By Dennise Williams, Staff Reporter
THE St. Catherine community of Crescent District on the outskirts of Spanish Town is well known for the Angels Housing Schemes built by New Era Homes Ltd. These houses stand out in the community with their dark cream colouring and red tile roofs. Now, the developer is offering the growing residential community the added convenience of Angels Plaza, built literally across the street in the same cream/taupe colouring with signature red tiled roof.
According to Carl Tucker, the Vice President of Operations at New Era Homes Ltd. state that, "our motto is that we are not just developers of homes, but of communities." And the community in which they developed their two housing schemes is large enough to support a commercial development. New Era itself has developed 918 units in Angels Estate I and II and has plans to build, in the same area, another 1,000 units in a development called Ardenne Estates. Additionally there are over 3,330 additional housing units in Crescent District. Explains Mr. Tucker, "In the area there are existing developments and newer ones besides ours.
SOME OLDER SCHEMES
"There is Angels Grove and Eltham Phases 1, 2,3 and 4 developed by Matalon totalling about 2,430 units. He is also developing another 400 units. Plus Gore did 500 units in the area. And there are some older schemes. So the plaza is surrounded by new and existing houses." Otherwise known as potential customers. And so to take advantage of the booming housing market, New Era is in the process of completing Angels Plaza.
According to New Era, "When open, the conveniently located plaza just outside of Spanish Town, along the road to Bog Walk, will offer resident of Angels and environs easy shopping." States Mr. Tucker, "We built this plaza to benefit from the congestion in Spanish Town. There is really a lack of parking and the town is over-run. So the market is ripe for this plaza and we will serve as a stopping point for the travelling public on the way to the North Coast."
The types of commercial entities currently setting up shop in the plaza are, according to Mr. Tucker, "a lawyer, a pharmacy, a doctor, an insurance company, a supermarket and a fast food restaurant." Mr. Tucker states that New Era has leased space to SuperPlus Food Store and KFC. But since there is still space available, Mr. Tucker said, "I would like to see a bank, a furniture store and a hardware at the plaza." For the future of the plaza, Mr. Tucker reveals that, "my vision is for a vibrant plaza serving the needs of the communities existing and the ones to come in the future. We want to serve the basic needs of the housewife and the person who doesn't want to go into Spanish Town to shop."
Consisting of 100,000 square feet, the commercial development will consist of 46 shops, with 33 already completed. The construction is expected to be finished on March 2004, one year after construction began. States Mr. Tucker, "we are 70 per cent completed. We have 13 more shops to go in Phase II with the 33 shops in Phase one completely finished and sold." The project, estimated to cost $350 million from start to finish saw units in Phase I selling for $4,500 per square feet and units in Phase II up for sale for $5,000 per square feet. The amenities that tenants and owners will enjoy are landscaping and a fully lighted common area. A management company will maintain the property with maintenance charged at US$3.00 per square foot (the funds will be collected in Jamaican dollars).
In building the plaza, New Era employed 250-300 persons at the peak of construction, however, Mr. Tucker states, "as most of our work is done by sub contractors, we have only 20-25 persons employed to us full time." The company reveals that shops in Phase II start at $7.5 million for 1,500 square foot of commercial space. Mr. Tucker tells The Financial Gleaner that sales are going well, as "in Phase I, we had some persons purchasing more than one shop with one person buying three units in the Plaza."
