Simon Cowell could lose millions in Barbados resort battle

By
Jonathan Petre

Last updated at 11:14 PM on 4th February 2012


Simon Cowell is embroiled in a legal dispute

Simon Cowell is embroiled in a legal dispute

A spectacular Caribbean resort in which Simon Cowell and Andrew Lloyd Webber have invested millions of pounds is embroiled in a legal dispute amid fears it may never be completed.

The hotel and villa development in Barbados was billed as the ultimate millionaire’s hideaway, with investors tempted by plans showing luxury Balinese-style properties overlooking coral-white beaches.

Villas on the 32-acre Paradise Beach site, which cost up to £18 million, come with an infinity pool, cinema, gym and wine cellar.

The neighbouring Four Seasons hotel will also provide 24-hour room service and access to butlers, housekeepers, chefs, waiters and nightwatchmen.

But four years after its launch, the complex – which aims to rival the famous Sandy Lane hotel – is a deserted building site with half-built villas clad in rusting scaffolding, and the developers have yet to secure the funds to finish it.

If they fail, investors – who also include the former Formula 1 team owner Eddie Jordan – could lose their money or have to resort to legal action to recover deposits.

One investor, British-based oil firm boss Aidan Heavey, has launched a lawsuit in the Barbados Supreme Court for the return of his £1.3 million deposit. He says developers are in breach of contract for failing to complete his £6.3 million  five-bedroom villa by the agreed date of 2010.


Andrew Lloyd Webber is also believed to be affected

Andrew Lloyd Webber is also believed to be affected

Another investor, Capita Group boss Paul Pindar, has written a letter of complaint over a four-year delay to his property.

Former City economist Avinash Persaud, who is overseeing the project, said the developers had raised £79 million of the £95 million they need to build a luxury 110-room hotel, which is crucial to the complex’s future. ‘Most of the people who have put down deposits understand that once the financing is in place we can move forward.’

Cowell’s six-bedroom beachfront villa
was originally due to be completed in 2011 but that date has now been
pushed back to 2015. Mr Persaud said the X Factor supremo had been ‘very
understanding’.

Work on the site ground to a halt three years ago when the original developers ran out of money.

Lord Lloyd-Webber said in a statement: ‘At the moment we are not a party to any action.’

The unfinished villas at Paradise Beach which owners include Cowell and Andrew Lloyd Webber

The unfinished villas at Paradise Beach which owners include Cowell and Andrew Lloyd Webber

 

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so what,they got all the money for nothing anyway,,if they had a real 9 to 5 job they would be burned out in 1 month.

I stayed at The Paradise Beach Resort back in the early 80’s..
then it was about £500 a week !!
I returned to Barbados back in 1990, and was shocked to see that this beautiful spot was completely deserted bar an infestation of monkeys, overgrown with mangrove roots and stagnant pools of black water..
Sad as it was, I made some enquiries and found out that another resort developer had plans to rebuild the site but had given up trying. The law in Barbados is that ALL BEACHES ARE PUBLIC, so “the ultimate millionaire’s hideaway” probably can’t get it’s way, no matter how much money they throw at it. Let the fat cats stay at Sandy Lane, and leave the rest of the island to normal people.

Aww didums…. something else for the obscenely rich to spit their dummy’s out over…. £18 mill would keep thousands of pensioners alive this winter… If they spent it on that dump then Im glad they got stung!

Shame. They may have to work for a living now!

They’ll get over it.

The Caribbean is a dump in general. Full of chavs who have saved for years to get their hair in braids. The service is horrendous like we should be grateful to them. Trust me, don’t waste your money

This guy has made it through making 16 year old girls cry on tv, so all I can say is…hard cheese.

boo hoo boo hoo, who really cares, my heart bleeds for them, i wont be able to sleep tonight.

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha….

East European squatters take notice!

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