REAL estate experts say the once sleepy town of Falmouth, one of the few remaining green areas in Jamaica, is poised and ready for a rebirth.

From increasing property values to opportunities for businesses and entrepreneurs, Falmouth is embracing a new role as the place to invest, say industry insiders.

Last week, Tourism Minister Ed Bartlett said that Falmouth, which has already received 30,000 visitors following the opening of the Falmouth Pier this month, now qualifies as a tourism resort area.

Property owners in the city should already be contemplating improved property values as a result of the possible reclassification, said Kingston Properties REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) Limited executive director Fayval Williams.

“It is more attractive to developers because they may begin to think about what can happen in Falmouth. With the announcement, you are going to have in people’s minds the direction or value of their property,” said Williams.

According to Williams, like price movements in the stock market, a major announcement such as the one made by the Minister can influence the property values.

“If I am living there and I have a property, I’m thinking the value would be going up. If I sell it tomorrow, would I realise that value? Perhaps not. But many people are going to start looking at it,” Williams said.

Anya Levy, executive director at Valerie Levy and Associates, said the strategic location between other resort areas of Ocho Rios and Montego Bay should also add to Falmouth’s appeal.

For this reason, Levy believes the focus should be on not only keeping passengers coming, but getting them off the ships and spending time in hotels, restaurants and attraction sites within the area.

She argues that the area will need more attractions to keep tourists entertained and engaged.

“You need that visitor experience to keep them here. You don’t just want them wandering in the town,” said Levy, who stressed emphasising Falmouth’s historic legacy and developing other land-based entertainment features such as ziplines to take advantage of the area’s green, untouched space.

Levy added that because Falmouth is strategically half-way between other resort areas of Ocho Rios and Montego Bay, these towns stand to benefit from increased visitor arrivals in the area, perhaps more so than Falmouth in the short term.

But while business is a necessary focus of the area, emphasis should now be placed on a mix of residential and commercial real estate as drivers of development for Falmouth. Last week, Falmouth welcomed the Oasis of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise vessel to the city’s cruise shipping port. Both Levy and Williams stressed the need for further developments that include residential and commercial real estate.

“With the cruise ships coming, there is going to be a lot of supplementary business there and you can’t have supplementary business without supplementary housing,” Levy said.

“If I am looking at Falmouth, I would be looking at housing,” said Williams, noting that, “housing is needed because business activity drives more people to the area and when you bring more people to the area you need more housing.”

Kevin Henry, mortgage loan officer with Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS), agrees.

According to Henry, one of the reasons for Falmouth’s new found fame is its relatively crime-free reputation, which spurs migration from other areas that are affected by crime. He said based on his experience, more buyers are contemplating Falmouth as a place to reside.

“It has been on the increase in recent times, especially with non-residents. They are really going for these areas because all the developments done there are gated communities,” Henry noted.

“Because most of the developments there are gated communities there is a level of tranquility and control,”

he added.

As one of the last remaining ‘green areas’ in Jamaica, Falmouth also offers more space and more options for development, and the latest residential development by the National Housing Trust (NHT) is set to take advantage of precisely this opportunity.

Levy told Sunday Finance that NHT’s ‘Dry Valley’ development slated to begin between April and May this year will be a ‘green open space’ quite unlike any other such developments offered by the organisation. The 14,000 unit housing development on 700 acres near Duncans, Trelawny will be eco-friendly, boasting alternative energy solutions and agricultural options.

Holland Estates, another major development slated for the area at the entrance of Good Hope, boasts 12,000 solutions on 200 acres of land. The development should take place in four phases over six years.

The new developments like Dry Valley and Holland Estate are self-sustaining communities that are not just gated, but feature amenities such as health centres, sport and recreation facilities, shopping and entertainment areas and a town centre.

“Both these developments are not just housing developments. They are combined, they are developments with all the support systems,” said Levy.

She added that the size and scale of the developments, which so far exceed the demands of the indigenous population of Falmouth, indicate that investors are looking at the long term value of investing in the area.

“The population of Falmouth is 10,000 persons. You get the idea that there is a long-term plan going on,” said Levy. “They feel there is going to be a future need.”

Some properties already available in Falmouth are priced between $7 million and $9 million at the lower end and $12 million to $15 million at the higher end. However, at Holland Estates, studio solutions start at $4.5 million, while three-bedroom units go for $8.35 million. Dry Valley has not yet been priced. Based on the prices, Levy figures the real estate developments are targeted at locals. NHT offers mortgages as much as $4.5 million per person for houses and $1.5 million for land.

“It is $8.5 million for the highest priced property (in Holland Estates), which is the three bedroom. If three people come together they don’t have to take anything out of their pockets,” said Levy.

Henry argues that the outlook for Falmouth is positive. He said in addition to the tourist resort classification that could come, the Falmouth area also boasts the Trelawny Multipurpose Stadium and the area is also the hometown of international athletic superstar Usain Bolt.

“I would recommend the area at this time especially if it is close to the sea,” he said of residential properties. “It was really one of the few spaces where the possibility of a successful development is really high,” said Henry. “It is progressing at a steady pace in the right direction,” he said.