THE UNITED States Embassy is going ahead with its plans to convert the former Crowne Plaza Hotel, Constant Spring, St. Andrew, into residential apartments for its staff.
The embassy is seeking a qualified firm to provide construction services to convert the 11-storey hotel into 44 two and three-bedroom units.
The project, on which work is scheduled to begin in October 2003, is estimated to cost from US$6 million to US$8 million.
The US Embassy bought the hotel, which is located on 5.3 acres of land in the mixed residential-commercial zone on the northern edge of Kingston, some three years ago.
The conversion work, according to an advertisement run by the US Department of State in The Sunday Gleaner, would entail upgrades to the building's fire protection, electrical and mechanical systems, and making it hurricane-resistant.
The site work would include replacing the two existing gates and various other compound perimeter security improvements.
Sue Cobb, the United States Ambassador to Jamaica, told The Gleaner in November that her Government planned to build its own embassy on lands it owns at Bamboo Pen, Liguanea, St. Andrew, and that the Crowne Plaza would be used exclusively for housing its staff.
The US Embassy and the Consulate-General are now located at separate premises on Oxford Road, near Cross Roads, Kingston.
