Chinese construction companies linked to the Baha Mar resort development have pledged hotel assets as collateral while seeking to stay a $1.6 billion court ruling against them.

CCA Bahamas, Ltd. (CCAB) offered two Nassau hotels - the British Colonial Nassau Hilton Hotel and Margaritaville Beach Resort - as security. These properties were recently valued between $232.7 million and $355.1 million by leading real estate firms Cushman & Wakefield Inc. and Jones Lang LaSalle.

The collateral pledge follows an October ruling by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Andrew Borrok, who ordered CCA companies to pay $845 million plus interest and lost revenue to BML Properties and Sarkis Izmirlian, Baha Mar's original developer.

The court found that CCA entities engaged in "massive fraud" by deliberately delaying construction to force BML Properties into bankruptcy in 2015. After the bankruptcy, China seized control of the nearly completed resort and sold it to Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, which opened Baha Mar in 2017 after investing $200 million to complete the project.

CCA became involved with Baha Mar in 2014 following the 2008 financial crisis, when previous partners withdrew. Their agreement included controversial terms allowing them to import Chinese workers despite local unemployment and preventing their termination from the project.

CCAB maintains confidence in their appeal, stating the original court decision was "fatally flawed" and that BML Properties' own mismanagement led to the project's failures. The case continues to highlight the complex relationships between international developers and the impact on local development projects.

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