The Bahamas may soon be home to a second mega resort to rival Kerzner International's wildly successful Atlantis on Paradise Island. Bahia Mar Development has worked for the past two years to put together a 500-acre land parcel on Cable Beach in Nassau to create a $1 billion-plus high-end destination resort and casino. The acquisitions included three existing resorts — the Wyndham Nassau & Crystal Palace Resort, Nassau Beach Hotel and the Radisson Cable Beach — that will be renovated and operated jointly as Cable Beach Resorts until work begins on the resort.

“It was an extremely complex transaction to accomplish,” says Michael Sansbury, the ex-Loews Hotels executive who is executive VP of operations for Bahia Mar and COO of Cable Beach Resorts. “Our chairman and CEO, Sarkis Izmirlian, saw the success of Atlantis and the natural advantages of The Bahamas and believed there was room for another mega resort. And Cable Beach is the perfect location. It has the best beach in The Bahamas and is close to the airport and downtown Nassau.”

The unnamed property, which is scheduled for groundbreaking in 2007, will be built in phases to create a high-end resort and gaming destination with a design that Sansbury says will evoke “an inspirational tour around the Caribbean.” Phase one will include 2,700 hotel rooms across several price points, 175,000 square feet of meeting space, 18 holes of golf and the largest casino in the Caribbean.

In the meantime, the company will spend $15 million on improvements to the three resorts. The resorts will be operated and marketed jointly under the Cable Beach Resorts name.