Scores of people tuned up last Friday to an ‘open house’ event where the
developers of a high-end luxury housing development programme put on display
one of several houses they hope to complete over the next few years.
The development – The Beach Houses – is located on four acres of beachfront
property on the northern side of Falmouth Harbour and it is being undertaken by
Elms Bridge, which is led by real estate developer, Brian Dobbin.
“We are an international property developer and seller company and we develop
properties and then find buyers in major cities such as London, Toronto or New
York and bring them here. So, we don’t actually sell to people on island
necessarily, but we find buyers elsewhere. We also do a lot of marketing off-island
and we have made a huge financial and personal commitment to this island. We
currently have a team of about twenty persons, most of whom are from Antigua
and they comprise an excellent team. I have had offices in many other locations,
but the team here in Antigua and Barbuda is among the best,” Dobbin told Point
Express newspaper.
In addition to utilizing local staff for much of the work on the property, Dobbin
revealed that a lot of the building products are manufactured here in Antigua and
Barbuda as well.
“The Beach Houses is a small development of only ten high-end homes and we are
selling to international buyers. Already four of the ten have been spoken for and
three others also have potential buyers. It’s a pretty good project. COVID-19
interrupted us when we started, so we are a bit delayed, but now everyone one is
pleased with the output,” he stated.
Dobbin predicts that the entire project will be completed in 24-30 months. The
overall investment will total approximately US$30 million. Elms Bridge will also
explore other developments in Antigua and Barbuda in the coming years.
Meanwhile, Director of Architecture for the company, Senator Rawdon Turner
announced that the company won an award for the Best Residential Development
for the Americas at an award ceremony held a over a week ago in London. “This is
a collaboration of several companies, there are Elms Bridge, our lead company,
along Rawdon and Associates as well as a number of local contractors and
suppliers who all contribute to the success of what we have on display today. Thus,
our doors, windows, bathroom fixtures, concrete roof tiles are among the products
that were manufactured and sourced locally,” he added.
Sen. Rawdon spoke highly of the skills of many in the building and supply trade
here in Antigua and Barbuda.
