Development costs jump for Gates of Edgehill

ROLLYN BENNETT, the principal shareholder in Edgehill Homes Limited, which is being bankrolled by Canadian firm Morrison Financial, says that the residential development is likely to have units ready for delivery to the market in early 2018.

The St Mary-based development has faced delays, and the cost of the project has nearly tripled.

Bennett said that he also tweaked the offering from a mix of two-bedroom and three-bedroom units to three bedrooms only.

Edgehill was initially estimated to be a US$35 million project.

Now: “The budget we are looking at is about US$85 million to US$90 million,” the developer said. “We are not relying on deposits to build out the subdivision. We have funds upfront to do it.”

Bennett said that financing partner Morrison Financial was a minor shareholder in the project.

Land for the development was purchased in 2005, while ground was broken for construction a decade later.

“We just wanted to do it right,” said Bennett, explaining the delay in unit delivery for phase one.

The developer has launched a new marketing campaign for the residential complex, called Gates of Edgehill, which will comprise 308 three-bedroom homes to be developed in three phases. The complex sits on a 58-acre property in Huddersfield, St Mary.

Bennett said that for the 108 units being constructed in phase one, expressions of interest indicate that they are near to being sold out. However, he said that the price of the units would not be disclosed until they are ready for the market.

Back in 2015, Edgehill had priced the units at US$140,00 and US$205,000.

“Phase one is almost completed now,” Bennett said on Thursday. “The models are going to be ready in about two weeks. Phase one is about 108 units, phase two is just over 100 units, and phase three is the same.”

Bennett is a real estate developer from Toronto, Canada, and Edgehill, he said, is his first Jamaican venture.

“Personally, it’s my first large venture. But I did the same thing in Canada. We operated under different companies, including JP Anthony and Lilina Family contractors,” he said.