Jamaica
News - Real Estate - Projects (July 7, 2004)
Roy d'Cambre
sets sights on real estate, auto parts
Cash-rich entrepreneur Roy d'Cambre
will be seeking to plough back part of the profit earned from the recent sale of
his National service station, into providing middle-income homes for Jamaicans,
auto parts services, and expanding his two restaurant brands.
d'Cambre already owns 31 acres of land in the
Corporate Area and St Catherine, on which he plans to start building within
months. He says he is seeking another 20 acres for additional housing
development.
"What I've noticed is that everybody is in
the high-end or the low-end market ... the middle piece - wide open,"
d'Cambre stated in laying out his plans to carve out a niche in the
middle-income end of the real estate market. "You need more real estate for
young professionals," he says.
d'Cambre, a risk-taking entrepreneur, became a
rags-to-riches gas station proprietor, having built National from scratch -
virtually from his backyard - emerging just over a decade ago into one of
Jamaica's larger brands.
In April he signed an agreement with the French
company Total for the sale of his company for an undisclosed price. d'Cambre had
previously rejected an offer of US$12 million.
Prior to the sale of the gas station, d'Cambre
had plans to use the 16 acre plot of land he owns in St andrew as a high-end
cemetery.
"I will be catering to the living instead of
the dead," he quipped about the dramatic change of plans.
In addition to the 16 acres in St Andrew, he
has 15 acres near the Old Harbour bypass in St Catherine which he bought about
two years ago. "I want to buy up another 20 or so acres before I make a
move," he explains.
That move will come next year when d'Cambre
creates a development company through which all his construction and housing
development will take place. The houses are expected to be completed by late
next year.
d'Cambre claims that he is not entirely new to
the construction industry, having himself built all of the gas stations he
owned. "I built all my stations myself," he boasts.
A multi-million dollar amusement park on 40 acres
of land in Port Royal leased from the government, is among the investments being
planned by d'Cambre.
He also says he will be deepening his interest
in the auto parts market - with plans to roll out about six retail stores
islandwide by the end of this year. He is currently the distributor for the
Meineke line of mufflers, which also offers other related services.
d'Cambre will also be funnelling some of his cash
into his fast food restaurants - a combination of Kenny Rogers and Church's
Chicken - located at Barbican Square, Sovereign Plaza and 7th Avenue Plaza - all
three in Kingston. New products are also being planned for the fast food chains
this month, he says.
d'Cambre 'merged' Kenny Rogers and Church's
Chicken last year December, but now says he is not opposed to selling, "if
somebody comes with an offer".
Nominated in 2000 for the Business Observer
Business Leader award for his success in building from scratch, National Fuels
& Lubricants, into Jamaica's largest indigenous private sector petroleum
retailer, d'Cambre employed some 347 workers including trucking staff and staff
at the National head office, located at 59 Knutsford Boulevard.
With 23 stations across Jamaica, National
sells 1.5 million gallons (6.8 million litres) of gas each month, accounting for
about 10 per cent of the retail market in Jamaica.
d'Cambre said that he was "trying to tidy up
the sale of the gas station before I can move on". He added: "For the
rest of this year, I'm going at about 20 per cent my efforts, just taking it
easy... I'm just taking things easy and taking the vacation I haven't taken in
20 years."
Lately, this businessman has been spending a
lot of time in Florida where he is considering buying a house. "The best of
both worlds is to try and have a place there and when down here gets a little
stressful, you just go up there and lay down," he says.
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