Sabrina N. Gordon, Business Reporter

Chairman of Kravitz Homes Limited, Byron Kerr, is planning three other developments. - File

Kravitz Homes Limited, a Kingston-based developer is investing $400 million in a new housing development to be called the Argyle.

The project, comprising 35 one-and two-bedroom apartments, broke ground on Musgrave Avenue, Kingston, yesterday.

The developers said 65 per cent of the financing is in the form of a loan from RBTT Bank.

The target market for these apartments is young professionals. The units are priced at US$125,000 to US$245,000 (J$8.75 million to $17.15 million).

"The Argyle will be a modern contemporary, state-of-the-art, high-end apartment complex," said Byron Kerr, chief executive officer of Kravitz Homes Limited, a four-year-old company.

The development is projected to be completed within the next 12 months, by September 2008.

Units sold out

However, the units have already being sold out.

"We entered the market on May 19 and was oversubscribed at the end of June," said Kerr.

Kravitz Homes Limited was established in 2003 to develop and market real estate.

The company's first development Chateau Lingfield at Marley Road, Kingston, was completed in September 2006.

That project in which Kerr invested $300 million, created eight townhouses and 24 apartments.

The company has three other developments in the pipeline, including a $2-billion project for 573 detached houses in Longville, Clarendon, geared towards middle-income earners and National Housing Trust contributors.

These will be 850-square-foot units, comprising two-bedroom, one-bathroom houses, situated on 4,000-square-foot lots.

The houses, on which construction is scheduled to begin January 2008, will sell for $3.5 million to $5.2 million.

Kravitz is also planning a project called 'Preserves' - high-end homes to be located on a nine-acre site in Forest Hills; and 'Beverley Hills Country Club' - a ranch-style upscale development on six and a half acres of land overlooking the city.

The 'Beverley Hills Country Club' is still in the process of being approved, but construction on 'Preserves' is anticipated to start in the first quarter of 2008.

sabrina.gordon@gleanerjm.com