The owner of a major West End hotel project once envisaged as an “ultra-luxury cottage resort” is switching the concept to housing because of “logistical challenges for hotel guests compared with the eastern side of the island”.

Lawrence Doyle, who bought the Lantana Cottage Colony property in 2008 but has yet to develop it, told The Royal Gazette it made better sense in today’s market to switch to “an affordable residential community centred around home ownership rather than tourism accommodations”.

Mr Doyle said at the weekend that, if the zoning of the almost ten-acre site could be switched from tourism to residential, Lantana could end up being commercially viable for cottages or condominiums.

“Right now they’re not going to allow us to build for housing but we’re trying to let the world know,” he said, noting that the island had a well-documented “shortage of housing”.

He speculated that 60 housing units or more were possible but emphasised that giving a number at the drawing-board stage would be “putting the cart before the horse”.

The New York investor took interest in the property about 20 years ago after a chance sighting during a trip to the island for his mother’s birthday.

Lantana Colony Club opened in 1958, during a vastly different hospitality environment for Bermuda. Among other offerings, it came with croquet lawns.

“Right now, it’s nothing but land,” Mr Doyle said. He acknowledged in 2023 that his timing as a purchaser had been “unlucky” — coming directly before the 2008 financial crisis, which quickly dampened the commercial appeal for developing Lantana.

Mr Doyle said: “Around that same period, I also began negotiations involving Newstead, which had entered receivership. That process alone took another three years to complete but it was strategically important because our plans for Lantana depended heavily on a partnership with Newstead.

“The vision was for the two properties to share infrastructure and amenities, including laundry services, ferry transportation, golf access and operational support.

“After acquiring Newstead and navigating through the financial crisis, it became clear that our immediate focus needed to be on stabilising and improving Newstead first. We inherited approximately 138 fractional ownership units and needed to devote our efforts towards marketing and selling that inventory. As a result, Lantana became more of a secondary priority during that period.”

Mr Doyle said Newstead had turned into a profitable venture, helped by the renovations at the Hamilton Princess that took approximately 80 rooms from inventory. Many business travellers who could no longer stay there discovered Newstead instead.

He added: “At roughly the same time, Riddell’s Bay ceased operations, which allowed us to expand golf-related opportunities, increase daily play and attract additional memberships.

“Just as the business was gaining traction, the pandemic arrived. Fortunately, we weathered that period relatively well due to staycation demand and because our property configuration proved more adaptable than many traditional hotel operations on the island.”

Although Mr Doyle said it had seemed a good time to revisit “the long-term vision for Lantana”, he conceded that “after considerable analysis, we no longer believe that the highest and best use for Lantana is as a traditional hotel property”.

He said the failure of ambitious resort plans for the Caroline Bay development at Morgan’s Point had also proved cautionary for the West End, demonstrating “how difficult large-scale hotel development can be in that market”.

“It would be another Morgan’s Point if we decided to do another tourism property.”

Mr Doyle added: “Our vision is for a neighbourhood with beach access and ferry transportation directly into Hamilton, offering residents an attractive alternative to daily traffic and commuting.

“Importantly, this approach would also strengthen the existing western-end hotels — including Pompano and Cambridge Beaches — rather than creating unnecessary competition in a market that does not need another major hotel development.”

At the weekend, Mr Doyle could not disclose the scale of any possible development. A change in the property’s zoning would have to come first.

However, he added: “We believe a thoughtfully designed residential community could provide a meaningful economic boost to the western end of the island while creating a unique lifestyle opportunity for Bermuda residents and homeowners alike.”