‘Ghost town’: A revitalisation project has left George Town businesses fighting for life

Amid the dust and rubble of George Town, frustrated motorists take a detour through an obstacle course of bright orange cones.

Construction workers lay coloured bricks in front of the post office where a new roundabout is beginning to take shape behind yellow caution tape.

Over the din of jackhammers, Angella Dixon, who runs Just My Fit fashion store, struggles to make herself heard.

“Customers are seeing this mess and turning right around,” she says.

The revitalisation of George Town was supposed to breathe life into the capital, but instead business owners say it is choking them out.

So far, the project can count more casualties than success stories.

And those that remain wonder if they will be able to survive long enough to see any benefit from the multi-year project.

The popular Bluestone Lane cafe is already gone, along with Bread and Chocolate restaurant and a handful of other small businesses that did not renew leases.

Now the impact is being felt by businesses farther along Main Street and on Edward Street, where the beautification efforts have migrated in recent months.

Some business owners say they like the images of how the new town might look. Others question if the project really deals with core issues, like traffic flow and access to parking.

Several retailers told the Cayman Compass they were shocked and disappointed that preparatory works had begun in front of their stores over Christmas, meaning they missed out on the most important month of the year.

All agree on one thing.

“The business has gone, but the bills keep coming. What we really need is some compensation,” Dixon says.

It’s a refrain that is repeated in store after store as business owners comb through spreadsheets and point to enormous drops in profits.

Battle for parking spots

At Small Deals Outlet, Julie Range peers over her spectacles at a bank of computer screens and closed circuit television camera images.

“It’s been a rough few months. What can you expect when they just come and close the road?” she says.

There have been issues since last July, but it all got steadily worse around Christmas.

A month ago, she says, she had to call the police because the few parking spots in the vicinity were being taken by construction workers. She’s sceptical as to what the long-term impact of revitalisation might be, but, for now, she is certain it is making things worse.

“The only thing they need to do in George Town is improve parking,” she says.

Even since the road in front of her store reopened, there’s little room to manoeuvre and little incentive for customers to stop by.

There’s a healthy line at the remittance counter, but few people are browsing the electronics and phone accessories with marked-down price labels.

It’s all inventory she expected to sell before Christmas. Instead she has had to go out and get financing to cover her losses.

“I think this is threatening all businesses, big and small,” she says, bringing up CCTV footage from January showing a completely empty store.

“We are down 50-60% over the last few months.”

‘This has wiped me out’

Further along the street, a ‘50% sale’ sign hangs around an ornamental suit of armour in the window of Caribbean Jewellers.

Christina Rea, a Caymanian mother of four, says she had been suffering the impacts of the revitalisation work for more than a year. 

It has been heartbreaking to watch the business she has painstakingly built since 2013 fall apart so quickly, she says. Every year since she opened, she had made a healthy profit, but that was all wiped out over the past 12 months.

Rea says she had opened a mobile spa and taken on part-time real-estate work to keep money coming in. Her pleas to officials for help have gone unanswered.

“They say it is the economy, but how can it be the economy when I have made a profit every other year? My whole life has been turned upside down because of this, and they don’t seem to care,” she says.

Like a lot of the businesses in this part of George Town, her main clientele is local. The promise of new cruise visitors in the future doesn’t mean much.

‘Worse than COVID’

Cashema Rankine, who owns fashion store 90 Degrees, says she couldn’t even park to visit her own shop.

Business is down so much that days go by with only a single sale.

Last Thursday she sold a baby’s romper suit and a women’s T-shirt for $50 as part of a two-for-one offer. Before this, she says, she would easily take in $1,200 in weekday sales.

“This is as bad as it has been. Even COVID was better than this,” she says.

“With everything happening, it looks like the whole place is shut down. The town is full of dust and no one wants to come by and shop for clothes. It seems like no one is being held accountable. It is going to be a ghost town here.”

At Fen’s hair and beauty shop, three of the four barber’s stools are empty. A young man sweeps up the cuttings from a recent client.

Business is slower than it has ever been, says Fentine Powell, who runs the business and a neighbouring clothing store, Swag 345.

“I used to have a good flow of customers but since July it has been slow,” she says.

“After I pay everyone, I can barely make rent.”

‘We try to stay strong’

The scene at Alfresco restaurant is a little more vibrant.

The baked chicken special is sold out and there’s brisk business for the curry goat. There’s a family of cruise ship visitors at one of the tables, but the clientele is mostly local workers in the coloured polo shirts of various neighbouring businesses.

“We all talk to each other and support each other and try to stay strong,” says Philip Wilson, who moved to this location after the rent at his old premises on West Bay Road in January last year became unaffordable.

He believes the site has potential and the restaurant’s reputation means trade is still good. But food and power bills are costly, and he needs the lunch counter packed every day to make it work.

“We are all feeling the pinch,” he says.

“If someone from the [government] department could give us a little stipend to get through, we would be more comfortable.”

For many of the businesses, the affordability of rents in George Town is an asset.

Perhaps for that reason, it has become a stronghold for Caymanian-owned stores, restaurants and cafes. Wilson says he appreciates the efforts to improve George Town, but wonders if he will survive to feel the benefits.

“When they are finished, it looks like it will be beautiful but, right now, it is a mess,” he says.

The looming, almost complete construction site of the 10-storey One GT hotel and residences, also offers a source of solace for an optimist.

“Hopefully that will bring in a few more residents and customers to the town,” Wilson says.

At a fashion store, surrounded by mannequin heads and walls covered with hair extensions, a young man, who asked not to be named, offered another dose of optimism.

“I actually think they are doing a great job,” he says of the redevelopment. 

“I wish they could do a little bit more and lick down some of these old buildings.”

But then it is not his store. He doesn’t have an investment on the line.

Behind the counter of K&J Fashions, Kadesha Taylor is worried.

The dust is so thick outside her store, she says, she is suffering breathing problems. She had to close to take her son to the hospital emergency room last week.

Surveying a store full of clothes and shoes that went unsold during the Christmas season, she says, “We are 90% down in our business over the last couple of months. I wish they could have waited and at least given us Christmas.”

The works are being orchestrated by the George Town Revitalisation Initiative and the Ministry of Planning and Infrastructure. Specific questions from the Compass about the situation in the capital and the business owners’ requests for compensation went unanswered this week.

The ministry did issue a press release on 6 Feb., saying it was pleased to announce the phased reopening of Edward Street and Main Street.

The release stated that the two entities appreciate the public’s patience as they continue with what they describe as a “transformative initiative”.

“These final adjustments mark a significant milestone in the creation of a dynamic, accessible, and modernised town centre, enhancing both the pedestrian and vehicular experience,” it said.

Future works outlined in the release were:

• Phased reopening of Edward Street and Main Street: Traffic will resume in phases to encourage a smooth transition to the new layout.
• Edward Street re-paving and re-striping: As traffic flow is partially reverted to its original configuration, Edward Street will undergo full re-paving and re-striping to enhance road conditions and safety.
• Main Street traffic flow: To maintain the pedestrian-friendly enhancements and ensure efficient vehicular movement, Main Street will revert to one-way.
• Further traffic enhancements: Once utility poles are removed from the Shedden Road/Main Street and Edward Street/Shedden Road intersections, additional work will be carried out to improve traffic circulation in these areas.