By NEIL HARTNELL
TRIBUNE Business Editor
nhartnell@tribunemedia.net
THE SUPREME Court has rejected a hotel management company’s bid to regain immediate control of a top Grand Bahama resort amid its furious ongoing legal battle with the property’s owner.
Justice Constance Delancy, in an October 22, 2026, verdict denying the injunction sought by Island Ventures Resort & Club (IVRC), the entity established by Old Bahama Bay condominium owners to manage the property following the Ginn project’s 2011 failure, recognised “the volatility” of the battle for control and its impact on the “surrounding community”.
Old Bahama Bay is a major employer and economic activity centre for Grand Bahama’s West End, but the judge ruled she was “not persuaded” that ousting the corporate owner of the resort’s properties, LRA-OBB Ltd, in favour of IVRC reclaiming management control was the best action to take.
Justice Delancy’s verdict thus preserves the status quo established on August 4, 2026, when a security team and other agents acting for LRA-OBB, which stands for Lubert Adler-Old Bahama Bay, finally succeeded in repossessing the resort and seizing control from IVRC after three earlier attempts in the previous 16 months were thwarted. Lubert Adler was Ginn’s financing partner.
However, IVRC is likely to draw comfort from several of the conclusions and factual findings made by Justice Delancy in her injunction ruling. These include that it has “a contractual relationship” with “some” Old Bahama Bay condominium owners to manage rental bookings for their units, while it also retains “the right to rent the dock slips” it owns in the resort’s marina.
The judge also affirmed the rights of Old Bahama Bay’s 73 condo owners to “continue to access amenities” at Old Bahama Bay “subject to certain conditions”, which will help to shield them from any negative fall-out caused by the ongoing courtroom fight. And she has yet to rule on the substantive cases, featuring multiple claims and counter-claims, advanced by both LRA-OBB and IVRC.
The legal battle between LRA-OBB and IVRC, which has now lasted for eight years, is part of a wider fight taking place on multiple fronts to determine West End’s future development. Separate and apart from the control issues now before Justice Delancy, the outcome of a near-$10m tax dispute will also play a key role in resolving the former Ginn project’s fate.
For LRA-OBB and Resorts Holdings, the other owner of the former Ginn project’s real estate, are contesting the Department of Inland Revenue and Bahamas Treasurer’s bid to seize and sell-off one of the development’s 1,400-acre land parcels over near-$10m in allegedly unpaid real property taxes.
A Tax Appeal Commission decision on this is expected imminently. A verdict against LRA-OBB and Resorts Holdings would potentially pave the way for the Treasurer to complete the $26m deal it had lined-up to sell the 1,400-acre parcel to Coakley International, which has ambitions for a project billed as creating 2,800 construction jobs and 6,000 permanent posts for Bahamians.
Justice Delancy, in her verdict last Thursday, confirmed that IVRC sought a Supreme Court injunction via August 26, 2026, legal filings. It sought an Order requiring LRA-OBB and its agents to undertake “removal of barricades, restoration of keys, access codes, and utilities”, and its reinstatement as manager of Old Bahama Bay condo units following its ousting three weeks’ earlier.
It also urged the Supreme Court to prevent “obstruction of roadways, walkways, services and beach access.. to the units and exclusion from common property”, and direct an inspection of flooded units in building 15. Not surprisingly, this was resisted by LRA-OBB.
IVRC was joined in its claim by Grande Harbour at Old Bahama Bay Resort, a vehicle that owns three condo units, plus three of the property’s condominium associations, and Old Bahama Bay Resort & Yacht Harbour. The latter is said to own the “trademark and goodwill under which the resort has traded” and its president, John MacDonald, holds the same position with IVRC.
Justice Delancy traced the roots of the battle for control to the June 1, 2012, lease agreement between LRA-OBB and IVRC that permitted the latter to manage Old Bahama Bay and its amenities, and keep it open for the benefit of condo unit owners and their guests, following the demise of Ginn and its West End project.
Ginn had purchased Old Bahama Bay, and LRA-OBB - acting for Lubert Adler - took over the property’s ownership following the developer’s financing default. However, the first Supreme Court battle between LRA-OBB and IVRC erupted in 2018, which resulted in a judicial declaration that the 2012 lease was “null, void and of no further effect”.
IVRC was ordered to grant LRA-OBB vacant possession then, with the Supreme Court telling the latter to “use best reasonable endeavours to enter into a transitional licence or other short term arrangement for management” of Old Bahama Bay.
A “penal notice warning” was also issued to IVRC, its president, Mr MacDonald, and the management firm’s Old Bahama Bay general manager, James Culmer, asserting they would be held in “contempt of court” if the notice was breached. The lease termination was also subsequently upheld when the Supreme Court revised its 2018 Order one year later.
