UDC selling property to FCJ, New Era to kick-start Caymanas development

The Urban Development Corporation (UDC) is selling 200 acres of land at Caymanas, just outside Kingston, to Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ), a transaction that signals the start of transactions for the development of a multibillion-dollar trading hub.

Factories Corporation will be developing warehouse and distribution space inside the industrial estate - a centrepiece of the project, dubbed the Caymanas Economic Zone (CEZ).

The deal is worth about J$900 million, according to the UDC.

The state agency, which owns the large stretch of land, is also selling 133 acres valued at J$289.2 million to New Era Homes Limited for the residential aspect of the development.

Factories Corporation, which has been tapped by the investment and commerce ministry to execute the aspects of the Caymanas project it is responsible for, has, through press advertisements, invited bids for site preparation.

Reginald Budhan, the permanent secretary in the ministry, said the request for proposals is intended for consultants to undertake investigative and infrastructural design work to support the functions of the economic zone.

"We are inviting bids to get professional consultants to design infrastructure - a road network and sewage system," Budhan said.

This phase of the development is expected to see the creation of what is being referred to as a 200-acre "low-emissions" light industrial park.

"We are hoping to get the bids in to do evaluation and go to Cabinet in November," he said.

The CEZ is a US$3-billion project, designed to include an industrial estate and warehousing and distribution hub of about 1,000 acres, as well as sporting facilities, and 4,000 homes spread across 400 acres in two developments to be called Caymanas Village and Highlands. Caymanas, a former sugar estate, spans about 10,000 acres.

"New Era has acquired land in the Village and will be undertaking the housing development in accordance with UDC guidelines," said UDC General Manager Joy Douglas.

The UDC, itself, will be carrying out other aspects of the Village project, including the creation of a system of wells.

The investment ministry's Budhan added that the UDC would be responsible for putting in the main infrastructure work to link to the main sewage line to the Soapberry sewage plant, as well as roads to link into the main road network.

Highlands is intended as upscale residences, and Dennis Lalor, former insurance executive-turned-government adviser on airline divestment and casinos, is assisting the UDC to package this aspect of the development for divestment, Douglas said.

According to Douglas, her organisation has been having significant success getting private sector involvement.

"Even in the FCJ project, there are several private entities who have indicated their interest but their names cannot be disclosed at this time," she told Financial Gleaner. "We do not want to do the physical work ourselves," she said.

Conceptualised along the lines of the Chinese Development Zone model, the CEZ is planned to house information communications technologies industries, manufacturing and agroprocessing, the creative industries as well as a research institute and business incubation centres.

Budhan told the Financial Gleaner that already the Government has identified several local companies who have expressed interests in locating businesses in the zone as part of the first phase of the development. He was unable to say how many, but in a previous interview with the Financial Gleaner, Karl Samuda, the minister with responsibility for the economic zone, said the first 100 acres of land on the proposed CEZ was fully subscribed by local companies.

"They are all blue-chip companies with the necessary finances to build out as soon as the subdivision is ready," Samuda said.

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