Whitter Village brings 20 new investors to MoBay

Avia Collinder, Business Writer

Whitter Village has takers for the majority of shops on offer at Ironshore, some 20 of which are said to be new business entrants to the city of Montego Bay.

Of the 92 shops, 80 are occupied, according to Edwin Wint, whose company, La Maison Property Services, markets the commercial complex which spans 245,000 square feet.

The shops, which range upwards in size from 600 sq ft, are priced for rental at US$19 per sq ft per annum, Wint said.

Operations manager of the complex, Denise Smith, said there are offers for the 12 vacant shops, but that the applicants want to engage in business activity that other tenants are already engaged in.

"The problem we are having is one of variety. People come to us with ideas but we have those shops already," said Smith.

"We have a supermarket, pharmacies, coffee and ice-cream shops. If we get a high end clothing store, we will take it. We don't want too many offices either, because the complex is being marketed as the complete shopping destination."

Restaurants and retailers which have hung their shingle in the US$35-million development in the resort community include Angella's Italian Restaurant, Avalon Phar-macy, Coffee 'n' Cream, Dawgen Professional Services, Pure Vision Optical, Island Books and Beyond, JJ Toro, Jewellicious, Miami Vibe, Bonafide Gentlemen's Salon, Shoe Fetish, Tech City, Profumo, Uncle Mike's Restaurant, Temptations, Reggae Style, TK Raffine Boutique, Masai Lili, Green Apples and Cherry's Hair & More - all new to the parish.

The mix of business across the entire complex includes restaurants, a supermarket, electronic stores, and an office of the US embassy, which offers visa services.

Wint said retailers have been drawn to the concept of Whitter Village - which was developed by Joe and Angella Whitter - as the "largest retail shopping village in Jamaica", offering the "best shopping mix on the eastern fringe of Montego Bay", and catering to both local consumers and the tourist market.

Take-up might also be connected to "congestion in the city and lack of parking facilities" which, said Wint, have been pushing businesses from the town centre to its outskirts.

Watts New and Harley Davidson have also opened branches in the complex which, developed by Ironshore Con-struction Company Limited and architect Clifton Yap over two years, was originally planned to be shops of 998 sq ft to be sold at U$$162,500 each.

Currently, retail space in the 200,000 sq ft complex ranges from 600 sq ft to 6,200 sq ft.

individual lots

The Whitters, meanwhile, have diverted from original plans to sell nearby property to real estate investors for commercial as well as residential development into apartments and townhouses, and is instead marketing individual lots, price at US$120,000 to US$510,000 each, according to Smith.

The Whitters had initially advertised an 18.75 acre property to real estate developers at US$10.5 million, but are now seeking individual buyers at US$510,000 per lot.

Also on offer are 84 single-family lots overlooking the lronshore Golf and Country Club, and ranging in size from 11,965 sq ft to 26,297 sq ft. The individual lots are now being sold for US$120,000 upwards.

The Whitters are original deve-lopers of the almost three-decade old Ironshore community which spans 1,300 acres and now features residential, commercial and peripheral light-industrial developments.

austanny@yahoo.com