Barcadera Business Park
The Barcadera Business Park, including the designated freezone area, is centrally located and easily accessible with the modern and expanded international airport at just 5km distance. It also boasts very good connections with Oranjestad and San Nicolas, thanks to the Green Corridor and Watty Vos Boulevard roadways.
This favorable location, combined with its current and future added qualities, are factors that make the Business Park extremely attractive for a variety of companies and activities. With Customs just around the corner, the handling of international cargo will be that more efficient, be it over water or through the air. The area has been identified as a Business Zone in the spatial development plan of Aruba. Companies with amongst other port related activities are therefore more than welcome in this area.
The multimodal connectivity with a modern international airport and a state-of-the-art multi cargo sea terminal close at hand, make Barcadera a fantastic logistical hub and business center.
DEDICATED MULTI-CARGO SEA TERMINAL
Barcadera is a good example of how a Business Park should be designed to be able to meet current and future demands of modern logistics services. This location guarantees a direct connection to a dedicated multi cargo sea terminal, operated by ASTEC N.V. The Business Park houses a diverse cluster of industrial activities and companies, for which the adjacent terminal acts as a dedicated stevedore, with value added services, such as bonded warehousing, and 40 reefer positions as a great advantage. A 440-meter-long quay with 11 meters of quay depth guarantees excellent accessibility for waterside operations. ASTEC can handle a broad variety of cargo, ranging from “barquitos” (small wooden vessels) with fruits & vegetables, to regional feeder vessels carrying containers from multiple lines. Additionally, break bulk materials (like vehicles), specialized cargo (such as wind turbines and diesel generators), yachts and heavy equipment for specialized construction services on the island are loaded and/or discharged at this terminal. The terminal also handles the unloading of aggregates, cement (dry bulk), gas and lumber (bundles). In addition, the terminal layout has been designed allowing to handle ample growth in cargo volumes towards the future. Essentially all sea-borne cargo imported to and exported from Aruba flows through this terminal without a problem.
OPPORTUNITY AND FOCUS ON FURTHER DEVELOPMENT – TENDER PROCESS NOW OPEN!
The Aruba Ports Authority N.V. is excited to offer the area known as “Dry Area North” in a tender process.
Public Announcement: APA Initiates Allocation of Plots at Barcadera Business Park
Aruba Ports Authority NV (‘APA’) holds in long lease (erfpacht) approximately 10 hectares of developable land located near Barcadera Harbor, Aruba. This area can accommodate the development of approximately 15 parcels.
APA wishes to grant said parcels in sub long lease (ondererfpacht) to third parties that primarily engage in harbor-related businesses, mainly logistics, warehousing, indoor loading and unloading operations, and small-scale manufacturing. Retail, storage for use by individuals, residential use, storage of fireworks, weapons, ammunition and hazardous materials (not a limited list), are prohibited. In consideration for the issuance of any parcels APA will be requiring a one-time immediately payable and nonrefundable fee of 40% of the land value (currently set at USD 85 per m2), as well as a recurring annual fee of USD$ 5.10 per m2 (annually adjusted).*
- Application Procedure: Interested parties are required to submit an application via email to Barcadera@arubaports.com no later than November 7, 2023.* APA will confirm receipt of every application by return e-mail. Submittal of an application will automatically incur a non refundable registration fee of Afl. 2,000.00.
- Documents: Alongside the application or no later than 30 working days after the application, the applicant must provide:
- proof of payment of the registration fee;
- a comprehensive business plan of the intended project;
- an original certificate of good conduct issued by the Public Prosecutor’s Office (for legal entities, also from the CEO), or if applicable a foreign equivalent acceptable to APA;
- an original certificate of fiscal behavior issued by DIMP, or if applicable a foreign equivalent acceptable to APA.
- Due Diligence: An AML/CFT client due diligence is part of the selection process.
- Evaluation of Applications: APA will evaluate applications based on the following criteria:
- Compatibility of the application with the intended permitted use of the pertinent parcel (specified above) and/or the long lease agreement between APA and Land Aruba (weighting factor 1x);
- The overall suitability of the parcel for the intended project (weighting factor 0.5x);
- The degree of connection between the intended project and the business activities at Barcadera Harbor (weighting factor 0.5x);
- Feasibility of the intended project, including its financial viability (weighting factor 3x)
- The applicant’s track record (including track record of ultimate beneficial owners and/or key personnel) in successfully executing similar projects (weighting factor 2x);
- The (potential) impact of the intended project on nature and the environment, as well as the likelihood of the intended project causing a nuisance (hinder) or disturbance to the surroundings (weighting factor 2x);
- The expected value (through for example originality, innovation, diversification and/or economic spin off effect) that the intended project will bring to Barcadera Business Park and/or Barcadera Harbor (weighting factor 1x).
- Meeting the Criteria: Incomplete applications and applications that do not meet or do not sufficiently meet the aforementioned criteria will be denied. The results of an AML/CFT client due diligence, the content of the certificate of good conduct, and/or the content of the certificate of fiscal behavior may also lead to an application being denied. Incompatibility of the application or the intended project with the above specified permitted use of the pertinent parcel and/or the long lease agreement between APA and Land Aruba will lead to denial of the application. Each application that has not been denied on the basis of the foregoing, will be assessed based on the criteria mentioned in paragraph #4. Each individual criterion will be graded on a score from 1 -10, after which the weighting factor will be applied. Applications that score a 3 or less (before application of the weighting factor) on any criterion mentioned in paragraph #4, may be denied. Applications with a total score of 50 or less (after application of the weighting factors) will be denied. Available parcels will be offered to the highest scoring applicants in order of highest to lowest total scores (after application of the weighting factors) .
- Parcel Allocation by APA: APA will determine at its sole discretion which parcels will be offered to applicants that have sufficiently met the above specified criteria. The guiding principle is that each available parcel must be allocated to the applicant who can make the best use of it given the unique characteristics of the parcel. The reasonable preferences of each applicant will be taken into consideration by APA, however, APA is not bound by any such preferences. APA may, without any type of liability, deny any application that has sufficiently met the above specified criteria, in the event that the applicant rejects the specific parcel offered by APA.
- Agreement and Notarial Deed: If the parcel offered by APA is acceptable to the applicant, then APA will formally present the applicant with a standard contractual agreement. After the execution of said agreement, the sub long lease will be formally established in a notarial deed by a notary of APA’s choice. All costs associated with the aforementioned, shall be solely borne by the applicant. Failure to sign the standard contractual agreement or the notarial deed, will lead to denial of the application. In such event, all associated costs, including but not limited to reasonable attorney’s and or notarial fees of APA, will be solely borne by the applicant.
- General Terms and Conditions: The General Terms and Conditions for Temporary Sublease in the Port Area apply to all sublease agreements in Barcadera Business Park.
Should any parcel remain unallocated following the completion of the abovementioned selection process, then APA may opt to accept applications after the deadline specified in paragraph #1. APA may in such event also directly approach potential applicants to make them aware of the possibilities of doing business in the Barcadera Business Park. Any applications submitted after said deadline will be assessed and parcels shall be allocated, on a first come first serve basis. The criteria mentioned above and the above specified procedures remain fully applicable (mutatis mutandis) during this process.
*In a previous version of this publication, the fee in consideration for the issuance of any parcels was erroneously stated as USD 185 per m2 per year. This typographical error was corrected on October 17th 2023. Consequently, the original deadline of November 1st has been extended to November 7th, 2023, which is reflected above.
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