Ground has been broken for a major development and expansion project to provide additional space for manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution across three phases.
The project, which is being undertaken by the Factories Corporation of Jamaica (FCJ) at the Garmex Free Zone complex on Marcus Garvey Drive in Kingston, will involve the construction of 13 buildings on 8.7 acres of land.
Approximately 370,000 square feet of additional space is slated to be built during the first two phases.
Phase One will see the development of 126,000 square feet to accommodate the manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution operations of small, medium, and large enterprises at a cost of approximately $940 million.
This phase is projected for completion within 14 months, with the remaining 244,000 square feet slated for buildout during the second phase at a cost of at least $1.4 billion.
In Phase three, the FCJ will take on developments involving existing structures at the complex.
“I am happy to see that the Factories Corporation of Jamaica has heeded that advice and is moving ahead with this massive project,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness said, referring to his earlier signal last week, giving the construction industry stakeholders the go-ahead to resume activities.
“At this location, which was built in the 1970s and expanded in the 1980s, we haven’t seen much new happening. Other than rehabilitation, the FCJ has not built any new warehousing capacity, so this is the first time in many years that the FCJ will be expanding our warehousing capacity,” Holness said.
The Garmex Free Zone’s more than 500,000 square feet of existing space is fully occupied, Holness noted as highlighted the greater demand for factory space.
“It is a sign that there is real demand in the economy, [which] the economists call effective demand. To meet that effective demand, we have to make the investment … and the FCJ is fulfilling that responsibility,” he added.
Chairman of the FCJ, Lyttleton Shirley said that the company is “excited” to be embarking on the venture, noting that “it has been in the making for a while”.
Shirley said that in light of this and the fact that “we are presently [at] 100 per cent occupancy”, it made practical sense “that we go into expansion mode”.
“The base of our economy is the construction industry … and there is no better time to really ramp up the construction industry, with the prime minister leading us off [than] during this challenging time of COVID-19. So we are thankful that the prime minister has given us the breathing space to get us cracking and starting … and we are on the move,” he said.