Government Targets Aging Buildings In Major Grand Bahama Housing Overhaul

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GRAND BAHAMA – Hundreds of new homes could soon be coming to Grand Bahama.

The government is moving ahead with plans to redevelop several communities, including the long-troubled Garden Villas area.

But, before construction can begin, there are still some hurdles to clear.

Our Delvardo Emmanuel has more.

Old buildings, years of hurricane damage, and families still waiting for better housing.

That’s the reality in parts of Grand Bahama.

But the government says change is coming.

During the public consultations and stakeholder sessions regarding national land legislation and housing opportunities, residents got a closer look at plans to transform several communities.

Among them, the Garden Village redevelopment project, which could see more than 270 new homes built.

And with a proposed 50-million-dollar loan from the Inter-American Development Bank, Housing Minister Keith Bell says the government is already laying the groundwork.

“ We already started acquiring the properties in the Garden Villas area, and we started with the Bain Brothers track. We have another area, which is the urban renewal area that we are seeking to get rezoned for homes. You know, we have, uh, the other 11 buildings that we have immi- we are in negotiations already. And so the, for us, we’re not necessarily waiting on anything. We are moving ahead.”

But, what about the people already living in those buildings?. That’s one of the big questions coming out of the public consultations.

Bell says the plan is to rebuild the community in stages.

That means taking down some of the old buildings, putting up new ones, and moving residents into their new homes before starting on the next section.

And he’s promising that no one will be left without a place to live because of the project.

“ All of those persons living in those abandoned derelict buildings in the Drake as well as Garden Village, nobody will be displaced. What is significant and what is good about this is because the areas are so huge, we are able to build out. And as we build out, that is demolish, reconstruct, relocate, demolish, reconstruct, relocate. We’re able to do that in a very systematic way, and that is my intention.”

But the plan isn’t just about tearing down old buildings and putting up new ones.

It’s also about making sure those new homes can better withstand future storms.

And that’s where the University of Miami comes in.

Jennifer Posner, Director of the University of Miami Climate Resilience Institute, says her team has been working with local officials on early design ideas.

And they’re looking at how to make the community safer, more affordable and better prepared for the future.

“ We’ve been lucky enough to listen in, um, to several conversations with the different agencies and departments about their needs and their concerns. So we’ve been taking those back and we are working with, uh, our architecture school and some other colleagues to come up with some just conceptual ideas of what this could look like.”

Minister for Grand Bahama Ginger Moxey was also in attendance.

She expressed her excitement that plans are actually moving ahead.

“ The meeting was a great meeting. It’s all about consultation, finding out what the residents think about the projects that are going on. And like I said, it’s something that the Ministry for Grand Bahama would have started a while ago with an initiative called Cities Forward, and it involved inclusiveness, resiliency, and sustainability.”