However, that same year, 2019, LRA-OBB and IVRC reached an agreement that the latter could continue to operate Old Bahama Bay under a so-called ‘Bare Licence’ rather than a lease deal. The Bare Licence arrangement remained in place until February 11, 2025, when LRA-OBB gave IVRC notice to cease operations and leave Old Bahama Bay by end-March last year.
“IVRC asserts that it has managed and operated the resort continuously since about 2012, including hotel and marina operations, staffing, maintenance, assessment collection and guest bookings,” Justice Delancy wrote. “In 2019 LRA-OBB and IVRC entered into a Bare Licence which superseded the 2012 lease between the parties.
“The Bare Licence was renewed on several occasions - May 2019, January 2021 and July 31, 2022. IVRC disputes that its original occupation of the resort was by a ‘Bare Licence’. IVRC also disputes that it owes real property taxes as alleged by LRA-OBB.”
LRA-OBB is arguing that the Bare Licence deal gave IVRC no leasehold or any other kind of ownership interest in Old Bahama Bay resort’s real estate. As a result, it was only required to give reasonable notice it was terminating the deal, and it alleged that IVRC’s failure to vacate forced it to repossess the resort.
IVRC, though, is alleging that LRA-OBB lacks the necessary approvals to operate a resort as those for Old Bahama Bay were instead issued to itself by the Department of Inland Revenue on August 5, 2026 - just one day after its eviction/ousting.
Detailing the management firm’s claims. Justice Delancy wrote: “After LRA-OBB or its agents erected barricades on August 4, 2026, LRA-OBB and/or its agents dispensed fuel stocks purchased by IVRC without authorisation.
“LRA-OBB and/or its agents are processing guests' bookings and not accounting for the revenue, funds have been removed, locks were changed and the resort's surveillance equipment was dismantled. LRA-OBB' s actions excluded IVRC's staff, which has negatively impacted its business and the surrounding community.
“LRA-OBB's barricading the entrance to the resort also prevented IVRC and its staff from maintaining and preserving the unit owners' property,” Justice Delancy added further of IVRC’s allegations.
“On 28 August, 2026, IVRC was contacted with reference to flooding in Building 15 as LRA-OBB or its agents were unable to shut off the water supply. IVRC was not allowed to assess the damage to the affected Units. LRA-OBB' s actions have damaged the resort's goodwill and reputation.
“Mr MacDonald also alleges the defendant continuing to conduct business at the resort under Old Bahama Bay Resort & Yacht Harbour, a registered company owned by him, has caused irreparable harm to the company's reputation and goodwill.”
This account, though, was countered by Daniel Baker, an executive with Reunion Cay Island Resort, the managing agent for LRA-OBB, who asserted that the Bare Licence - which gave IVRC a “non-exclusive right of occupation” - was not renewed after it expired on September 30, 2022. He alleged that the management firm “did not comply” when asked to leave in early 2025.
“LRA-OBB also complained of outstanding sums totalling $2.215m and incidents involving unauthorised entry, damage to, and removal of items from LRA-OBB s property by persons identified as acting for or on behalf of IVRC,” Justice Delancy added.
“On November 20, 2025, IVRC purported to entered into a lease over LRA-OBB’ s property within the resort and surrounding areas with Ricardo Pratt. LRA-OBB asserts that the Pratt lease is fraudulent and therefore IVRC cannot claim any rights there under.” Mr Pratt has been branded a “vexatious litigant” by the Supreme Court over multiple failed attempts to claim West End land as his own.
LRA-OBB’s own managing agent, OBB Hospitality, took control of operations at Old Bahama Bay after the August 4, 2026, repossession. “IVRC had no exclusive right to operate the resort, or control and access, after the expiry and withdrawal of its licence,” Justice Delancy added of the Old Bahama Bay owner’s position.
“The resort was not wholly closed, certain operations were only temporarily restricted, and unit owners continued to have access to the resort including short-term rental services. Post August 4, 2026, Customs and Immigration continued to operate at the resort. Signage about a temporary and partial closure was displayed for about two weeks at the request of the Labour Department.
“The signs were not intended to exclude unit owners or their guests from entering their properties or that all operations had ceased. Mr MacDonald has not been denied access in his capacity as a unit owner,” the judge said of its case.
‘“LRA-OBB or OBB Hospitality did not disconnect or instruct the disconnection of electricity, water or any other utility services to the resort or condominia properties as alleged, and Grand Bahama Utility Company continued to supply, meter and invoice utilities.”
Mark Flowers, the attorney representing IVRC, argued for the injunction on the grounds that the Supreme Court needs to decide “whether IVRC's occupation and continued performance of the management and operation of the resort with LRA-OBB’s acquiescence subsisted as a periodic tenancy.
