The Senate passed the lease agreement for Daniel?s Head on Wednesday.

MP and hotelier David Dodwell won the lease to refurbish the resort with partner Russell Urban. The two men run IRC-Sandys Limited.

The former tenants, Excel Legacy Corporation, based in San Diego, went bankrupt in 2002 and the resort has been in receivership since March 2002.

The Bermuda Land Development Company (BLDC) has an agreement with IRC-Sandys Limited to re-open the 96 room resort.

The resort is expected to open in May 2005, said Attorney General Larry Mussenden.

The lease term is for 54 years with an option to renew the lease for a further 35 years, he added.

?The base rent will be $231,844 per year with an annual increase based on the change in consumer price index, said Mr. Ashfield DeVent last week in the House of Assembly.

The Senate heard that the Eco-resort will move to a concept that is ?fun and water-centric?.

Mr. Mussenden confirmed that the rent lost from the old tenants has been paid and that all approved rent has been paid on the property.

He added that the lease has already been signed.

UPB Senator Kim Swan said he was appreciative of the transparency that Government exercised with the Daniel?s Head lease, adding: ?We did not have the benefit of transparency before.?

He said he heard the new resort will cater to a younger crowd and Mr. Mussenden confirmed this.

Senators were in agreement that the lease between IRC-Sandys Limited and the Bermuda Land Development Company (BLDC) was a positive one.

Independent Senator Walwyn Hughes supported the lease but was concerned about a report tabled in the House last week regarding quangos. The report called for the BLDC to become a quango.

Mr. Hughes said that the BLDC was effective and he did not want to see it lose it?s authority.