K2 developers say they tried to meet with residents
Published:Monday | January 8, 2024 | 12:11 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
The developers of the Kingston 2 (K2) Downtown Reimagined high-rise apartment building are disputing the claims of nearby residents that there was never an effort to reach out to them to put them at ease and to address their concerns ahead of construction.
Once completed, the development will offer amenities in the form of public lounges on the ground floor, first floor, and the sky lounge on the ninth floor, complete with a dipping pool, outdoor kitchen, and a gym. On the roof deck, there will also be a running track that supports healthy lifestyles within the confines of the development.
Sherbourne Limited, whose principal director is Michael Lake, invested $2.1 billion in the urban renewal project that will provide the 119 apartments, 54 of which will be studio units. The apartment prices now range up to $35 million, and the delivery date is set for 2025.
The management of the K2 project will be assigned to affiliated company Island Homes Limited, whose directors include Michael Lake and Richard Lake.
The companies belong to the Lake Group of companies, whose CEO is Lisa Lake. Richard Lake is principal director of Aerocon Construction/Island Homes Limited.
Incorporated in 1971, Sherbourne Limited is a registered developer of residential real estate. Its past projects include Sherbourne Heights in Stony Hill, St Andrew.
The developers had to acquire three lots in Bournemouth Gardens on Fairbourne Road, Eastbourne Road, and Michael Manley Boulevard, spanning 1.6 acres, as the first step towards execution of the project, which makes Fairbourne Road property owner Sheareel Dixon fearful that this will set a precedent for other homeowners to be forced to sell.
“We’re not interested in selling, but you have to consider sometimes the powers that be approach for sale. Sometimes, they may not be requesting. They may be telling and enforcing ... so that’s a concern. We don’t know the imagined plans, and if the plan is going to extend in our direction, our little block,” she said.
However, speaking with The Gleaner on Sunday afternoon, Gina Harrison, Sherbourne’s project manager, said efforts were made to contact each resident and homeowner in Bournemouth Gardens before work began.
“I tried to have a meeting, but there’s no citizens’ group. I even tried to invite some residents to the groundbreaking, but they have no association. There’s no body,” Harrison said.
‘Good neighbours’
She further explained that 500 flyers had been printed and she “had someone go from door to door to door to distribute these postcards and to introduce ourselves and that we are hoping to be good neighbours with our contact number that they can reach out to us”.
Harrison said residents have called with positive responses.
“We have not gotten one negative response to this postcard ... . We distributed not just one per household, but multiple copies. Anybody who wanted a postcard got this postcard with our information,” she said.
During the groundbreaking ceremony, the project was also lauded by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who expressed confidence that there is a market for the apartments and studios that are being built at K2 Downtown Reimagined despite the stigma attached to the Kingston 2 area.
“The only way to break that characterisation, or perception, is to actually have the development happen in these areas. Ultimately, although it is a private investment, it is an investment in the people of the area,” he said.
Phillip Paulwell, member of parliament for Kingston East and Port Royal, the division in which the development falls, also commented.
“This is a most significant development because the only other one that I’ve had to do since becoming member of parliament was in 1998 when we opened Manley Meadows ... but I’m really very happy to see this significant development here and for the association with Kingston 2,” said Paulwell, who grew up in the Kingston 2 area.
“I am a Kingston 2 man. We have given the investors our assurance that I want to see this project develop as a model for the Corporate Area so we don’t tolerate certain things round here. We don’t tolerate extortion. We ask that where there is employment of skilled and unskilled people, we be given the first priority,” he said.