Tweet
Turnaround in real estate market downtown
Published: Sunday | November 28, 2010
Avia Collinder, Business Writer
A long-forgotten enclave of commercial expansion, the older sections of downtown Kingston are seeing an upsurge in property buys by local companies and private investors ahead of an expected resurgence of business there in coming years.
The latest acquisition is Guardsman Group's purchase of the former Caribbean Fencing property at Water Lane, in the area known as Breezy Castle, from the Urban Development Company (UDC).
The J$39.617-million transaction closed earlier in November. (See story on Page C3).
UDC General Manger Joy Douglas said the security company, which is owned by Kenny Benjamin, would launch its development early in 2011.
Real-estate experts say much of the renewed interest in downtown was sparked by Digicel Group's move to establish its global headquarters on the waterfront.
The telecoms' multimillion-dollar bet on an area long abandoned because of crime has convinced other investors to reconsider the area's commercial potential.
Interest is also being driven by plans to set up an offshore, low-tax centre on the waterfront, which Government forecasts as the catalyst for some 50,000 new jobs.
The UDC, as added honey, has revamped and is marketing more aggressively the tax incentives available to downtown investors under the Urban Renewal Tax Relief programme.
Noting that property values in downtown Kingston have been depressed for many years, Douglas said that the Digicel, Guardsman Group, and other developments are "no doubt going to result in improved property values".
The UDC has also been fielding "an increase in queries related to the Urban Renewal Tax Relief Act from existing property owners, signalling intentions to redevelop properties. In some instances, these are from companies intending to relocate their head-office operations downtown," Douglas said.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2...business1.html
Comment