Dionne Rose, Business Reporter

St John Hutton, director of Revamp Properties Limited, speaks of his latest housing development, Selena Arms, at Newcastle Road, one-and-a-half miles from Papine in St Andrew. - Peta-Gaye Clachar/Staff Photographer

Developer St John Hutton, principal of Revamp Properties Limited, has pumped $500 million into a housing development in the chilly, secluded St Andrew hills called Selena Arms, for sale to an upscale market.

The development is the realisation of a near 50-year investment in property that Hutton bought during his years living in England.

Selena Arms is an apartment complex, comprising 33 units, on the elevated Newcastle Road in St Andrew, which offers a panoramic view of the capital.

The development, which is a mile and a half from Papine square, comprises three blocks of 25 two-bedroom apartments and one block of eight one-bedroom apartments.

Four-phase development

Hutton told Sunday Business that the development was being done in four phases, with the first phase of eight two-bedroom apartments now on sale.

The apartments are priced in between US$258,450 (J$18.6 million) for ground-floor units, and US$286,620 (J$20.6 million) for those on the fourth floor.

The breathtaking view aside, Revamp is offering buyers swimming pool with gazebo, Jacuzzi, exercise room, and guardhouse with 24-hour security, said Hutton.

Prospective buyers are required to deposit 30 per cent of the selling price, with a second deposit of 20 per cent payable 60 days later. The balance is due on presentation by the developer of a certificate of practical completion for the unit, with no escalation for the first phase, said Hutton.

This is not the first development for Hutton who has more than 40 years' experience in real estate.

He did apartments in Beverley Hills in 1969, an upscale development in Russel in 1970, and part of Minera in Clarendon, among others.

Hutton, who has trading businesses and real estate investments in the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and West Africa, told Sunday Business that he returned to Jamaica to retire 10 years ago.

His 'retirement' lasted eight years.

Two years ago, he established Revamp Properties Limited with his daughter Charmaine Hutton, an Oxford University graduate with a master's degree in finance.

Hutton said the development was conceived 48 years ago when he bought the 2,500-square-foot property while living in England.

He also invested in other property, some 500 acres in Flankers and Norwood in Montego Bay, but said circumstances forced their premature sale.

"These were properties that I acquired while I was away," he said.

"From Flankers around to Norwood, we sold it - we had no choice - and we had to sell it to government. We sold it for $800,000 and it is now worth today $9 billion - 500 acres of prime land."

Hutton said he also had a similar experience at Bull Bay and Rockfort in Kingston. To date, he said, he has not received any payment for the lands at Rockfort.

"Because of that bad experience, it turned us off. I could have done a lot more here in investment," he shared. "But you know, it is my country, I love it, I will do anything for it. I think I am grateful for what it has done for me also and I have decided now to make a fresh start and forgive."

Hutton, however, insisted that the Government needed to take charge of the squatting problem, which he said could be a deterrent to investors.

dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com