Church says no deal

DEVELOPERS ARE AFTER prime lands owned by the Methodist Church in Barbados for lucrative property development in the North of the island.But the Methodists, who have a long history of real estate ownership for church work have said no to some of the offers related to a prime tract of land in Gibbs, St Peter, estimated to be worth millions of dollars.Reverend Cuthbert Edwards, head of the Methodist Church in Barbados and the southern district of the Methodist Church, told this to BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY in a recent interview.“We have a piece of land in Gibbs, St Peter, and at one time one of the developers had offered us $4 million and we had said to them, ‘no thanks’,”he said in his office at the James Street Methodist Church, The City.NegotiationsHe later pointed out that more than one developer had offered to buy the property, but he did not wish to identify them.He noted that Methodists owned other tracts of land in Road View, St Peter, the sale of which was currently being negotiated with Jada Builders Inc., as well as real estate in Speightstown, St Peter; Hawthorn, Christ Church, and on Bay Street, The City.Edwards said the Methodist Church had declined the offer to sell the Gibbs’ land, which developers wanted for a high-end housing development, “because it is valuable land, just over an acre . . . a piece of land that could be easily developed”.The clergyman pointed out that “some condos” had gone up adjacent to the land belonging to the Methodist Church in Gibbs and the developers wanted to include the Methodists’ property in the development.