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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
Mario Carey, Founder & President, MCR, shares vision for a new historic Nassau.
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Nassau, Bahamas - A leading real estate broker said today the time has come to recognize that Nassau is not a village, but a city and like all notable world cities, deserves a skyline.
“Build up, not out, and provide for green space and harbour views,” said Mario Carey, founder and president of MCR, one of the most successful property sales, leasing and management companies in The Bahamas. “We have always treated Nassau with kid gloves -- as if it were a small village that needed coddling, afraid to touch the height of buildings while allowing windows, doors and other architectural elements to change so much that most structures would no longer qualify for an historic register. So we are caught in a time warp -- pretending to protect and failing to move forward. “
Now, he says, the time has come to look at Nassau with a view to the future as well as to the past.
“There is a way to preserve Nassau’s vintage history and the architectural integrity that defines the city while creating a skyline that maximizes best land use,” says Carey.
Carey recommends a land plan that would allow high rises (20 stories or higher) to the east, west and south of downtown Bay Street, creating a central area from East Street on the east to George Street on the west of a two story or current height maximum.
“All major cities that are known for their vitality have a residential population,” said Carey. “Nassau is dead at night. Why? Because no one lives in the heart of Nassau.Re-zoning to allow luxury developments of multi-use buildings with office or retail space on the ground level or first two floors and residential units above will add/bring new life to a city that is extremely underutilized.” Carey suggested “only imagination would limit” what new development could mean to the city’s economy and life.
“I have a vision of a new historic Nassau with a variety of attractive buildings with green space and courtyards cradling the centre of the city, protecting important historic properties including Parliament Square,” he said. “Right now, we have acres of vacant land right on the waterfront with high fences blocking the view and very little activity behind those fences. That land has tremendous value and by building up instead of encouraging more urban sprawl, will allow a view of the harbour front for everyone to enjoy. Skyline development is a global phenomenon that’s being properly addressed by some of the oldest cities in the world.”
“Development at both the eastern and western ends,” he said, “will generate jobs, create entrepreneurial opportunities and boost government revenue. Options for city living will also attract a young, professional population.
“Part of the brain drain among young well-educated Bahamians is that we do not have an active lifestyle as they are accustomed to in their college towns or where they could live in the U.S. or Canada. This could offer such a reasonable solution. We also know that every home purchase generates at least three jobs,” said Carey, one of only 3% of the industry’s professionals worldwide who holds a degree in real estate. “We cannot continue to do what we did before for no better reason than it is what we have always done. We have to move forward while offering well thought out solutions.”
Carey applied the same process to his own firm. “We started out,” he said, “in 2008 thinking we would just focus on luxury properties. But I realized there was a great need for starter home specialists so we opened that division.” Next came property management and vacation rentals and other agents who spoke various languages as relocation specialists. Most recently, they opened a real property tax consulting division and an office in Harbour Island.
Carey’s suggestions about downtown Nassau incorporate some of the ideas and concepts iterated and reiterated in several land use plans created for historic Nassau dating back to the original prepared for the Bahamas National Trust and later the plan recommended by the late Jackson Burnside in a study commissioned by a partnership between the Ministry of Tourism and the Nassau Tourism & Development Board. The most recent Edaw Study also suggested more green space, the opening up of harbor views and residential component.
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