Development Delays Mean Paradise Postponed For Simon Cowell

It's not always easy to feel sorry for professional crankypants Simon Cowell but we have to feel a little sorry for the American Idol judge over the trouble facing his Barbados home. According to the Daily Mail, Cowell shelled out £15 million in Barbados for his own luxury home but has yet to be able to move in. Cowell who usually spends the holidays at the luxurious Sandy Lane hotel resort in Barbados is spending this year on a £625,000-a-week super-yacht cruising round Barbados, Grenada and Antigua and St Barts.

Cowell's home was supposed to be finished in 2008 but the official finishing date for his home is now 2011. The Daily Mail article says that there are currently no signs of work at the Four Seasons compound at Black Rock which also includes plots owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Formula One boss Eddie Jordan. Work ended last February and debts are mounting on the property. The developers have said there will be an update soon but many investors are worried and some have been quietly asking about getting their money back.

British developer and hotelier Mike Pemberton and his business partner, Robin Paterson bought the site in 2005 with a $40 million loan from the Bank of Scotland. They planned 36 luxury villas and a Four Seasons hotel. Buyers snapped up the first phase and the second phase sold well at prices between £6 and £11 million. Cowell bought two home sites. All the villas would include the services of butlers and other staff from the Four Seasons hotel whenever the villa owners were in residence. The villas would be outfitted with the finest finishes including teak doors from Indonesia and antiques sourced from French flea markets.

It sounds perfect but the Daily Mail article says the project was plagued with problems including controversy over Chinese laborers. Some also said the project was in a place that was too touristy. The Four Seasons has said that construction would resume on the project soon and that the 2011 completion date was still valid. Pemberton has spent the last few months seeking investors and has said that all creditors will eventually be paid. Cowell, who has a brother in the property development business, is said to be unconcerned about the delay. After all, with a house in London, one in Los Angeles and plenty of money, he's never lacking for a place to stay.