"People are rediscovering Jamaica." says Palmyra's Frank Perolli. "First, there is the $200m expansion of the Montego Bay airport and the development of many new direct, non-stop flights from the US and the UK."
A Boom In Bond's Playground
Jamaica is an island of extremes. On one side it is half-built roads, run-down shacks, a country saddled with grim poverty, drug fueled social problems and crippling national debts. On the other hand is it a lush paradise, blessed with constant sunshine (apart from the occasional hurricane in September & October), full of friendly people and home to pockets of extraordinary wealth.
For celebrity second-home buyers from: Noel Coward and Ian Fleming in the 1950s to Ralph Laure and Keith Richards today, the island's positives have long outweighed its negatives. But only recent have large residential developers begun to agree and to invest.
The current building boom centers on two large projects: the glitzy Palmyra Resort & Spa, just 15 minutes away from Montego Bay on the north coast and, an expansion of the Goldeneye estate once owner by Ian Fleming, where chic beach cottages, villas and ocean suites are being erected on 40 acres. Both mark a big step up for develop0ment in Jamaica, the Caribbean's largest English speaking island, and both are already about 50 per cent sold.
"People are rediscovering Jamaica," say Palmyra's Frank Perolli. "First, there is the $200m expansion of the 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; a new road that will run along the whole of the north coast is being built. Then there is the fact that people are realizing 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 Bahia Principe 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 organized by the Spanish hoteliers-cum-tout-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 (its 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 asking25 per cent below what other Caribbean islands are asking. That's why there is a 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 the added heritage and frisson of the Bond connection. "There will be small hints of Bond," Henzell says. "But we will not be trading on that. We don't want it to be a theme park at all. There won't be a honeymoon suite called Pussy Galore."
As at Palmyra, owners will have the choice to enter a rental pool, to be operated exclusively by the developers. Henzell says he hopes to attract buyers from the US, UK, Europe and South America who are not" rich and snooty" but "young and creative" people who will act as "ambassadors - not just for Goldeneye but for Jamaica too."
At Palmyra, where about 100 first-phase units are left, Robert Lawrence, from Westchester Pennsylvania, is a typical buyer. "I researched real estate opportunities in the Cayman Islands and Bahamas and found the value to be significantly better in Jamaica," he says. "The renaissance on the Gold Coast and confluence of island improvements has made the timing for buying ideal."
Carolyn Rose, another buyer from New York, comments: "I was looking for an island destination I could escape to. After visiting Jamaica in October and seeing all the positive change throughout the island I knew this was the place for me."
Positive change is certainly what is needed. Although the new developments and tourism have helped the economy, Jamaica remains poor, with 25 per cent unemployment. Perhaps that is why prices - about $500 per sq ft compared with $1,000 per sq ft in locations such as Barbados and the Virgin Islands - are so low. As Henzell observes: "People coming here will have to appreciate Jamaica as much for what it isn't as what it is."
