Grand Cayman Ritz-Carlton completion may be delayed up to a year

Friday, January 23, 2004

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands: Although The Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman developers continue to maintain that the project will be completed by the fall of this year, some industry experts say that the completion date will likely not occur until mid-summer, or even towards the end of 2005. 

"There's no way they will be finished by the fall," one contractor told Cayman Net News under the condition of anonymity. 

The contractor claims the finish work alone could take as long as the exterior work. It could also take months for the inspection process by the Ritz-Carlton Corporation to sign off on the development, whereby certain work would have to be redone to meet with the quality standards set by the company. 

Once the project is completely built and approved, it would still take two to three months to furnish, stock and train staff before opening, according to the contractor. 

However, at the Cayman Business Outlook 2004 conference held last week, the Leader of Government Business, Mr McKeeva Bush, confirmed the completion date as being the fall of 2004. 

The Ritz-Carlton, for its part, concurred, "The opening of the Ritz is still on schedule, set for fall 2004, although we have not yet set up a specific opening date," said Melissa Perkins, Director of Marketing for The Ritz-Carlton. 

Others say that since TCC (Cayman) JV Ltd, a subcontractor hired to provide drywall and metal framing services at the for the project, pulled out of the job site last 21 November, there have been many fewer workers on site. 

One Scottish tourist recently told Cayman Net News that he was approached by the Ritz contractor while sitting in a bar and offered a senior electrician's position because the project was "desperate for staff." 

"That is absolutely not true," said Ms Perkins when told of reports of fewer construction employees on the project. "We have a tremendous number of workers on site. We have multiple crews working on the stucco of the hotel. In fact, you will find, where the building once was yellow, it is now brown, and that's the new stucco work that is being done."

Another local contractor suggested that one potential delay for the project has to do with mold growing in the drywall. The contractor says mold quite possibly could have formed inside the drywall because it was exposed to humid temperatures before the exterior shell of the building was completed, a problem that several other major hotels have suffered here he said. As a result, the Ritz-Carlton corporation might insist on some of the sections being replaced, delaying the completion of the project.

One real estate professional said that there were a number of rumours currently making the rounds about the Ritz-Carlton. 'I don't know what's true," he said.

Considering the scope of the project and its potential difficulties, some knowledgeable in the industry are sceptical about the Ritz's completion date claims, asserting that a more realistic deadline for the finishing of the hotel, including its 365 guestrooms, four dining outlets, a nine-hole golf course, and a 20-thousand square foot full service spa, salon and fitness centre, would be late fall of 2005. 

To this, Ms Perkins simply answered, "Absolutely not true." 

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