Business outlets “face extinction” over China deal

Declaring “the end” for downtown merchants, Noel March, owner of Edmar’s Discount Drugs, is gathering signatures on a letter to Premier McKeeva Bush fearing extinction in the face of the George Town berthing project.

Citing the proposed creation by developers China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) of approximately 130,000 square feet of retail space in the “upland” portion of the $300 million cruise-berth and onshore project, Mr March’s letter laments the lack of consultation by government, calling the construction “a point of despair”.

“It is not unreasonable for us to be concerned,” he writes because the new retail space “will at a minimum increase 10-fold what is currently situated within the Royal Watler Terminal,” ruining downtown as a walking destination and threatening “every merchant along the downtown waterfront.”

The well-documented five-year decline in cruise arrivals has already driven ‘several dozen’ merchants out of business, Mr March told iNews Cayman yesterday, while Royal Watler’s 10,000 square feet of high-priced space reinforced the “collective losses” and “significant failure rate” of local businesses. CHEC proposals are likely to prove “the last nail in the coffin” for those still “hanging on by a thread”.

“There has been no consultation” with the merchants, Mr March said, indicating those discussions would have produced both intense and prolonged opposition to the idea.

”What would you say? We’ll have minimal retail and the arrangement will be for 50 years. It means the end,” he said, fearing businesses’ fate at the hands of CHEC.

“We are already down to our last dime,” he said anticipating top prices in the “upland” space. Already, Royal Watler prices hover near $150 per square foot, while Mr March feared “to afford that kind of rent, not much change from Royal Watler”, would prove impossible.

“Unless we are guaranteed 3.5 million to 4 million cruise passengers per year,” he writes to Mr Bush, downtown is doomed. So far, government has gained Florida Caribbean Cruise Association guarantees of only 1.2 million passengers per year, roughly equivalent to current annual arrivals.

Mr March offered a representative list of closed businesses, including Senor Frogs, the Fort St Market, the Caribbean Emporium and Caymania Duty Free.

A 2009 letter, ignored by government, concerned about the Royal Watler project, bore 50 signatures. The current effort, equally impassioned, was likely to have fewer names because fewer merchants existed, Mr March said, but would include the Kirconnell family, the Craft Market and others.

“We are going from one side to the other, from Guy Harvey to Diamonds International. This is a do-or-die effort.”

While the letter supports construction of CHEC’s proposed twin piers, accommodating both Oasis-class “mega-ships” and smaller Freedom-class vessels, and the restoration of cruise arrivals, Mr March warns that accompanying construction will counter any benefits.

“I fully agree that we need to construct a berthing facility,” Mr March writes, ”and feel that the benefits it will bring will definitely fill those retail spaces that are currently empty, and put those of us who are still in business, back on the track to prosperity, but not one that we can benefit from because of an excessive retail component. This will create a ghost town, which is not good for any component of the Cayman Islands bottom line.”

Mr March was skeptical of previous statements by Mr Bush declining to consider alternate berthing in Red Bay because, he said, downtown merchants had invested more than $30 million through decades, building the downtown area.

“It seems to be whatever suits his argument. We have had no consultation,” he said.

Finishing his plea for an audience, Mr March writes: “I implore you and those in your administration that believe that your current negotiations with regard to the berthing facility are on the right track to first consult the public and downtown merchants through a series of public meetings before proceeding any further with your negotiations.”