“Even after the notice in February 2025 purporting to terminate the 2021 Licence, IVRC remained in open, exclusive possession and management of the resort operations for approximately 16 months,” Justice Delancy wrote of his arguments.
“Further, that IVRC has nexus to the operations of the resort by virtue of its subscription agreements with unit owners for hotel rental accommodation and the West End Resort Ltd (WERL) lease with respect to the marina.” Mr Flowers also argued that LRA-OBB had taken the law into its own hands and repossessed Old Bahama Bay without a Supreme Court Order.
However, Michael Scott KC, representing LRA-OBB, countered “that IVRC has no standing as the 2012 lease is null and void and the subsequent Bare Licence has expired… The Bare Licence expressly permitted either party to terminate for any reason upon 30 days' notice. The notice given to IVRC was in excess of 30 days.
“Further, IVRC cannot convert Business Licenses into proprietary or possessory entitlements. There was no automatic right to renew the Bare Licence. IVRC’s permitted occupation of the resort does not automatically create a periodic tenancy,” the judge recorded of Mr Scott’s arguments.
Justice Delancy, in her verdict, said she was “reluctant at this stage to conclude” that the common property or rights of individual Old Bahama Bay condo owners “automatically establish a right on the part of IVRC to occupy or exercise operational control over LRA-OBB's property”. IVRC is asserting it has the contract to manage rental bookings for 58 unit owners.
She added that IVRC’s claim that LRA-OBB’s action had “caused irreparable damage to the goodwill of the resort, and has adversely affected the livelihood of staff and the wider community”, while causing it “economic loss” due to loss of rental booking revenues and fuel depletion”, were countered by the latter’s assertion it has not interfered with unit owners’ access and rights.
“Since the defendant's agent’s assumption of the management of resort operations, unit owners have continued to access amenities and to book short-term rentals,” Justice Delancy said of LRA-OBB’s position.
She added that there was no “cogent evidence” of IVRC’s financial position to support Mr MacDonald’s undertaking that it could pay damages to LRA-OBB if the injunction was to be granted but the management firm lose the case. And Justice Delancy was “not entirely convinced” he had the authority to give an undertaking on behalf of all the claimants.
“The court is cognisant of the volatility of the situation, the importance of the matter not only to the parties but to the surrounding community,” the judge ruled. “The court is not persuaded, having considered the evidence from all sides that the balance of convenience lies in favour of granting the claimants the interim injunctive relief sought, and therefore dismisses the application.”
James Culmer, Old Bahama Bay’s general manager under IVRC, in a note sent to Tribune Business recently, reiterated the latter’s position that LRA-OBB needed an eviction Order or writ of possession from the Supreme Court - which it did not have - to regain control at Old Bahama Bay. LRA-OBB’s position is this was not required by virtue of the Bare Licence arrangement.
“On August 3, 2026, the resort was almost 100 percent full,” he said. “Therefore, any reasonable person would understand what damages would occur to The Bahamas if the resort was forcefully closed down on the morning of August 4, 2026.
“IVRC after LRA-OBB refused to let them in to service the guests, entered the resort….. IVRC was not ushered in by the police. On this occasion we slipped in and dealt with as many guests as we could, because IVRC wanted to protect The Bahamas’ number one industry.
“On Friday, August 7, IVRC was again expecting many check-ins at the marina and the hotel. Laquel Brooks, our front office manager, was allowed temporary access to a hotel room, but this was later overturned. As a result, on Friday night, both Mrs Laquel Brooks and I received calls from many guests concerning guests needing to be checked into their reserved rooms. It was unbelievably taxing and disappointing that IVRC was not allowed to assist.”
As for the tax appeal, LRA-OBB and Resorts Holdings, are alleging they have been over-charged real property tax by “more than 75 percent-plus” due to a $21m valuation difference with the Department of Inland Revenue (DIR).
Mr Baker, in a December 17, 2025, affidavit lodged with the Tax Appeal Commission, asserted that LRA-OBB and Resorts Holdings, the two entities that hold the 1,931 acres that comprised the former Ginn project, have been over-billed “by more than 57 percent” for 2024’s real property tax assessment based on the DIR’s inflated land valuations.
He alleged that appraisals conducted for Reunion Cay by the EY (Ernst & Young) accounting firm, plus Coldwell Banker Lightbourn Realty, show the true market value of the two companies’ ten collective West End land parcels is a combined $15m.
However, Mr Baker asserted that the Department of Inland Revenue is using $36m, a valuation more than double or some 140 percent higher, as the basis for calculating due real property tax which is causing the substantial over-billings.