A failed housing development will be launched as a hotel-style complex today.

The Bermudiana Beach resort is the reincarnation of the Grand Atlantic scheme on South Shore, Warwick, where a ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled to take place.

A sign with the new name has been erected at the site, which has undergone renovations in recent months. Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch, the Minister of Public Works, is expected to welcome dignitaries to the property today, when he will provide more information about the development.

Grand Atlantic was created by a previous Progressive Labour Party government as a hybrid hotel and affordable housing development. The scheme was branded a failure when only two out of the 78 condo homes built in 2011 were sold and the hotel was never built.

The former One Bermuda Alliance administration confirmed in April 2014 that it had signed a contract to “upgrade and reposition” the complex with MacLellan & Associates, a Caribbean-based tourism and leisure firm.

The sale of the property fell through due to difficulty securing financing, but a new agreement with the same developer was announced in February 2017.

The House of Assembly heard last December that the property, owned by the Bermuda Housing Corporation, would become a “mid-market condo/hotel consisting of nine buildings with additional leisure facilities”.

Zane DeSilva, the Minister of Tourism and Transport, told MPs at the time that the BHC had enlisted a specialist team, including MacLellan & Associates and Bermuda Realty Company, to convert the development into a resort with 105 rooms and suites. He said the 78 apartments would become 71 units for sale featuring “new and improved fixtures consistent with a four-star hotel”.

Outdoor amenities were expected to include two pools, including an infinity pool, as well as a funicular lift to the beach below. Mr DeSilva said: “External elevators will be added to the buildings as part of the hotel operator requirements.

“Seven of the existing units will be converted into communal facilities to include a reception area, restaurant, spa, gym, back-of-the-house support, and food and beverage areas.”

He told MPs that the development was scheduled to be carried out over two phases, with the second expected to be completed by May next year.

Mr DeSilva explained that the complex “will be operated as a resort under a major international hotel-branded franchise”.

Colonel Burch added during the House sitting last December: “We will expect an announcement early in the new year, once the show units have been completed. At that time it will also trigger the announcement of who the hotel partner is.”

He added: “What that will also trigger is access to their worldwide network of reservations and advertising and whatever else to be able to market this project.”

Colonel Burch said the resort was expected to “go a long way in assisting in the revitalisation of tourism, and also the creation of jobs for Bermudians in this country”.