LISTEN: PM Defends Son’s Purchase and Resale of Long Bay Beachfront Parcel

Prime Minister Gaston Browne has outlined what he described as the decades-long history of the Long Bay property, arguing that criticism surrounding the proposed Long Bay Zen Resort ignores the site’s ownership record and previous development plans.

Speaking on the Browne and Browne radio programme on Saturday, Browne said the planned resort is not a new project but a redevelopment of the former Long Bay Hotel property, which has existed for more than 50 years.

“For those who are concerned about whether or not we’ll be taking up Long Bay, and that people not have access to the beach and other beach users, that’s not the case,” Browne said. “We’re talking about the old Long Bay Hotel.”

He said the property’s current developers acquired the former hotel roughly 11 years ago and had initially intended to build a larger project but experienced delays after losing tens of millions of dollars through an offshore bank that encountered financial difficulties.

Browne also pushed back against claims that the development will affect public access to Long Bay Beach.

“What people are trying to do is to fool the Antiguan and Barbudan people to say to them that the remaining Long Bay Beach, the public access, will be taken up by this hotel. That is not true,” he said.

The prime minister then recounted the property’s ownership history, stating that former owner Chris LaFourie had publicly advertised the hotel for sale as early as 2010. According to Browne, the property consisted of approximately 5.5 acres, including guest rooms, cottages and other facilities.

Browne said the former United Progressive Party administration had explored acquiring a one-acre beachfront parcel associated with the property as part of plans involving a hotel development at Long Bay. He said the Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party opposed the proposal at the time, arguing that it would have reduced public access to the beach.

“What UPP had planned to do was to acquire that acre on the waterfront and push the people in the corner, reducing their access,” Browne said.

According to Browne, the proposed transaction never materialized, and after several years without payment, the property returned to the market.

He said several prospective buyers expressed interest, including his son, who purchased the one-acre parcel from LaFourie in 2014 for US$750,000 after negotiating the price down from approximately US$1.2 million.

Browne said his son later sold the property to the Chinese investors now involved in the Long Bay Zen Resort project for US$1.5 million.

“One private person to another private person,” Browne said, rejecting suggestions that the transaction involved government intervention.

The prime minister said the history of the property demonstrates that the land had long been available for sale and that the current development is taking place on the site of the former hotel rather than on public beach lands.

The Long Bay Zen Resort, which recently broke ground, is expected to include 120 rooms and is being promoted as a low-carbon luxury development.

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