Pricey commercial real estate may be reduced
(CNS): The Port Authority may have good news for the merchants trading of the Royal Watler Cruise Terminal according to reports on News 27. The Chairman of the Port Authority Board, Stefan Baraud, said the board is looking in to the possibility of reducing the rents. Tenants in the retail units have long complained of the very high rents despite their prime location. Baraud said the board was concerned as it wanted to stop turnover in the units as it was evident the rates were higher than other George Town locations.
The port chair said looking at the rates was a priority and the board is now talking with its lawyer on the best way to deal with the matter as all the tenants are under contract. There are 19 retail units at the Royal Watler terminal, 12 shops and seven kiosks, and when the unit opened in 2007 tenants were complaining that it was the most expensive retail space in Grand Cayman.
When the units were leased McKeeva Bush, who was at the time the opposition leader, called the rents “ridiculous and outrageous".
The terminal, which became the subject of controversy following an auditor general report, was developed using money borrowed from the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA).
Category: Local News
Can we do something to make those shops less tacky while we are at it?
I wish my rent would come down but unfortunately I signed a lease agreeing to pay a set amount of rent for a set period of time. I would have liked to pay less rent but then again if I didn’t agree to pay as much as anybody else would pay, then I wouldn’t be there, they would.
When my lease expires if I don’t want to pay as much rent I will either negotiate a cheaper rent or move to a cheaper place.
How come these tenants are going to get their rents lowered at taxpayers expense, despite them agreeing to pay them? We’ve all entered into contracts and not liked them but have bit the bullet and paid our dues. Not fair that these traders outbid other traders to get these stalls and now get a reduction in the rent.
Especially not when the cruise business is getting very busy now (per Cayman27 news, Compass, CNS etc reporting this week)
That whole place is a disaster and a disservice to businesses and visitors alike. Go and seek what T&C have built for an effective and attractive cruise terminal/retail area. Even in the terrible financial state we are in it should be torn down and the retail aspects looked at again (but please this time, can central tenders comm. be a little more active?).
If the rents were so high why did the tenants agree to pay them? If no one had agreed to pay them they would have come down eventually. Basic economics.