Related Buys 50% of Bahamas Property

MIAMI-The Related Group says it has completed a 50% acquisition of an undeveloped 900-acre peninsula on Eleuthra Island in the Bahamas. The locally based luxury real estate investor is part of a joint venture, TRG-Meritage Bahamas LLC, in the property known as Lighthouse Point, on the island’s southernmost tip.

Related partners Jorge Perez and Stephen Ross have prior investment experience in the Bahamas. They were former stakeholders with Sol Kerzner, owner of Atlantis, Paradise Island and One & Only Resorts.

“While real estate values across the Americas have contracted sharply with the global credit crisis, the fact remains that large, undeveloped peninsulas of high-quality beachfront are a very limited natural resource,” Perez stated in a release. “Our stake in this amazing property is a testimony to our long-term outlook on land values in the Caribbean.”

TRG-Meritage Bahamas is jointly owned by Related and Grand Rapids, MI-based Meritage Hospitality Group. Both companies are facing financial challenges in the US, with Related reportedly dealing with nearly $2 billion in outstanding mortgages on South Florida residential condominium projects.

Additional terms of Related’s Bahamas purchase were not disclosed. Perez has declined numerous interview requests by GlobeSt.com.