St Bess housing development to target returning residents

NAWE HOMES, a St Elizabethbased property-development company, has joined forces with Jamaica Mortgage Bank to build 30 housing units, targeting returning residents.

Ground was broken recently for the new development in Mitcham, about five miles east of Santa Cruz.

Howard Ewan, CEO of Nawe Homes, said the property was acquired in 2006 to be subdivided and sold as lots.

“My customers wanted more. They were looking for homes, so we changed our plans and got into the construction of homes,” he said.

Thirty houses will be built, each on a quarter-acre lot, with the standard housing size of two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen and an enclosed garage.

Some of the units will be custom-made, with one of the requested options being three bedrooms. The starting price for the units is US$185,000.

“One of the selling points is that we have high-impact windows as standard in these homes,” he said, adding that a section of the property will be set a side for recreation activities.

“We do have a long list of potential customers already,” Ewan continued. “I think we have already pre-sold about nine homes.”

Jamaica Mortgage Bank, which was established 47 years ago with the mandate to facilitate low to middle-income housing solutions, has provided the funding for the project.

Courtney Wynter, Jamaica Mortgage Bank’s general manager, said it was a no-brainer for them to partner with the developer.

HUGE POTENTIAL

“When we look at this area, in particular, we see that there is a huge potential,” he said.

“We do know from our research that many members of the diaspora come to this area and so it was a perfect fit when we got into the discussion with Nawe to fund this development.

Dorene Prendergast, chief technical director within the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation with responsibility for water, works and housing, was also on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony.

“We welcome any development that will bring us additional houses on the market,” she said.

“There is a great demand for adequate, reasonably priced housing solutions, so we are happy that Mr Ewan decided that he is going to put up this housing development here in St Elizabeth, one of the areas we have a high rate of returning residents.”

‘My customers wanted more. They were looking for homes, so we changed our plans and got into the construction of homes.’