Schilling reveals ambition for 20-storey tower in George Town

Internet entrepreneur Frank Schilling aims to build at least three high-rise towers in George Town, eventually going up to 20 storeys.

The developer, who sold his domain registry company Uniregistry in 2020, has bought all three buildings that comprise the current Monaco Towers complex in central George Town, as well as a vacant piece of land close by.

Since selling his internet business, Schilling has become an active property developer, and has also announced his plan for a port, marina and village on Cayman Brac.

He stayed mostly in the background during a ribbon-cutting event for a new Starbucks café on the ground floor of the original Monaco Towers building, opposite the court house, last week.

The coffee chain, run in Cayman by local entrepreneur Jason Brown, is one of a handful of new tenants coming into the building. An LXL boutique and a Mayfair Wines and Spirits will soon go in next door.

But Schilling has ambitious long-term plans for the properties. And no sooner was the paint dry on the refit of the buildings than he was thinking about demolishing them.

“The far-sighted play – within the next decade – is to tear these buildings down,” he told the Compass.

“We would like to redevelop this whole block and put in three new towers.”

The first tower

The most advanced of his plans is for a separate vacant nearby lot between Shedden Road and Dr. Roy’s Drive. He said the aim is to build a 10-storey office tower – the first of is kind in the capital – with a supermarket on the ground floor and six storeys of parking integrated into the design.

He’s working with architect Robert Johnson on plans for the building and hopes to begin construction shortly.

Once that tower is up, he aims to temporarily transfer the retailers and businesses out of Monaco Towers and demolish and redesign that site.

Ideally, he said, he would like to replace the existing three buildings – five, four and three storeys – with two towers, including at least one that goes up to 20 storeys. Current zoning caps buildings at a maximum of 10 storeys in the centre of the capital.

Schilling acknowledged that there is some opposition to going higher, but said he believes there is also support for the concept, particularly in George Town.

“I am reasonably confident that we will see 20 storeys downtown. It sounds intimidating, but it is really not that tall,” he said.

He said the aim would be to follow a cascading pattern, so the taller buildings were further away from the waterfront. He said having additional floors made it more cost effective to integrate parking and other amenities.

“It does depend on the wishes of the community,” Schilling added.

“If government doesn’t like it and people don’t want it, we will stick with the current limit of 10 storeys.”

Supermarket plan

He said the towers would likely contain retail and commercial on the bottom two floors and office space on the upper floors. He has no current plans for residential components, but said that could change.

Schilling stressed these are long-term plans that will be developed over time based on demand. He has not sought planning permission at this point and is some years away from doing so.

The plan for ‘Monaco 4’ on the neighbouring site is already in motion, however.

Negotiations are taking place with anchor tenants and he hopes to have a deal pencilled in for an 18,000-square-foot supermarket before plans are submitted to the Central Planning Authority.

‘Picking up a shovel’

Schilling said he was not directly affiliated with any revitalisation plan for the capital, but is a ‘stakeholder’.

“George Town is the spiritual soul of Cayman,” he said.

“The courts are expanding, Parliament is here, the government building is close by. I am sure, at some point, something will happen with the port. There is demand for Class A office space. George Town isn’t going away.”

More recent development, particularly of multi-storey office space, has focussed on Cricket Square and Camana Bay.

Schilling said the diminished size of land parcels in George Town and the fact that many plots are owned collectively by multiple individuals makes it difficult to acquire land to develop.

He said his focus was on his two pieces of land.

“I am just one guy picking up a shovel,” he said.

“Nobody else was doing anything in town so I thought I better start.”

The extent to which government is on board with his long-term vision is not clear.

Two government ministers, Tourism Minister Kenneth Bryan and Innovation Minister Andre Ebanks, were present last week for the Starbucks opening, at which they both suggested that project had potential significance for long-held plans to revitalise George Town.