What is the latest thing on the wish list of very rich Canadians? It is not the newest high-end Mercedes or even that $300,000 Rolls-Royce or Bentley. Nor is it a penthouse in one of Toronto's growing crop of ultra-luxury condominiums. They probably already have both.
What seems to be hot right now is a winter - or even year-round - mini-palace in the Bahamas: Places on or near the beach with price tags that start at $5-million (U.S.) and run up from there.
If you have any doubts, look at Ocean Club Estates on Paradise Island, just east of Atlantis and a short ferry ride or drive from Nassau. Canadians now own an estimated 30 per cent of the 90 $4-million to $20-million homes there, according to local sources.
That puts them above sun-seeking Brits, who are estimated to own 20 per cent of these astonishing homes. U.S. citizens own 20 per cent and Bahamians about 10 per cent. Various continental Europeans own the balance.
The demand for ultra-high-end homes has reached the stage where some vastly experienced Canadian real-estate developers have launched projects targeting what appears to be a growing number of very wealthy Canadians who prefer the lifestyle the Bahamas offers to more mundane choices such as Palm Beach, Fla., or any other North American sunspot.
Alexis Nihon, grandson of the Montreal developer of the same name, has launched Serenity Point on Great Abaco, where his company Anco Lands Ltd. is offering 24 building lots, ranging in price from $500,000 on the ridge overlooking the ocean to $850,000 for a chunk of land right on the beach.
In Nassau, Joe Brennan and Daniel Greenglass of Toronto's J.F. Brennan Design/Build, in partnership with David Kosoy, chairman of the Sterling companies, are developing The Beach Club Villas - five large, two-storey homes - on the former Charlie Chaplin Estate on Paradise Island, just west of Atlantis.
Why this sudden interest in the Bahamas, that chain of 130 large and small islands just off the coast of south Florida? Two chief reasons, say the developers: lifestyle and taxes.
Taxes first: Anyone who qualifies as a resident from Canada or several European countries under taxation laws in both the Bahamas and their own home country are exempt from income taxes on money earned in the Bahamas. Perhaps even more important, they are exempt from taxes on interest income from most places in the world, says Mr. Kosoy, who is now a Bahamian resident himself.
As for lifestyle, Mr. Brennan, who has had an office in Palm Beach as well as Toronto for almost two decades, says Florida's sparkle has been tarnished for the very well-to-do.
"It has become so commercial," he says. "The Bahamas, however, offers the lifestyle you could enjoy in Florida 40 years ago. You can have a home right on the beach and enjoy some seclusion not surrounded by traffic."
The two projects - Beach Club Villas and Serenity Point - are as different as the icy-clear sparkle of diamonds from the warm green depths of emeralds. Serenity Point represents the latter.
A bit of history here. Mr. Nihon's grandfather moved to Nassau in the 1960s. Born in Belgium, the elder Mr. Nihon immigrated to Canada at 18. In 1946, when he was 44, he started Corporation Alexis Nihon, which is now publicly traded as Alexis Nihon REIT. It owns the huge Place Alexis Nihon in Montreal among other holdings.
He saw enormous potential in Great Abaco, his grandson says, and in 1962 started buying up large chunks of land, mainly in the south end of the island; today, the family owns about 2,000 acres, Until recently, however, the family just did not think the potential for development was there. Now, however, following a decade of unprecedented wealth creation, there may be tens of thousands of people with enough money - and weary of the options Florida offers - to make development of luxury communities possible.
Anco Lands, the family company, has sold 270 acres to a Bahamian venture that is developing Schooner Bay Village on the adjacent Old Fort Bay. The site will eventually offer not just homes and villas, but also 50 retail shops and a new medical centre.
Serenity Point and its 24 building lots, which range from 21,000 to 72,000 square feet, will have its own private beach club with an infinity pool, tennis courts and change rooms. Each home will have its own solar-powered golf cart with which to run around the 40-acre gated community or visit the shops at Schooner Bay next door.
Each home also has access to all the bells and whistles the rich depend upon, such as concierge service, personal chefs, yacht rentals, fishing charters and inter-island expeditions.
"What we expect to see is a mixed group of people building winter residences, and those planning to live here to enjoy that tax-free status," he says. "Happily, right now, we are getting strong interest from Canada, mainly from Toronto and Montreal."
Where Serenity Point offers a respite from the hurly burly of city life, The Beach Club Villas on Paradise Island combine the amenities of a major tourist destination with the seclusion of a community flanked by private estates with only a walking path connecting it to the rest of Paradise Island. In fact, access is by private water-taxi service provided round the clock by the management company for the club.
The property is just two acres, but it stretches from the ocean to the channel between Paradise Island and the mainland. It's flanked to the west by Mr. Kosoy's home, which used to be long to the late actor Sir Richard Harris, and and to the east by the home of actor Nicholas Cage.
When completed, there will be two homes facing the harbour and three right on the ocean. Prices range from $1,500 a square foot for the harbour homes to $1,700 a square foot for the three on the ocean, according to Mr. Greenglass.
Sizes start at 2,990 square feet and go right up to 4,985 square feet. Anyone fortunate enough to take the ferry from Paradise Island to Nassau proper can see work under way on the private dock being built to serve the club.
"It is really the perfect location," says Mr. Brennan, who previously partnered with Mr. Kosoy on building a restaurant at the nearby Sandy Port, run by David Battle, who formerly managed the restaurants at Holt Renfrew. "There is no vehicular traffic; access is either by private water taxi or the walking path which connects with everything to the east. You can be all alone on your own private beach and then walk over for a coffee at Starbucks in 10 minutes," he says.
The Beach Club Villas take the level of service at Serenity Point quite a few steps higher. This is a community where the management company arranges everything. Call ahead and a complete staff of cooks, maids and butlers will be waiting. Need groceries? The management company will dispatch that water taxi and a personal shopper to the stores in town.
Want a place to moor that yacht? The club also offers moorings for boats up to 40 metres in length.
The idea for the Beach Club Villas came after Mr. Kosoy's success developing luxury homes at the Ocean Club Estates. While there were originally 119 lots available, that number is down to about 10, Mr. Kosoy says. The Ocean Club Estates boast owners such as Michael Jordan and Gary Sheffield.
"There is an increasing number of high-net-worth Canadians now looking for an alternative to Florida," says Mr. Kosoy, who for many years ran both his U.S. and Canadian real-estate holdings from Palm Beach. "I moved here because I like the lifestyle a lot better.
"Access from Canada is much easier now than to the U.S. because of recent security measures. Four different airlines fly non-stop."
Will there be more projects like The Beach Club?
"The challenge is going to be finding suitable sites," he says. "What we have on Paradise Island is that perfect combination of seclusion and yet ready access to everything that makes life here so great."