Owners of the Westin resort, who are seeking planning permission to erect a new 10-storey hotel on the property, have asked the planning board to allow the majority of parking for the project to be placed on the other side of West Bay Road.
Granting the request would require a variance of the planning regulations which state that only up to 25% of parking spaces in a tourism-zoned area can be located 500 feet from the property. Invincible Investments Corporation has asked for more than 90% of the parking spaces to be located across the road from the Westin, approximately 516 feet away.
Joe Gould, representing Invincible Investments, argued before the Central Planning Authority on Wednesday that using nearby off-site parking would free up space in the existing car park for a new conference centre and the new hotel to be built, bringing in more accommodation-tax revenue for government and promoting conference-related tourism in Cayman.
He told the CPA that the proposed 10-storey building would be a part of the Marriott Autograph Collection franchise and would be called The Vic. It would be a separate entity to the Westin resort, he said.
Asked how this application before the CPA was different to that which the planning board considered and rejected in 2020, Gould explained that the application was similar, but he had brought it back before the board because the last presentation on the project by the development team had been held over Zoom during the pandemic, and technical difficulties meant the team had fewer than 10 minutes to present the project in detail.
The project includes knocking down the single-storey structure on the southern end of the Westin property which houses Ferdinand’s restaurant and erecting the 10-story Marriott Autograph hotel there. It also includes building a conference centre at the northern part of the property where the Hibiscus Spa and part of the car park are currently located. The entire second floor of the new high-rise hotel would be dedicated to a spa and fitness centre, Gould said.
He told the CPA that a new conference centre, based on the site of a luxury hotel, would fill a gap in the tourism market for meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions, known in the industry by the acronym MICE.
Members of the CPA said they agreed that there was a need for more MICE amenities on island.
Under the planning requirements, the existing Westin resort, which will remain; the new 10-storey hotel; and a large new conference centre require at least 385 parking bays.
The request for the variance stated that 35 parking spots would remain at the existing car park adjacent to the hotel, and the remainder would be situated across West Bay Road.
Gould explained that the plan is to build a car park on the opposite side of the road, on a vacant lot owned by the company, that could also be used as an overflow parking area for customers of The Falls restaurants – Yoshi Sushi, Eats and Legends – as well as for tenants of the Dart-owned Regatta Park complex and guests attending functions at Government House next door to the hotel.
Pedestrian friendly
He argued that this plan, which would involve creating a high-visibility, pedestrian-friendly crossing area for guests of the hotels and conference centre, could be considered a vanguard for turning West Bay Road into the tourism corridor that is envisioned under the National Roads Authority’s ‘Complete Roads’ plan, and which was intended once the road’s speed limit was reduced to 25 miles per hour, after the Esterley Tibbetts Highway opened.
He added, according to Cayman’s overall road plan, the West Bay Road “is considered a tourist service corridor, and it needs to be improved, both from an experiential standpoint and to do exactly what we’re saying – slow down traffic, make it more enjoyable a corridor… It needs to be more harmonious, and we’d like to take the lead in coordinating this effort in connecting the two”.
A pedestrian crossing already exists between the Falls and the Westin, but Gould said this was inadequate and he wants a far more visible and well-lit “pedestrian pathway” that would allow guests to explore the shops and restaurants in the area more easily.
Gould said, for guests not walking the minute-and-a-half from the proposed parking area across the road, a shuttle service would be available. Electric carts are already being used by the company to bring guests from Sunshine Suites, which it also owns, to the Westin and the beach.
See the full agenda of the CPA meeting here.
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