Airports authority seeks to lease old Farmers Market

Roughly eight years after farmers were forced to vacate the old Farmers Market property near the Smith Road Oval in George Town, the Cayman Islands Airports Authority is entertaining proposals to lease and redevelop the abandoned building and 0.73-acre site on Thomas Russell Way. 

The airports authority began advertising its request for proposals on 29 August. Responses are due 10 October, and the new lease is scheduled to be in place 1 December. 

The request does not outline what would be potentially acceptable uses for the site, other than that one of the evaluation criterion is “consistency with correct land use and zoning classifications, traffic impact, compatibility, and lot coverage”. Similarly, the request does not give specifics on the amount of rent the successful applicant will pay, saying only that the lease will be a maximum of 20 years and “proposals must clearly state the desired initial annual rental for the parcel”. 

According to the request, the building is about 20 years old and “uninhabitable”. 

“Should the tenant wish to utilise the existing building, it shall be their responsibility to repair the structure … If, however, the tenant proposes an alternate use for the parcel not requiring the existing building, the CIAA agrees to have the building demolished,” according to the request. 

Farmers, cricketers 

In mid-2004, then-Agriculture Minister Gilbert McLean told the Legislative Assembly’s Finance Committee that the Farmers Market was $670,000 in debt, including $397,500 owed to farmers. He said the Civil Aviation Authority of the Cayman Islands was unhappy with the building being in a “runway related zone”, and that the location conflicted with security ideas of the International Aviation Authority and United Kingdom government. He said the Civil Aviation Authority had determined not to extend the Farmers Market’s lease to the property. 

The 1,390-square-foot building was severely damaged by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004 and has remained vacant since. In addition to the empty building, the site contains two shipping containers, a junked car and an abandoned trailer home. 

Formerly the same entity, the Civil Aviation Authority (regulating agency) and airports authority (service provider) split up in November 2004 at the UK’s behest. 

The 0.73-acre site is a small piece of one 344-acre parcel owned by the airports authority and comprising the Smith Road Oval, Owen Roberts International Airport facilities and airport post office. At first glance, the redevelopment of the old Farmers Market property would not appear to affect cricket activities on its southerly neighbour. 

The Caymanian Compass queried the airports authority about the potential scope of the project considering zoning and flight patterns, as well as possible implications for the proposed runway expansion. An airports authority spokeswoman responded that Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Jackson said they would not be able to comment on the matter at this time. A voicemail message left Thursday morning for the Civil Aviation Authority had not been returned as of press time. 

After the forcible eviction by Ivan, the Farmers Market was homeless until August 2007, when it reopened at the Stacey Watler Agriculture Pavilion in Lower Valley, where it remains.  

Lease/redevelopment 

Earlier this year, government leased the Cardinall Avenue site of the George Town Craft Market building to developers Gene Thompson and Harry Chandhi, with a maximum rental term of 30 years. The building was rased in August. According to planning documents, the developers’ plans call for the construction of a new two-storey retail building with an area of about 7,600 square feet. In January, Mr. Thompson said they plan to invest some $1.5 million in the project. 

For that redevelopment project, the Lands and Survey Department sent out a request for tenders in mid-2010. The initial rent for the 0.24-acre site is $60,000 per year.