CEAC prepping for second residential development after Aqueduct
After a two-year delay, International Business Spaces, which trades as CEAC Outsourcing Company, is undertaking preparatory work for its first real estate development at Bushy Park, St Catherine, to be called Aqueduct of the Vineyard.
Within a year, CEAC will undertake a second residential real estate development, on completion of its Bushy Park project.
The cost of the two projects together is more than $2 billion.
CEAC, which first got started in the real estate business with the buildout of a commercial complex in the Kingston 876 business district located in Ferry, Kingston, is also on the hunt for another outsourcing tenant to lease the ground floor, which has the capacity to host up to 300 call centre agents.
Two floors of the 60,000-square foot building are occupied by Panama-headquartered business process outsourcing company Iterum Connections. The two floors hold 900 agents combined.
“While we are open to leasing the ground floor to a call centre operator, our preference this time around would be to get a client in the knowledge process outsourcing space, which is higher up the value chain and a field that may require less seating space,” CEAC Operations Director Lancedale Farquharson told the Financial Gleaner.
As the hunt continues for a second commercial tenant, CEAC has started clearing and perimeter fencing works on the Bushy Park property, following a two-year delay on construction that CEAC largely ascribed to price escalations on inputs.
“We had to change the original roofing design because of escalating material prices, and that forced us to go back to the authorities, which ended up delaying the project,” Farquharson said.
The company will pump roughly $1 billion into the development’s 52 two-bedroom homes in a gated -complex spanning 8.42 acres at Bushy Park. The lot sizes will range from 4,000 to 5,500 square feet.
The project is being developed as a “green community”, drawing on inspiration from a 260-year-old aqueduct that runs across the property. Renovation of the aqueduct will be done in partnership with the Jamaica National Heritage Trust. A rainwater run-off system that is to be built into the -community will be channelled into the aqueduct.
In delivering on its green community concept, CEAC will outfit each home with smart locks and switches, a 400 potable water storage tank, a four-panel solar system and a 100-gallon rainwater water harvesting tank. The homes are priced between $16 million and $25 million.
“We started subtle marketing of the development, and so far, about 200 persons have expressed interest. Further along the project we intend on going through that list, and we’re estimating that we will get commitments from about 40 of those contacts,” Farquharson said.
Construction of the 52 homes is expected to be completed within a year, following which CEAC will begin its second residential development in Bellevue Heights, St Catherine. That project is expected to run to about $1.3 billion. It will comprise 71 two-bedroom residences – 25 townhouses and 46 detached houses – on a 13-acre site. CEAC is not working with a theme for this community but says it will incorporate aesthetics such as a jogging trail, a clubhouse, and a park.
Construction of Bellevue Heights is expected to run between 18 and 24 months, which means that the company could bring the development to market by mid-2024. CEAC is still working through pricing details.
In the meantime, Farquharson says the company is also on the hunt for land to develop into commercial real estate space but so far has not identified any potential property.
“Finding commercial land space is a very difficult process, but we are in discussions with a potential partner who could make that process a bit easier,” he said.