Lee Issa, chairman of the House of sa.

Richmond Development Company Limited, owned by the House of Issa group, will be taking on a big residential project to transform a 500-acre property in St Ann into housing largely for retirees.

The investment will run to US$57 million (J$4 billion), says Steve Bennett, general manager of Richmond Development, a five-year-old property company.

Target market

Bennett declined comment on how the development is being financed, but he said the company is mainly targeting a market of returning residents - who are most often retirees with foreign exchange pensions.

Richmond will build 1,002 housing units in phases, the first of which will deliver half the target, comprising 352 three-bedroom patio houses; 122 two-bedroom apartments and 40 townhouses.

The three bedroom stand-alone units are priced at US$195,000 (J$13.6 million), said Bennett, but selling prices for the others have not been finalised.

New style of living

Each unit is to be outfitted with solar water heaters, while the complex itself is to include a school, health centre and church.

"This is not just houses, this is not just a community, it is a lifestyle that caters to the broader dimension of the human," said Bennett.

He said the company already has parish council and Real Estate Board approvals for the project and is readying the site for construction.

The first 500 units should be completed in 12 to 16 months, but the full development is a five-to-six-year project, Bennett said.

He also disclosed that the company is already considering a 100-room 'bed and breakfast' operation to adjoin the Richmond residential complex.

dionne.rose@gleanerjm.com