GOVERNMENT wants an investor to acquire roughly 780 acres of farmland in Montpelier, St James, for housing and shopping in order to become ‘the Portmore of Montego Bay’.

It’s a re-tendering of the lands but with a new thrust on housing development rather than agriculture. The sale would become one of the largest land divestments in years.

The Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) will invite prospective investors to participate in a controlled competitive bidding process but declined to specify a timeline in its documentation dated July.

“The DBJ wants a suitable investor to acquire a 28.16-acre property zoned for commercial enterprise and 747 acres of land suitable for residential use in the contiguous parishes of St James and Hanover part of Montpelier Citrus Company Limited (MCC),” according to the DBJ in its most recent project information document.

The lands are owned by the DBJ through the MCC which it acquired from National Commercial Bank in 1999. The MCC property comprises three farms totalling 2,972 acres (1,203 hectares). In May 2010, some 524 acres of the 2,972 acres was sold to Ramble Enterprise Limited, a family-owned enterprise.

The Government failed to date to sell the remaining acreage. It now wants to create a dormitory community some 19 minutes away for Montego Bay’s tourism and call centre workers. The DBJ indicates that there is clear evidence of significant unmet demand for housing in and around this area.

“The Vision 2030 Sector Plan for Housing 2009-2030, highlighted that up to 2006 Jamaica needed to provide 15,000 new housing units and upgrade 9,700 units yearly to ensure that the housing stock kept pace with population. However, trends from 2006 onwards indicate that Jamaica must accelerate its efforts to achieve the critical housing developments required,” stated the DBJ.

In April, the late Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Roger Clarke, toured the area. He indicated that although the Montpelier lands were primarily agricultural that about 1,000 hectares could be used for housing space.

On the tour, areas were identified for possible preservation for forestry; watershed; green spaces and historical sites. On the tour in April, Minister with responsibility for Housing, in the Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing Dr Morais Guy, was quoted as stating that the Montpelier development had the potential of being “the Portmore of Montego Bay”.

MCC is involved in the cultivation and sale of five varieties of oranges including Parson Brown, Pineapple, Hamlin, Valencia and Ortanique to local vendors and juice processors.

“Historically, MCC’s freshly squeezed orange juice was in high demand at a number of hotels in the Hanover and St James areas and to the retail trade under the ‘Montpelier’ brand,” stated the DBJ.