New start date for New Kingston Marriott development
Published:Sunday | August 7, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Steven Jackson, Business Reporter
The Facey family-controlled Pan Jamaican Investment Trust has revealed an early 2012 construction date for its planned Marriott Hotel in New Kingston.
"We hope to have all the regulatory work done by year end and start construction early next year," Stephen Facey, chief executive officer, told Sunday Business in a phone interview last Thursday.
Pan Jam paid J$454.5 million for the 161,610 square footage on which to develop the hotel in an area known as Knutsford Park, which stretches from Knutsford Boulevard to Oxford Road.
The property is in proximity to Liguanea Club.
Construction was initially expected to begin last year but the building permit from National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) was only granted in March.
The size of the investment in the New Kingston venture remains a closely held secret, but part of the financing will come from the US$17.5 million wad of cash sourced from International Finance Corporation.
The renowned Marriott International operates 3,500 properties in 71 countries and earned US$135 million for its second quarter 2011 or 13 per cent higher than year earlier levels. It additionally expects to add 200 properties in 2011.
The planned development in New Kingston will come in direct competition with other established hotels in the area, such as The Jamaica Pegasus, Wyndham Kingston, The Courtleigh, and new kid, Spanish Court Hotel.
Sandals Resorts International (SRI), the operator of the Sandals and Beaches hotels, also plans to develop a New Kingston property, to be called Sandals City.
Pan Jam, one of the most aggressive companies on the Jamaica Stock Exchange in the business of investment and property management, continues to prowl for other acquisitions.
Specifically, Pan-Jam is part of a group of investors bidding to take over mammoth conglomerate Lascelles deMercado from the Trinidad and Tobago-based CL Financial group.
Lascelles takeover
Pan Jam is also paired with conglomerate Jamaica Producers Group bidding to take over Mavis Bank Coffee Factory, the largest processor of Jamaica Blue Mountain Coffee.
"That is a fair description. We are aggressive in the sense that where we see opportunity that will provide returns, we go for it," said Facey.
He said Pan Jam was lining up other tourism investments, but avoided specifics.
"Tourism is one of the mainstays in our economy and we think we should be involved in it," he said.
Asked if Pan Jam was over-leveraging its J$10.6 billion in equity with these aggressive investments, he responded: "We will continue to properly manage our resources."
The company had a gearing ratio of 15 per cent in 2010, up from 2.7 per cent in 2009.
Facey in 2009 noted that developers in the Marriott project would include Pan Jam along with three foreign companies - Costa Rica-based Promerica Group; Moutte Capital Limited of Trinidad and Tobago; and Caribe Hospitality, a hotel development and asset management company with a presence in Central America and the Caribbean.
Pan Jamaican, which is 43 per cent owned by the Faceys, has holdings that spread beyond real estate to financial services, retail and manufacturing and insurance. The company's penchant to take minority positions in mergers and acquisitions has reaped consistent profits for the group, with net income hitting J$1.2 billion for its 2010 year end.