In 2006 Elias “Lee” Issa started housing development Richmond Estates, St Ann, as a project aimed at combining outstanding residential design with attractive pricing, high quality finishes, and low environmental impact.

In 2021, fifteen years and 1000 homes later, Issa told the Jamaica Observer that he sold more units in the time of COVID-19’s advent than in any other year.

With the total investment estimated at $15 billion at outset, the project is now entering its town-home phase. Previous phases were single homes and apartment units. The development sits on the 530 acres of land facing St Ann’s Bay.

The project was financed through equity and a commercial bank line of credit. The first set of homes were 356 three-bedroom units rolled out in 2009. Later came apartment buildings of two bedroom, two bathroom units.

The entire project is expected to last between ten to 12 years, with homes occupying 400 acres of the estate. A total of 1,600 residential units are targeted.

Town houses now being sold are four bedroom, four bathroom homes on 2,300 square metres of land. Prices, according to the estates website, richmondjamaica.com, begin at US$395,000 per unit.

Two previous phases are sold out, including three bedroom, two bathroom houses with starting price at US$280,000, and Fern Court Apartments whose two bedroom, two bathroom houses sold for $25 million each.

The development includes a swimming pool, clubhouse, kiddie’s park, gym, and putting green with solar-generating facilities on lease to each homeowner.

Issa said he envisioned a green community and home buyers who appreciated natural beauty. The development has so far won two awards including recognition for environmental impact .

Designed by architect Arthur Lowe with swimming pools, green spaces, walking trails, and parks, the gated community has attracted buyers from Jamaica, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada, many of them Jamaicans. An estimated 40 per cent of sales are from the Diaspora.