THE development of Southlands is a necessary step if Bermuda is serious about reinstating tourism as a major pillar of the economy, developer Craig Christensen insisted yesterday.Although the businessman said he recognises the need to preserve open space — and supports such efforts — he maintained that the luxury hotel now proposed for the South Shore property is in the island’s best interests.

“The idea of saving open spaces is really much like religion, I think we all feel the same way,” Mr. Christensen stated. “(Once we bought the property) our real purpose was to try to save it as a whole unit rather than creating a housing development which would have chopped up the land and we all would have lost it forever.

“Frankly, that would have been more economical for us. But we took a brave stand and looked at a hotel product that would be able to maintain a property of that size.”

Mr. Christensen and Southlands co-owners Nelson Hunt and Nancy and Brian Duperreault, have come under criticism since plans were first announced that they had bought the 37-acre site in Warwick and intended to transform it into a luxury hotel managed by the Dubai-based Jumeirah Group.

The application followed on a 1993 submission for tourism development at the site. Although that plan never moved forward, permission was granted by the Development Applications Board, which accepted the argument that the land was acceptable for a tourism product.

Proposed today is a combination of suites and condominiums, five restaurants and bars, a night club, spa, swimming pools and equestrian and conference centres. Approximately 135 of the 311 suites are to be sold as fractionals, with the remaining set aside for hotel accommodation.

Environmentalists say the development will destroy one of the island’s last remaining areas of open space, increase traffic congestion and cause harm to the foreshore and the area’s natural habitats.

News that Cabinet approved an application for a Special Development Order (SDO) for the property, led campaigners to stage a peaceful protest against the decision earlier this week.

“We certainly expected people to voice objections as they do with virtually any development,” said Mr. Christensen when asked if his group had been surprised by the swell of outrage.

“I think part of it was our timing. When we put our plans in for submission, there were a bunch of other SDOs up for consideration, which created some concern, which is not our fault.

“We were probably a lot further in our development than the other plans which were put forward, and we received total scrutiny — from everybody including the Government.

“I certainly empathise (with the campaigners). Some of the things people who have actually visited the site have come up and talked to us about, have made sense.

“Very few people have been there, onsite, to see and understand what we plan to do. What we need to do, what we will do, is to reach out to provide tours, so everyone gets a better understanding of Southlands’ beauty and what our plans are.”

Asked why Southlands Ltd. hadn’t concentrated on Club Med, a St. George’s hotel that has sat derelict since its closure in the late 1980s, Mr. Christensen said the property didn’t suit its interests. However, he stressed the aim was to preserve, rather than destroy the South Shore acreage.

“First of all, Club Med had already been spoken for, and secondly, our project and our business model would not have worked at Club Med,” he explained.

“Leased land is certainly more risky, from a financial point of view, than doing it on your own land. I think Club Med is a very difficult site to make work. It’s a difficult location but I hope it is successful. Certainly, if there is some revitalisation in the area, it could work.

“We knew what the zonings were when we went in. We knew the majority of the land was zoned for tourism and a large tract — over four acres — was zoned as Residential One.

“We could put 20 houses on an acre, which is something we didn’t want to do. In actual fact we’re not developing anywhere near (the four acres). We’re trying to put some back into the tourism bank.”

Sadly for the objectors, Mr. Christensen said Southlands Ltd. had moved beyond a time where, as was recently suggested by environmentalists, the company could sell the property to objectors — even if they were able then to raise its estimated $35 million price tag.

“There are many contracts that Southlands is under and we need to move forward,” he stated.

“We’re way down the road in terms of developing a hotel property. It becomes a situation in looking at the balance of tourism as a strong pillar of our economy.”

Asked what he hoped public sentiment on Jumeirah Southlands might be ten years on, he added: “Hopefully, we will have other properties on board and we all will be proud of the tourism industry as we once used to be.

“It will take time for people to get used to change and move forward. Hopefully, they will look back and realise (Southlands Ltd. was) very forward thinking.

“Our dream is to see Bermudians succeed in the hospitality industry and we (believe our hotel will) offer that opportunity.”