A number of Barbadians interested in purchasing homes at a new multimillion-dollar “eco-friendly gated condominium community in St George” have had their hopes dashed by local financial institutions.
But despite these individual setbacks, developer Tony Hoyos said the $17 million Board Hall Green project was about 60 per cent sold out, with the remainder also expected to find buyers.
Speaking during an interview with BARBADOS BUSINESS AUTHORITY, he said about 31 of the 55 units were sold to a largely Barbadian clientele, although he believed “if the economy was more buoyant then we would have had more sales because quite a number of people have come to us and expressed interest but cannot get the financing”.
Hoyos, who is a former Barbados National Bank director, suggested this was because local commercial banks were being “more conservative” in light of the prevailing economic difficulties and in a climate of worrying non-performing loans.
“Now they are putting in a lot more restrictions and the restrictions seem to be tightening as time goes on so a lot of people don’t quality for mortgage loans – not the amount that they would like,” he said.
“We are very confident that the project will sell out because in our 20 years’ experience when people are buying [based on plans] sales tend to go slower than how this project has gone. So we are very confident that we will be selling out by the time the project is finished.”
Hoyos said the project, which is near the Boarded Hall Roundabout, with a panoramic view of St George, had two avenues of condominiums, with the first due to be completed “in a couple months” and the remainder by September.
“The project is substantially done and we have sold about 60 per cent so far. I think the attraction for buyers is the fact it’s a different design. It’s very modern, it’s an urban type of design in a tropical setting and people love the roof decks that we have put – it’s an unusual feature,” he said.
“And the pricing is substantially below comparable properties on the market, so we are getting a good reaction to that. So even though it’s a tough economic time we are still getting a good response.
“It is mostly one-and two-bedroom units but we have four townhouses which are bigger. About 70 per cent of the buyers are people who are resident in Barbados and others are from overseas who are buying homes for vacation or for rental,” he added. Prices range from $248 000 to $574 900.
