Scott Armstrong ~ Guardian Business Editor
Freeport, Grand Bahama- A three-month stay of execution has been given to Rick Hayward for him to come to an agreement with his father Sir Jack over more than $500,000 in unpaid rent.
Some 78 jobs hang in the balance over the dispute which revolves around three Port Lucaya Marketplace restaurants and rent backlog which accrued, claims Hayward Jnr., after the Grand Bahama Port Authority (GBPA) more than doubled lease payments within five years.
Hayward Jnr. owns The Pub at Port Lucaya, La Dolce Vita and East but stopped paying rent some 18 months ago after he claims the monthly rent at the former two restaurants had been increased from $10,000 per month five years ago to $21,000 per month.
Yesterday at the Supreme Court in Freeport it was decided that Rick Hayward's company LDV Ltd. had three months, or until September 30, to come to an arrangement with Bourbon Street Ltd., a subsidiary of Port Group Ltd. which is the landlord/holding company for the Marketplace.
Sir Jack's son refused to pay rent after he said his lease payments had gone up so in much in the space of five years that it added up to $360,000, which he feels is too high.
He told The Nassau Guardian: "What this ruling does is give us time to breathe and time to see if we can come up with a reasonable agreement with the landlord.
"However the most important factor is the 78 jobs so if we cannot come to terms at least it gives us time to find someone else who may come in and keep all those great people in jobs.
"Nobody wants to see more people out of work, particularly after what happened at Freeport Concrete too. Hopefully we can clear the air and come to some satisfactory conclusion."
