC and Royal Caribbean: they will take control of the existing cruise port and invest about half a billion US dollars to upgrade it.
Before Carnival opened, we had about 500,000 cruise visitors a year. Six months into the operation, we received one million. In the next two years, with Carnival at full scale and Royal Caribbean and MSC at full scale, we will reach about 6.5 to 7 million cruise visitors. That’s an increase of more than 1,000%.
We are also redeveloping the airport and expanding high-end offerings for stopover visitors. A cruise conversion program can turn cruise visitors into long-term visitors and second-home owners. The market is huge.
We have Western Atlantic University School of Medicine, a 200 million US dollar project. We have Six Senses planned as well, a 250 million US dollar project. There is a lot happening, and those projects are driving demand for entertainment, retail, food and beverage, transportation and housing.

Timothea Imionidou
Thank you very much. It was very interesting talking to you.

Derek Newbold
Thank you. It was a pleasure to be here.

Hanno Strack
Thank you. Thanks for having us.

Timothea Imionidou
Und natürlich auch vielen Dank fürs Zuhören. Weitere Infos, noch mehr Podcasts und News gibt es online auf willipedia.plattes.net.

Autorin: Timothea Imionidou / Mitarbeit: Nils Giessler