Moorland rolls out J$1.2b development
Published:Sunday | October 27, 2013 | 12:00 AM
Tameka Gordon, Business Reporter
Moorland Development Company has launched its second project since inception a dozen years ago, a 250-acre development known as Moorlands Manor located about two and a half miles out of Mandeville.
It will deliver 395 housing lots to the market on reclaimed bauxite lands.
Moorland has 132 serviced lots ready for delivery, with another 108 lots slated to hit the market "within another couple of weeks" under phase two of the project, said managing director, Carlton Maxwell.
Phase three, which will deliver another 155 lots to the market, will come on stream in June 2014, he said.
Moorlands Manor is being developed at a cost of close to J$1.2 billion, financed by a J$170- million loan from RBC Royal Bank as well as equity from the company.
"We put in roughly J$500 million from internal capital," said Maxwell, who adds that the sale of lots in the first phase of the development would also help to finance its completion.
Breaking down the primary components of the project, he said the land cost J$155 million, infrastructure J$650 million, legal and other fees J$150 million, administration J$100 million, while J$40 million is for marketing and sales.
Lot sizes range from a quarter acre to three quarters of an acre with the prices starting at J$3.7 million up to a maximum of J$5.5 million, dependent on lot size.
Manchester is known for, its appeal to returning residents but young professionals also form a part of the core market.
Maxwell said he is targeting both market segments, and that professionals account for "more than 50 per cent of sales to date".
The developers, known as well for their previous venture, Moorlands Estate also located in Manchester, pride themselves on "environmental preservation".
"What we do is that a lot of the property is left in forest, we don't touch them. In real terms, we are only using about 58 per cent of the land that we acquire for residential purpose," said Maxwell.
NATURAL APPEAL
"At least 57 lots will be used for the nature trails, forested areas and playgrounds. We focus on the natural appeal as much as possible and we leave the green area in clusters," he said.
Nicknamed the "liveable forests" Maxwell says the lots for Moorlands Manor were "made purposefully large" to allow for expansion while maintaining a "good size backyard".
Buyers are restricted building on a third of the lot, provisions for which are captured in the restricted covenants on the land titles.
"All building plans are pre-approved by us and we look for those things in the pre-approval process," said Maxwell.
It is not often that the quest of employees to own their own homes leads to the development of a real- estate company, but that was the genesis of Moorland, which was incorporated in 2001.
The founders primarily comprised Alpart employees who pooled their financial resources to acquire reclaimed lands from their former employer.
Their first project, Moorlands Estate, offered 555 serviced lots spread across 404 acres.