Company · Real Estate

British Colonial Development Company Bcdc

The property group British Colonial Development Company Ltd (BCDC) was formed in 1997 to acquire and refurbish the historic British Colonial estate in downtown Nassau. The prestigious British Colonial site has long been recognised as a landmark hotel of significant historical importance to The Bahamas. The U$90 million restoration to its former glory in coincided with the 100-year anniversary of Henry Flagler's visionary Colonial Hotel, which stood at this site from 1901 for 21 years. The actual, impressive 7-story building structure was established in 1924 as The New Colonial Hotel, which was subsequently acquired by the investor and philanthropist Sir Harry Oaks. The hotel grounds witnessed the production of the James Bond movies Thunderball (1965) and Never Say Never Again (1983) and the stay by HRH Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, during his visit to The Bahamas. From to 2020, the estate consisted of sqf Class A commercial offices known as the Centre of Commerce at 1 Bay Street and the Fort Nassau Centre at the original site of the Old Fort of Nassau, and the aesthetically pleasing 290-room British Colonial hotel with its important conference facilities, beautiful gardens and private beach. Hilton Hotels & Resorts operated the hotel for over 20 years, and the entire estate was affectionately known as The Hilton or the British Colonial Hilton. BCDC was owned by the Canadian Commercial Workers Industry Pension Plan (CCWIPP) until 2006, when the Swiss private equity investor Adurion Capital took majority ownership and invested $15 million into a complete and successful hotel room refurbishment programme. In October 2014, the British Colonial assets were sold to CSCEC/ China Construction America and all approx. 300 employees transferred to the new ownership, with Hilton continuing as the hotel operator and Bahamas Waterfront Properties as the offices' property manager. Since 2023, refer to