Former St Anne’s MP says govt getting good deal out of Post Office lease
Coleby-Davis says govt searching for new permanent home for Post Office
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Former Cabinet Minister Brent Symonette yesterday vigorously defended the Post Office Town Centre Mall lease, telling Eyewitness News: “I don’t see the problem here.”
Amid criticism of the arrangement by Transport and Housing Minister JoBeth Coleby-Davis, and her revelation yesterday that the government is searching for a new permanent home for the Post Office, Brent Symonette, the former St Anne’s MP, told Eyewitness News: “If the minister wants to renegotiate the lease, she knows where to find me, no problem.
“I am not going to renegotiate the lease via the press.”
Details of the lease agreement tabled in Parliament reveal that the lease is binding for five years, until February 28, 2024.
The government pays out an estimated $820,083.60 each year to use Town Centre Mall, including up the annual rent, value-added tax (VAT) and additional annual rents due.
The lease outlines that the government pays rent at $632,952 per annum and VAT at $75,954.24 per annum.
Additional rent is also to be paid for improvement of the premises at the rate of $500,000 plus interest over 60 months or five years, which equals $111,177.36 per annum.
The General Post Office was relocated to Town Centre Mall in May 2019, however, conflict of interest claims were leveled against Symonette as Town Center Mall is partly owned by the former St Anne’s MP and his brother.
It’s going to cost the government $3.5 million to build out another property at a time when they don’t have the money.
– Former St Anne’s MP Brent Symonette
The government entered into a five-year leasehold agreement with the landlord of Town Centre Mall at a concessionary rate of $12 per square foot.
“The average rent for a government piece of property is $25-plus,” said Symonette, suggesting that the minister’s criticisms of the arrangement are due to his political affiliation.
“They did not outfit the building; we put in the air conditioning, the walls, the post office boxes, the ceiling even.
“When it came to the security system, the wiring and computers we put in — $500,000 worth of stuff on their account, which they are paying back, so I’m not sure what this great investment is they have made and that it is too expensive to move because any lease has a penalty for early withdrawal.”
Symonette added: “It’s going to cost the government $3.5 million to build out another property at a time when they don’t have the money.
“The original plan the PLP (Progressive Liberal Party) had for the Post Office at the Town Centre Mall was 75,000 square feet at $25 a square foot.
“I rented them 56,00 square feet and the difference is the cafeteria. I took out the cafeteria — 14,000 feet or so — and reduced the rent to $12 a square foot.
“I don’t see the problem here. If you go and ask any real estate agent, it is a very good lease.
“The square footage may be too much, that’s a government decision, but $12 a square foot is warehouse rent, you don’t get office space for that. I don’t know what the fuss is about.”
