Jamaica
News - Real Estate - Projects
Source: The Jamaica Observer, Patrick Foster, January 31, 2007
Blackwell building high-end resort village in St Mary
Business mogul Chris Blackwell has launched a US$
multi-million resort development on 100 acres of land adjacent to James Bond
Beach in Oracabessa, St Mary that should gross at least US$100 million.
The residential resort is being built around
Goldeneye and is named for the house where famed writer Ian Fleming penned his
James Bond thrillers while living in Jamaica.
A winter 2008 completion is set for the project
that will see the construction of approximately 90 rustic villas and cottages in
a lush tropical setting. The exclusive high-end resort surrounding the
Oracabessa Bay will feature such creature comforts as its own marina, swimming
pools, spa, a natural secluded lagoon and offshore bar.
Thet sale of the villas and cottages alone
will rake in close to US$100 million for Island Outpost, the company behind the
development.
Island Outpost also manages Caves in Negril,
Jakes in St Elizabeth, Strawberry Hill in St Andrew and the original Goldeneye
resort in St Mary.
Blackwell, who, as owner of Island Records is
credited with putting Bob Marley on the international scene, previously operated
Goldeneye as a boutique hotel with some six cottages and 10 rooms added to
Fleming's original house.
This expansion to a high-end resort is being done
around clusters of 10 villas and cottages each spaced over the sprawling
property.
Roger Brown, director of development at Island
Outpost, explained that each cluster will have its own ambiance based on the
location, for example lagoon villas, cove huts and waterfront Bond suites. Cost
of the units will average US$1 million each.
Additionally, 10 lots are being offered to
purchasers who wish to have their villas reflecting their own style and
character.
Construction, however, will have to be under
the direction of the developers to retain the ambiance of the resort. For
instance, no building should be higher than tree height. "We have a very
strict planning code using our parameters, but we welcome individuality,"
Brown said.
"It's more a residential resort catering to
different tastes but run as one complete village," he said.
Purchasers buying into the exclusive Goldeneye
club should expect to pay a monthly maintenance fee between US$1,000 and
US$4,000 to be in good standing, and the developers have instituted a rigorous
selection process requiring, among other things, a three-year record of tax
returns.
The project will be implemented in two phases,
the first consisting of 40 villas and cottages with phase two having
approximately 52.
Blackwell's worldwide overtures, capitalising
on the Bond popularity, have reaped sweet success, as 50 per cent of the villas
in phase I have already been sold.
"Late last year, we went on the market to
New York, Los Angeles and London and on that basis we received 50 per cent
reservations on the units," Brown stated.
"Response has been very encouraging and
the Bond legacy is a favourable instrument for us, but it's not a Bond theme
park," he emphasised.
"It's the birthplace for Bond, it makes it
different. The Bond legacy gives you an edge, but we are respecting the Fleming
legacy rather than a Bond brand," he added.
Purchasers in the exclusive club have come
from all over the globe, including Jamaica where the property is being sold
exclusively through Coldwell Banker, the local agents.
"We do have some investors from
Jamaica," Brown confirmed.
Mortgage financing is available through
FirstCaribbean International Bank/Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) and
Wachovia out of the US and investors will have the option of renting their
villas under the management of Island Outpost.
Brown said that phase II was launched in Miami
mid-January and the team would be continuing its worldwide trek to US cities
Chicago and Atlanta as well as Dublin in Ireland; London, England; Paris,
France; and Milan in Italy.
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