Development is running rampant in the Cayman Islands as private developers and government alike continue to work towards improving our properties, businesses and overall civic infrastructure.
Recently the government began a $55 million project to expand and improve our nation’s airport facilities. This work commenced last year when the CI government signed the initial $3.6 million building contract with construction company Arch & Godfrey. When completed in the latter part of 2018, the Owen Roberts International Airport will grow from a paltry 77,000 square feet to +/-200,000 square feet en total. This redevelopment should clear the way for new routes, larger airplanes and vastly improve the overall tourist experience. It is also expected to bolster overall yearly tourist visit numbers which, in turn, injects capital directly into the local economy.
Another project that is sure to improve the overall tourist experience (as well as make many local resident’s commutes MUCH more hassle-free) is the newly started expansion of the roads in and around the Camana Bay complex. The construction, expected to cost in the +/- $60 million dollar range, will create two new underpasses on West Bay Road and the Esterley Tibbetts Highway (a well known bottleneck prone to frequent and long-lasting traffic jams). The expansion of the highway to four lanes will lessen the traffic and hopefully open the discussion to further expansions on some of the other congestion points in the Cayman roadway system. This project is a joint effort of the CI government and local developer DART.Cayman Enterprise City, as well, has announced a new location and this will surely impact Cayman’s business community. Enterprise City acquired a fifty-acre build site in George Town that will be designated as a“special economic zone”.This zone will be comprised of a +/-850,000 square foot complex and will host an array of corporate entities looking to capitalize on the development’s special zoning status.
Long overdue and much anticipated, the re-design has begun at the Treasure Island Resort located on the Southern portion of 7 Mile Beach. This deteriorating structure has long been anblemish on a high traffic area of West Bay Road and is set to be re-branded as a Margaritaville. The rebranding and improvement of the existing structure follows the acquisition of the property by the Howard Hospitality Group. This south Florida-based company will change the existing resort into asite that will boast 110 remodeled/reconfigured condos and is already seeing good sales ahead of the start of the project as people take advantage of pre-construction pricing. The hotel portion of the project will showcase 280 hotel-style rooms and several new bars and restaurants.
These projects, both civic and private in nature, will do much to improve the Cayman Islands as a whole. Coupled with the suite of projects being rolled out by the DART Corporation, this is an exciting time to witness the growth and expansion in this tiny island nation. And though Cayman is indeed tiny, this does not stop the rolling out of big projects sure to garner international attention and acclaim.