Prices for apartments and villas start at over €1m in hotspot where the property market is still booming, writes JACK FAGAN
BARBADOS IS hopping right now. Even though sales of holiday homes have slumped on most Caribbean islands, Barbados appears to be bucking the trend with a high level of inquiries and a significant pickup in sales as the island is once again packed for the peak holiday season.
London estate agent Knight Frank draws an analogy between the property market in Barbados and that in London, pointing out that in a slowdown, prime locations in London hold their values better and recover faster.
The agency says the same goes for holiday destinations and though property prices in Barbados had fallen by 15 per cent because of the currency crisis (as against 20 per cent on other islands in the area), sales and prices are recovering fast because of the island’s reputation for attracting wealthy holidaymakers and A-list personalities, and the belief that it will remain fashionable.
With visitor numbers this winter expected to be just as high as in recent years, two new holiday home developments have come on the market – an apartment and penthouse scheme along the coastline and, separately, house sites and completed villas on the new Apes Hill golf course.
The extravagant style and selling prices in millions of dollars at both projects underline how the holiday home business in Barbados is firmly aimed at the top end of the market.
Barbados is more exclusive and certainly more expensive than any of the Caribbean islands. Nevertheless, with the American dollar now at its weakest for years, well-heeled Irish buyers may well look at one or other of the developments for a leisurely holiday home as well as a long-term investment. A good air service between Barbados and the UK is an incentive.
Construction has just begun at Beachlands, a development of 47 apartments and eight penthouses on a 4.5-acre wooded beachfront site on the “Platinum Coast” between the Irish-owned Sandy Lane resort and Holetown.
It is being handled by LTG Real Estate, the development arm of The Lewis Trust Group whose businesses include successful retailer River Island.
Two and three-bedroom apartments will cost from $2 million to $6.25 million (€1.37m-€4.3m) and will be larger than usual with floor areas of 232 to 446sq m (2,500 to 4,800sq ft). Four and five-bedroom penthouses (the largest with staff quarters) range in size from 278 to 836sq m (3,000 to 9,000sq ft) and are priced from $5 million to $10 million (€3.45m-€6.9m). Seven of the homes have already been sold, the largest to a British TV personality.
On a beautiful bay in the livelier, more affluent west of the island, the private gated Beachlands community will look out over gardens and a spectacular beach of loamy white sand.
The homes have been designed to combine the grandeur of classic plantation mansions with the elegance of Riviera-style homes. The five-storey block will have a classic Bajan style with high colonnades framing wide terraces, all with ocean views.
Fay Davies, sales director of LTG Real Estate, describes Beachlands as “the ultimate trophy Caribbean beachfront property”.
A marketing suite on site gives a good idea of the impressive fitouts planned for the new homes, which will include high quality stone, porcelain, ceramics, stainless steel and oak. Each home will have its own private spa pool.
Full air conditioning will be a standard feature of all apartments and there will also be a range of hotel-style facilities, including a 24-hour concierge service to include a butler and a maid as well as a chauffeur.
For those who plan to use Beachlands as an investment as well as a holiday home, the rents are strong. The island can have as much as 340 days of sunshine a year and constantly attracts A-list celebrities as well as the seriously rich. Two-bedroom apartments can rent for as much as $1,500 (€1,033) per night in the high season (December 15th to April 15th) and there is neither stamp duty nor capital gains tax.
The newly-opened Apes Hill golf course is an equally stunning development, set on a 480-acre former sugar plantation which dates back to 1686.
It is owned by a wealthy local businessman, Sir Charles Williams, who has pumped a fortune into creating what is being marketed as the best 18-hole course in the Caribbean.
It has all the qualities. Part of it runs through jungle terrain, where there are still lots of monkeys, past coral outcroppings, through stands of century old palms and magnolias and around water pools into a natural cave. The course was designed and built by the American Landmark Land company, which was also responsible for Doonbeg golf course in Co Clare.
Holiday homes on the estate already have a strong appeal for British buyers in particular.
Only a dozen of the 300 homes planned for the golf course have already been completed but more are under construction to allow potential buyers to see what they will get for their money.
Site costs range from $400,000 (€206,747) for one-third of an acre up to $10 million (€6.89m) for what is probably the best two-acre site.
American-style villas with three and four bedrooms and generous entertainment facilities can be built for between $2 million and $2.6 million (€1.37m-€1.79m).
An investment group which has acquired a block of 31 sites is marketing Hollywood-style homes (418 to almost 929sq m/4,500 to almost 10,000sq ft) at all-in prices of $3,775,000 to $7,750,000 (€2.6m-€5.36m).
These properties are being handled by Quintessentially Estates Caribbean.
Beachlands
KnightFrank
0044 207629 8171
Apes Hill Club
Linda Williams
001 246 4324500 www.apeshillclub.com
Quintessentially Estates Caribbean
001 246 4322887 www.quintessentiallyestates.com
