When the luxury WaterColours condo complex opened on Seven Mile Beach in 2015, it was comfortably the tallest building on island.
Boasting panoramic ocean views from a dizzying nine storeys, it was controversial and coveted, with units selling for more than $10 million.
Less than a decade later, taller buildings have become almost commonplace on Cayman’s main tourist strip.
The Westin resort’s $153 million annex – approved last week by the Central Planning Authority – is one of more than a dozen 10-storey structures either up or on the way up in Grand Cayman.
But realtors believe the building boom is about to get put on pause as developers wait for clarity over a development plan and the possibility of changed to planning regulations to allow builders to go even higher.
How we got here
The Dart group, which built the first certifiable 10-storey towers at the Kimpton Seafire Resort, has topped out on its latest Hotel Indigo project in the same area.
The developer has two other 10-storey towers – the new commercial building at 60 Nexus Bay, and Kapok, a mix of residences and amenities described as a ‘vertical village’, now open in Camana Bay.
Developer Fraser Wellon is near completion on a sister property to WaterColours – The Watermark – close to Public Beach.
Then there are the Aqua condos, Aqua Bay, Seacrest, the three towers of the new-look Lacovia and the Grand Hyatt, all in various stages of construction along Seven Mile Beach.
Under construction in town, ONE|GT, a 175-room hotel and residences complex on Goring Avenue, is one of the biggest recent developments in George Town.
Beyond the West Bay Road corridor, the Mandarin Oriental at Beach Bay is also scheduled to be 10 storeys.
The skyline of Grand Cayman has changed dramatically over the past eight years.
The debate over whether that is enough or too much is older than the buildings themselves.
“Times have changed,” acknowledged realtor Kim Lund.
“I don’t think it matters what I or anybody else thinks about it, it is going to continue. I think there is going to be more of them and they are going to get taller.”
Clarity needed on policy
Lund, of RE/MAX, expects to see a lull in major construction activity now, though, as investors keep their powder dry, awaiting government progress on a development plan and a long-awaited national discussion on building heights.
“Most developers are reluctant to do anything right now until they see what happens. Why would they build 10, when they may soon be able to go to 15?”
Lund acknowledges some public opposition to taller buildings, but insists going higher allows developers to create more units and keep prices lower across a smaller land space.
Even multi-million-dollar condos that are largely sold to overseas investors boost the local economy, he insists.
Whether anyone is for or against tall buildings, the current impasse is helping no one, says Lund, arguing that a development plan would offer security and clarity to everyone on all sides of the debate.
Similarly, developers and advocates for slower growth are anxious to see a proper concessions policy that dictates how government incentivises certain types of projects. The Compass will be reporting on this issue in detail this week.
An old debate
The Compass did some in-depth reporting, canvassing views from all corners of the community in the run-up to the last election in 2021.
At the time, there remained well-articulated concerns that Cayman could become “like Miami Beach”, while others argued that going higher could actually be environmentally friendly – saving land space at ground level.
Despite a recent private member’s motion where legislators unanimously supported going to 20 storeys, the debate doesn’t seem to have progressed much over the past few years.
Backbench legislator McKeeva Bush, who brought that motion, light-heartedly set a towering target during that parliamentary discussion last year.
He said, “Me? I’d go 50 floors. If they asked me coming out of church, where you want to go, I’d say, see that cloud there? I’d go just below it.”
Premier Wayne Panton, who is also the minister for sustainability and climate resiliency, said the public must also be involved in a discussion on building heights – largely echoing his pre-election comments on the issue.
Private member’s motions are non-binding, however, and there have been no recent announcements of any progress on a development plan, related concessions policy or any national discussion around building heights.
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It’s great that buildings are going up 10 stories but they are not getting done, Every developer is complaining about lack of timely inspections and constant rule changes. I bought in Seacrest 5 years ago and was promised that it would be done April 1 2022. Now a year and a half later there is still on CO. That means no AC and all my furniture clothes and food are sitting in 90 degree heat
You are ruining the charm of the island. If people want expensive and exclusive there are many better options than Grand Cayman for that.
Be smart and market your island for what it is – or I should say, “what it was” – a small, clean, safe, charming and inviting environment.
Unfortunately those days are gone and your current approach will likely backfire and take a toll on tourism.
I am writing as a Scottish visitor who married on the island in 1995 and has made five subsequent visits, the last one in 2017.
I am afraid to say that even then planners had oversaturated the island with mega sized developments which are entirely inappropriate to the natural surroundings – thus leading to an influx of tourists overcrowding the not already eroded beaches.
On our first visit to Grand Cayman it was an idyllic, charming island which moved along at a relaxed pace and was virtually crime-free. Not so in 2017. At times you could hardly cross the road and George Town was a ‘no-go area’ on cruise ship days.
Grand Cayman, I believe, is now no more than a giant hotel driven theme park and no longer a ‘must go’ destination for discerning travellers. And for that I am truly sorry.