New Era kicks off J$9b Caymanas real estate development
Published:Friday | August 19, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Avia Collinder, Business Writer
Leo Taddeo, chairman of New Era Homes 2000 Limited, is promising to deliver in eight months 200 middle-income homes that he is constructing on a 131-acre property at Caymanas Estate.
The Caymanas Country Club estate is the first phase of the real estate project, which will eventually deliver 853 detached two- and three-bedroom units and cost J$9.2 billion to develop, said Taddeo.
The cost of the first 200 units was not disclosed.
New Era acquired the land for the residential development from the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) for J$289.2 million last November - one of the first public-private partnership deals to be struck under the expansive 10,000-acre Caymanas project.
The full Caymanas project is estimated as a US$3-billion (J$258 billion) programme developed under the former industry minister Karl Samuda and endorsed by the Cabinet. Jamaica partnered with Joseph Chang's Intercontinental Capital Worldwide to seek financing and investors for the industrial estate, which was first touted as the lynch pin of the project that also included a new base for the Jamaica Defence Force, space for educational institutions and housing.
Dr Christopher Tufton, the new minister of industry, investment and commerce, has signalled that he plans to continue execution of the project, but opted not to comment immediately on whether he was considering changes.
Tufton told the Financial Gleaner that he would be in a better position to address the issue in September.
New Era has acquired land in The Village, which is the section of the Caymanas Estate that UDC has designated for housing.
However, the first residential development is not the low-income project visualised in plans laid out by the UDC in 2009.
The Village, in the original plans, was set aside for 200 homes for "groups such as teachers, the security forces and the military, and each will be priced below J$3.5 million, the maximum that loan applicants can access from state housing and mortgage agency the National Housing Trust (NHT)", UDC said back then.
The Village encompassed plans for different residential clusters, including at least one upscale development, The Highlands, whose units were expected to cost about J$50 million each, and the country club with access to recreational facilities linked to the famous horse racing centre on the property.
Taddeo said Tuesday that his project will be pursued in four phases, with the country club being the first.
The development, targeted at middle-income earners, will feature "social amenities that enhance and distinguish the Jamaican household experience," said Taddeo.
" We will be offering a very secured community boasting a swimming pool and tennis courts and 'park-lets' for children in each cluster, and a commercial complex all of which caters to the various needs of the family," he said.
New Era is already marketing the homes, advertised at starting prices of J$11.5 million for the two-bedrooms and J$14.5 million for the three-bedrooms, which Taddeo says will be delivered in April 2012. The advertised prices do not include closing costs.
Mortgage financing is available through NHT and Scotia Jamaica Building Society.
Caymanas, first touted by the UDC in 2009, was planned for execution over a seven- or eight-year period, according to UDC general manager Joy Douglas, with a 1,000-acre industrial estate and 4,000 homes.