Widcombe Estate sold out, but hopefuls join waiting list.
WHILE THE real estate sector is a bit divided on just how many more luxury apartments the market can absorb, developers Peter Rousseau and Colin Steele have a waiting list for one of Kingston’s largest luxury development in decades.
The 25-acre Widcombe Estate is said by selling agent Coldwell Banker to be the last big parcel of land left to be developed in
the Kingston 6 area. The property sits on an hillside overlooking Barbican.
Rebecca Tulloch Stevenson, realtor with Coldwell Banker Jamaica Realty, says all 33 lots that make up Widcombe Estate have been sold and that there is also a waiting list “in the event that any of these sales fall through”.
The development is being undertaken by Rosemead Corporation Limited, a seven-year-old company co-owned by Rousseau and Steele.
The lot prices now range from US$250,000 to US$265,000, which translates to around $34 million to $36 million in local currency at spot prices.
In 2017, when the development was first fielded, the base price was cited at US $220,000, which then equated to $29 million. Tulloch Stevenson told the Financial
Gleaner that there has been no escalation, as the lots vary in size and have always been priced in US dollars.
“I personally have a waiting list of several people, and I know other agents in our office had clients that wanted a lot, but they were too late,” she said.
Widcombe’s developers, meanwhile, have a model home under construction a 3,500-square-foot, four-bedroom home designed by architect Steve Asher. It’s costing US$930,000 and is being built by Pinnacle Construction and is to be “delivered to a decorator’s finish” by October, the realtor said.
Decorator’s finish means “all will be in place in the home apart from tiles, cabinetry, fixtures and fittings, as this is the personal taste of each buyer,” she explained.
Some lot buyers have designed their homes and are finalising plans to begin construction of their residences within a matter of months, says Tulloch Stevenson, who notes that buyers have the option of using their own construction teams.
Rosemead Corporation said at the start of the project that it expected to spend upwards of $900 million over 24 months on the project. The developers said that in addition to the cost of purchasing the property, they invested $350 million in infrastructure, such as roads, drainage, sidewalks and underground conduits for services.
Rousseau and Steele were not reached for comment.