Treasure Island Resort has officially been sold for somewhere in the range of US$15 million.
The former Seven Mile Beach hotel property, which has been in receivership for more than a year and a half, will be turned primarily into apartments by its new owners, local businessman Harry Lalli, his brother and brother’s wife, Amrit and Amy Gill of St. Louis, Missouri.
Front Door Cayman LLC will operate the property under the new ownership.
On Tuesday, 31 May, Jeff Coyne, who had been appointed as receiver of the property by Scotiabank on 4 September 2003, shut all receivership operations, giving full severance pay and two weeks notice to all 47 staff under his charge at the property, and terminated their contracts.
‘I’ve done what I was sent here to do,’ Mr. Coyne said..
Funds from the sale of the hotel went to secured creditor Scotia Holdings Ltd. which was owed US$17,429,751 by the property. No money or assets remained to pay unsecured creditors, Mr. Coyne said.
New owner Harry Lalli said he was delighted with the sale and was now looking forward to getting into the renovation period, which, he estimated, could take up to a year.
‘I’m happy we can now move forward,’ he said.
Renovation work is already in progress on the property, which will comprise complete redecoration and the installation of kitchenettes in each room.
Architects and designers are working on new furnishings.
Repairs are also in progress, including the air-conditioning system.
The majority of tenants at the resort are on contract. The new owners are obliged to keep them. The renovation work will go on around them, the vacant rooms being renovated first. Once these are fixed, tenants will be moved into the new rooms.
The newly remodelled property will continue to be called Treasure Island.
According to Mr. Lalli, whose brother and sister-in-law are experienced renovators, the standard of accommodation will be above and beyond the current standard at Treasure Island.
Staff changes
Of the 47 staff under the receiver’s charge at Treasure Island, the new owners have re-hired roughly half of these – 24 – for the new complex.
Mr. Lalli said that as the new property is not going to be a hotel, but apartments, it will not need as many staff. Those in the departments of food and beverage and housekeeping, and at the front desk, will not be required for the new complex, while those in gardening, maintenance, security and linen service are needed.
Mr. Lalli said the new operation could not keep staff for which it had no positions.
However, he said they were referring some of the former staff to positions in other properties.
Chris Johnson of Chris Johnson Associates Ltd., who was appointed the official liquidator of Treasure Island last month at the request of unsecured creditors, said his position is to review the accounting records of the hotel and to seize any assets not covered by the receiver’s debenture. He said he anticipated meeting Mr. Coyne this week.
Mr. Johnson said he hoped he could get money for the creditors believed to be owed more than $2 million before the property went into receivership, but he was unable to comment before seeing the records.
Mr. Coyne, however, said neither money nor assets remained from the sale.
‘We’ll be reviewing and checking his statement,’ Mr. Johnson said.
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