Town houses for King's House lands
Published:Wednesday | December 11, 2013 | 12:00 AM
Tameka Gordon, Business Reporter
Ten acres of King's House lands has been earmarked for town houses and apartments under joint venture with the King's House Foundation.
The foundation has advertised for a development partner.
The 'upper-to-middle-income' development is meant to provide investment income for the foundation, whose job it is to maintain the Crown property.
King's House upkeep has, over the years, become challenging, board member Christopher Bovell told Wednesday Business.
"No longer was it possible to maintain it with the money that was available from the Govern-ment and from donations and so on, so they discussed the development of these 10 acres which are right to the northwestern corner of King's House," Bovell told Wednesday Business.
The site further "borders Annette Crescent on Upper Waterloo Road, but you actually approach it from the back or western side of King's House," he said of the proposed sectioning of the more than 100-acre property.
Bovell said the foundation could not, at this time, provide details on the proposed number or size of the units or the cost of the development "until a preferred bidder is selected" and discussions held on how the project will proceed.
The foundation is hoping to complete the selection process by February 2014, though, according to Bovell, it could not give a timeline for the commencement of the housing development.
"We are going through the advertising process now, and bidders can collect the packages which have the property valuation and even the proposal of the foundation on how it should be undertaken," he said.
"It probably can't be done in a single phase, but we really are not in a position to give details until the selection process is through."
The King's House Foundation was formed some 10 years ago "to really try to keep up the maintenance of King's House" which, at that time, "was at a very low end, with aspects of the property falling to pieces," Bovell said.