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A boom in Bond's playground
By Belinda Archer
Jamaica is an island of extremes. On one side it is half-built roads, run-down shacks, a country saddled with grim poverty, drug-fuelled social problems and crippling national debt. On the other, it is a lush paradise, blessed with constant sunshine (apart from the occasional hurricane in September and October), full of friendly people and home to pockets of extraordinary wealth.
For celebrity second-home owners from Noël Coward and Ian Fleming in the 1950s to Ralph Lauren and Keith Richards today, the island's positives have long outweighed its negatives. But only recently have large residential developers begun to agree and to invest.
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The current building boom centres on two large projects: the glitzy Palmyra Resort and Spa, just 15 minutes away from Montego Bay on the north coast, and an expansion of the Goldeneye estate once owned by Fleming, where chic beach cottages, lagoon villas and oceanside suites are being erected on 40 acres. Both mark a big step up for development in Jamaica, the Caribbean's largest English-speaking island, and both are already about50 per cent sold.
"People are rediscovering Jamaica," says Palmyra's Frank Perolli. "First, there is the $200m expansion of Montego Bay airport and the development of many new direct, non-stop flights from the US and the UK. Second, key infrastructure is developing; a new road that will run along the whole of the north coast is being built. Then there is the fact that people are realising the supposed violence and crime is not widespread at all. It is totally contained in certain areas, like anywhere else. Jamaica generally feels safe."
Spanish hotel giants, including Bahía Príncipe and Riu, have added their endorsement, planning a string of giant hotels that will add 8,000 rooms to the island's capacity in the next five years. Virgin Atlantic launched new twice-weekly direct flights from London to Montego Bay in July, and further direct routes are expected to follow out of mainland Europe, first in the shape of charter flights organised by the Spanish hoteliers-cum-tour-operators but soon after in scheduled form.
There will also be a valuable public relations fillip next year, when the West Indies hosts the Cricket World Cup and Jamaica stages the showcase opening ceremony. The aforementioned North Coast Highway is scheduled to be finished by then to help carry traffic along the newly dubbed Gold Coast from Negril to Port Antonio.
"Over the past two years there has been a lot more confidence in the Jamaican economy," says Jason Henzell, president of Goldeneye. "The Spanish developers moving in have prompted other global companies to follow, [and] the price of real estate has been going steadily up for five to six years."
Palmyra, the initial phase of which is due for completion in December 2007, will be Jamaica's first luxury condominium hotel resort, comprising more than 300 condos and stand-alone villas. With entry prices starting at $500,000 for a one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo, it will offer a classic gold-tapped mix of accommodation, golf (it's near three championship courses), spa (23,000 sq ft with 16 treatment rooms) plus clubhouse, restaurants and gym.
Perolli comments: "It is a lifestyle opportunity but we also think it is a good investment. We are asking 25 per cent below what other Caribbean islands are asking. That's why there is the renaissance here. We are cheaper than the rest of the Caribbean but we are going to catch up."
Goldeneye will be a rather different, less ostentatiously top-end, offering. Boutique resort operator Island Outpost is tastefully and ecologically extending the estate, where Fleming penned his James Bond novels, with a range of properties priced from $600,000 for a one-bedroom cove hut and den to $3m for a lagoon villa. Attractions will include a movie house, extensive water sports, sting ray pool, wireless connectivity and the Caribbean's first Thalassotherapy spa. Then there is also
By Belinda Archer
Jamaica is an island of extremes. On one side it is half-built roads, run-down shacks, a country saddled with grim poverty, drug-fuelled social problems and crippling national debt. On the other, it is a lush paradise, blessed with constant sunshine (apart from the occasional hurricane in September and October), full of friendly people and home to pockets of extraordinary wealth.
For celebrity second-home owners from Noël Coward and Ian Fleming in the 1950s to Ralph Lauren and Keith Richards today, the island's positives have long outweighed its negatives. But only recently have large residential developers begun to agree and to invest.
ADVERTISEMENT
The current building boom centres on two large projects: the glitzy Palmyra Resort and Spa, just 15 minutes away from Montego Bay on the north coast, and an expansion of the Goldeneye estate once owned by Fleming, where chic beach cottages, lagoon villas and oceanside suites are being erected on 40 acres. Both mark a big step up for development in Jamaica, the Caribbean's largest English-speaking island, and both are already about50 per cent sold.
"People are rediscovering Jamaica," says Palmyra's Frank Perolli. "First, there is the $200m expansion of Montego Bay airport and the development of many new direct, non-stop flights from the US and the UK. Second, key infrastructure is developing; a new road that will run along the whole of the north coast is being built. Then there is the fact that people are realising the supposed violence and crime is not widespread at all. It is totally contained in certain areas, like anywhere else. Jamaica generally feels safe."
Spanish hotel giants, including Bahía Príncipe and Riu, have added their endorsement, planning a string of giant hotels that will add 8,000 rooms to the island's capacity in the next five years. Virgin Atlantic launched new twice-weekly direct flights from London to Montego Bay in July, and further direct routes are expected to follow out of mainland Europe, first in the shape of charter flights organised by the Spanish hoteliers-cum-tour-operators but soon after in scheduled form.
There will also be a valuable public relations fillip next year, when the West Indies hosts the Cricket World Cup and Jamaica stages the showcase opening ceremony. The aforementioned North Coast Highway is scheduled to be finished by then to help carry traffic along the newly dubbed Gold Coast from Negril to Port Antonio.
"Over the past two years there has been a lot more confidence in the Jamaican economy," says Jason Henzell, president of Goldeneye. "The Spanish developers moving in have prompted other global companies to follow, [and] the price of real estate has been going steadily up for five to six years."
Palmyra, the initial phase of which is due for completion in December 2007, will be Jamaica's first luxury condominium hotel resort, comprising more than 300 condos and stand-alone villas. With entry prices starting at $500,000 for a one-bedroom, one-bathroom condo, it will offer a classic gold-tapped mix of accommodation, golf (it's near three championship courses), spa (23,000 sq ft with 16 treatment rooms) plus clubhouse, restaurants and gym.
Perolli comments: "It is a lifestyle opportunity but we also think it is a good investment. We are asking 25 per cent below what other Caribbean islands are asking. That's why there is the renaissance here. We are cheaper than the rest of the Caribbean but we are going to catch up."
Goldeneye will be a rather different, less ostentatiously top-end, offering. Boutique resort operator Island Outpost is tastefully and ecologically extending the estate, where Fleming penned his James Bond novels, with a range of properties priced from $600,000 for a one-bedroom cove hut and den to $3m for a lagoon villa. Attractions will include a movie house, extensive water sports, sting ray pool, wireless connectivity and the Caribbean's first Thalassotherapy spa. Then there is also