$4.5b housing development for St Ann
Published:Monday | April 11, 2022 | 12:09 AMCarl Gilchrist/Gleaner Writer
In one of the biggest housing development projects to be announced for local shores by foreign investors, the London-based Wots Hot Energy is to pump $4.5 billion into the Mahogany Hill development in Chester, St Ann.
Founder of Wots Hot, Craig Hartwell, said the project will see the development of a green, sustainable community consisting of 211 eco-friendly homes for middle-income and high-end buyers.
The project, said Hartwell, will create dozens of jobs, raking in $1.5-billion equivalency of foreign direct investment. Ten per cent of that has already been spent in land purchase and the procurement of contractor services.
The houses will be part-powered by renewable energy, leading to lower utility bills, and the development equipped with Wi-Fi and have green spaces.
Touting the project, Hartwell said the idea for the undertaking was born seven years ago when he had a meeting with then Opposition Leader Andrew Holness in London. Hartwell believes Mahogany Hill will be a shot in the arm for the now prime minister’s push for quality and affordable homes for Jamaicans and complement development of the northern parish.
“I asked a very simple question: if we were to invest in Jamaica, what do you need?” Hartwell, who has lived in the Caribbean, explained.
“And [he] said, ‘Affordable housing and renewable energy.’ I said, ‘That’s perfect! That’s what we want to do,’ the investor said, in recounting the conversation. “So, we set to work and for the last seven years we started putting a team together, we did due diligence on various plots of land all around Jamaica, then we discovered St Ann, and it’s beautiful.”
The project is reportedly nearing final approval.
Construction is projected to begin six months after final approval and is expected to last two to three years, turning 45 acres of wooded land into an eco-friendly community.
“This will be the premier affordable homes development in all of Jamaica, and everyone who builds affordable homes development after this is going to look at this as the benchmark. And the question will be asked, is it as good as Mahogany Hill?” said Hartwell, who declined to disclose the proposed pricing scale for the homes.
Mayor of St Ann’s Bay Sydney Stewart, and St Ann North West Member of Parliament Krystal Lee both hailed the announcement, which took place during a small ceremony at the Chester Primary and Infant School.
Both pledged the support of their respective offices for the project.
“The announcement this morning from Craig Hartwell ... is certainly enlightening and very exciting for us in St Ann North Western, especially in the community of Chester. We are very grateful this morning,” Lee told reporters.
Lee also recognised the contribution that Hartwell has already made to the community, citing his commitment to renovate Chester Primary and Infant School.