Project in the Limelight – The Nation News - December 18, 2009
Signs of hope are creeping into the property development and retail sector.

"People believe that the climate is changing. It will not change overnight, but will change over the next year to two years and they are getting into the market ahead of the curve," he said after a tour yesterday of the multi-purpose lifestyle commercial centre, still under construction.

"There are significant projects that had been delayed, and one of them is starting back in the new year. That sends the message that a little bit more confidence is coming back. We have a project like Beachlands (also in St James), and of course Apes Hill [and] Port Ferdinand started."

He told the Press that even though the $100 million project was impacted by the global credit crunch, it was not a major burden, due to the unique nature of the undertaking.

"The economic climate has been a challenge, but not nearly as much of a challenge as it would have been if we were simply building more apartments or other types of projects we have here [in Barbados] already.

"The people that have signed on to us are people who want to be in Barbados because they believe that this is something that is missing, and they don't know when they are going to have the opportunity to be a part of something as centred as this."

Altman said he believed the high interest in Limegrove was testament to that, with over 80 per cent of the stores already leased ahead of its December 2010 opening. These included the buildings under construction and the three which are scheduled to begin next year.

The property developer also told the WEEKEND NATION that major issues confronted by the Holetown area, such as flooding, were dealt with during the construction of Limegrove.

"We underwent two years of testing and worked with drainage and engineers. We widened the waterway that was here and spent $1 million on a canal that has eight times the capacity it had before. That has been tested.

"We have also added drainage to the south side of the property, and all those drains connect into the main waterway. Two years of testing has shown us that we have conquered the issue of flooding."

Another major challenge was traffic, which was also managed by the Limegrove developers, Altman said.

"We widened the highway and added slippage lanes. Our traffic advisors told us that a sponge that could absorb 350 parking spaces would help and cars looking for somewhere to park would drive into Limegrove and find it."

 

by LEIGH-ANN WORRELL