Chairman of the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) Norman Brown said that the Raintree Commercial Complex will be a strategic, investor-ready, and future-facing development entity.

Brown said that it is the UDC’s aim to make the complex into a logistics and industrial park.

While speaking at the signing and groundbreaking ceremony, he expressed that this complex signifies the re-emergence of the UDC in the development landscape of Jamaica. This development is also their first commercial development in 27 years.

“We have done other developments in Jamaica, but those are merely of a social enterprise. We are extremely proud of Harmony Park in Montego Bay. We’re extremely proud of the Resilient Park in Portmore, which you will be able to enjoy by July, and furthermore, we are looking forward to the park in Mandeville,” he said.

Brown said the Raintree Commercial Complex is a bold investment in Jamaica’s economic infrastructure and is the first block in the UDC’s long-term vision for the transformation of the Caymanas Estate into a dynamic hub for business, logistics, and community life.

“The first phase consists of 69 fully serviced commercial lots offered to the market with modern infrastructure and strategic access to the ports, highways, and labour. The response by investors has been amazing, and so far, without a shovel in the ground, I think we have sold at least 35 per cent of the lots.

“Raintree is about scale, it’s about logistics, it’s about light industry, and more importantly, job creation, but more than that, it is about proving that Jamaica can offer the kind of planned, high-quality commercial space that global investors are looking for,” he added.

Brown also highlighted that the government is playing an important role as both a development driver and a development facilitator. “We are identifying and acting on opportunities to enable businesses to thrive, thereby fostering sustainable growth and meaningful job creation. The UDC is leading the national initiative to drive growth and transformation of Jamaica,” he added.

He said that the UDC has a responsibility of being architects of Jamaica’s economic future and are ensuring that the land held in the public trust is optimised to generate revenue, create jobs, and deliver value to the Jamaican people.

“The transformation of Caymanas is taking shape, and we are proud to be at the forefront of this undertaking. In another month or two, we will break ground for the housing aspect of our trust to develop Caymanas. We’ll be doing 1,250 houses in a joint venture partnership with Gore Development Limited as our joint venture partner, and we will be breaking ground for that shortly, and that will be the first phase of about 4,000 houses that we want to break in the Caymanas area.

“But we are not done. We are going to Braeton with 2,000 units. We are going to Hellshire with another 2,000 units. So the UDC is going into the housing market in a very serious way to add to the housing stock price, and we are not confining our operation to Kingston and St Andrew and St Catherine. We’ll be going to Westmoreland with 1,500 units. We’ll be going to St Ann in Ocho Rios with another 600 units, and we are going to other locations as well, for a total of 12,000 units,” he added.