Kingston road known for cricket and music looking to attract more BPOs

Courtney Walsh Drive, a road in Kingston historically known as an event and entertainment zone, is becoming attractive to the developers of commercial real estate targeted at the outsourcing market.

The latest development being marketed for lease by a business process outsourcing, or BPO, operator is located at 8 Courtney Walsh Drive. It sits opposite the office of another BPO operator, VXI Jamaica Limited, a subsidiary of VXI Global Solutions (USA).

VXI started operating in Jamaica in 2016, utilising space provided by Tritel Services Jamaica, a special economic zone operator headquartered on Courtney Walsh Drive.

VXI Jamaica currently employs 1,000 at the 51,638-square-foot site.

Prior to VXI Jamaica’s lease arrangement, the three-storey building was home to Ibex Jamaica before its relocation to Portmore, St Catherine, to facilitate its growing business.

“There’s a great demand for BPO warehouses now and as such, the location is ideal for transportation for the staff and restaurants. New Kingston is a bit expensive, and so these operators are willing to look outside of that zone for a little cheaper rent. The developers see the need to invest in these spaces,” said a real estate agent, who wished not to be named.

“If you can go on the periphery, the Eastwood Park Road or these other areas, then they are ideal,” the agent said.

Before its name changed to Courtney Walsh Drive in 2015, the road was called Derrymore Road and was home to many recording studios, including Star Struck and Sound Lab.

The name change was in honour of former international cricketer Courtney Walsh, best known for a remarkable opening bowling partnership along with fellow West Indian Curtly Ambrose for several years and holding the record of most Test wickets from 2,000, after breaking the record set by Kapil Dev.

Melbourne Cricket Club, one of Jamaica’s oldest and most renowned cricket clubs, also sits on the stretch.

Commercial activities

Today, the road still holds some of its studio history, being home to roots rocking reggae broadcasting station Irie FM and Quality Distributors, a supplier of electronic components and accessories such as speakers and drum sets.

But the type of commercial activities happening along the stretch has slowly changed over the years. The mix of commercial activities now includes Catherine’s Peak Pure Spring Water store, Max J Employment Services and Malcolm Cycling World.

Work on the new development, which is being publicly advertised for lease by an outsourcing company, got under way about a month ago, but its owner, Stan Cooper, is hoping to have the project completed and leased to a tenant by March 2022.

The building spans 15,000 square feet across three floors. There is also space for parking.

“We have been receiving calls from quite a few potential clients from different sectors, but the preference is to get a tenant from the BPO sector,” said Cooper. “So far, we have gotten inquiries from one BPO operator,” he said.

Jamaica’s outsourcing market has 87 BPOs in operation, and accounts for about 45,000 jobs. The call centre locations are found in urban centres of various parishes, but are most heavily concentrated in Montego Bay, Kingston and Portmore. The major players include Ibex, Conduent, Sutherland Global Services, Teleperformance, Hinduja Global Solutions, Vistaprint and homegrown company Outsourcing Management, which trades as itel.

Up to August, the sector is said to have contributed US$780 million to the Jamaican economy.

karena.bennett@gleanerjm.com